Indian Elections: Human Angst and Beyond
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I wrote on The Spiritual Politician in Series 25 uploaded on 8th February, 2014. It captured the flavour of National Elections. Voting is under way and ends on 12th May; results are due on 16th May. I gave a gist about parliamentary democracy in India, for the benefit of readers outside India.
As we move closer to the climax, the display of human angst is at its peak. Elections can be keenly and bitterly fought in most democracies. When the eligible voters number 815 million amongst a population of 1.2 billion, it is bound to get very noisy. I have seen many elections in my life, but this time, the Indian elections are bringing forth a wide spectrum of human emotions/spirit/negativities - anger, despair, fear, hope, greed, debauchery, hatred, lies...
In many ways, this election is very different from the previous ones. So far, the bitterness in elections has remained restricted to the political class. This time acute bitterness has spilled over to the electorate - common people like us who vote. I have not seen this kind of sharp divide within the electorate. Differences did exist in the past, but there were overlaps and some common grounds. Sane conversations did show objectivity. Things are different this time.
The advent of social media and a very confident and vocal Indian population, in urban as well as rural areas, have added to the punch. Here is a sample of the issues being debated:
Friends are falling off, there is tension within families, and tolerance for the opposite view is at its lowest ever seen in India before. All this is happening with people who are not even remotely associated with the political class.
I faced my own share of fierce opposition to my views shared on Facebook. One friend asked me to buzz off for he did not agree with me. I might have lost his friendship. Another friend was more polite: she asked me to refrain from such views as I, an author on happiness, am not expected to air strong views. I agreed and stopped posting political comments. (Why I did so is an interesting point of another post . :)
Why is it so this time in India? Is it because of a predicted (by pollsters) regime change? No. Regime changes have happened quite often in India: 2004, 1998, 1996, 1991, 1989, 1977... The ones in 1977 and 1989 too evoked a lot of popular debate, but it was nothing like this.
Indians dread polarization during elections. The appeal to voters' religious sentiments has been the bane of Indian elections for a long time. It is difficult to name any major political party that has not indulged in this. This time we are witnessing a polarization of a different kind. For whatever reason, this election has been reduced to a referendum on the acceptability of a certain politician as the future Prime Minister. Indian voters don't directly elect a PM, but the dynamics have been such that effectively this time it is a referendum. You are either for him or against him. Is that strong enough reason for the display of collective angst?
My guess is that this sort of "referendum" has pulled people out of their traditional comfort zones - on either side of the political divide.
In spiritual terms, this is perfect reason for all of us to feel the angst, unease, despair and all that I collectively call FUNDAMENTAL UNHAPPINESS, that is normally buried deep within - well, almost! It has got exposed in election time. Interestingly, ordinary voters like you and I are likely to feel this human unease more strongly than politicians. For, politics is not our profession. Having been yanked off our comfort zones where we were possibly hiding, we are face to face with the ugliness within.
If you have been reading this blog or have read my book ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY?, you will quickly understand that feeling your very own ugliness is great news! Just give up, and observe what is going on within to move towards JOY. Our strong views, which we think are causing this distress when in clash with opposite views, are merely triggers. Just drop the argument. And, yes, notice the ego. It has surely crept in. For, when you do so, you have taken a major step in your journey towards FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS. Continue with your election debates, but occasionally pause to take an honest look at yourself.
So, while elections will happen and we will certainly fulfil our democratic duty, let us also take this opportunity to rise in spirit!
Cheers!
Deepak Chatterjee
In many ways, this election is very different from the previous ones. So far, the bitterness in elections has remained restricted to the political class. This time acute bitterness has spilled over to the electorate - common people like us who vote. I have not seen this kind of sharp divide within the electorate. Differences did exist in the past, but there were overlaps and some common grounds. Sane conversations did show objectivity. Things are different this time.
The advent of social media and a very confident and vocal Indian population, in urban as well as rural areas, have added to the punch. Here is a sample of the issues being debated:
By Adam Taylor - Simplify360 taken from Google Images
I faced my own share of fierce opposition to my views shared on Facebook. One friend asked me to buzz off for he did not agree with me. I might have lost his friendship. Another friend was more polite: she asked me to refrain from such views as I, an author on happiness, am not expected to air strong views. I agreed and stopped posting political comments. (Why I did so is an interesting point of another post . :)
Why is it so this time in India? Is it because of a predicted (by pollsters) regime change? No. Regime changes have happened quite often in India: 2004, 1998, 1996, 1991, 1989, 1977... The ones in 1977 and 1989 too evoked a lot of popular debate, but it was nothing like this.
Indians dread polarization during elections. The appeal to voters' religious sentiments has been the bane of Indian elections for a long time. It is difficult to name any major political party that has not indulged in this. This time we are witnessing a polarization of a different kind. For whatever reason, this election has been reduced to a referendum on the acceptability of a certain politician as the future Prime Minister. Indian voters don't directly elect a PM, but the dynamics have been such that effectively this time it is a referendum. You are either for him or against him. Is that strong enough reason for the display of collective angst?
My guess is that this sort of "referendum" has pulled people out of their traditional comfort zones - on either side of the political divide.
In spiritual terms, this is perfect reason for all of us to feel the angst, unease, despair and all that I collectively call FUNDAMENTAL UNHAPPINESS, that is normally buried deep within - well, almost! It has got exposed in election time. Interestingly, ordinary voters like you and I are likely to feel this human unease more strongly than politicians. For, politics is not our profession. Having been yanked off our comfort zones where we were possibly hiding, we are face to face with the ugliness within.
If you have been reading this blog or have read my book ARE YOU REALLY HAPPY?, you will quickly understand that feeling your very own ugliness is great news! Just give up, and observe what is going on within to move towards JOY. Our strong views, which we think are causing this distress when in clash with opposite views, are merely triggers. Just drop the argument. And, yes, notice the ego. It has surely crept in. For, when you do so, you have taken a major step in your journey towards FUNDAMENTAL HAPPINESS. Continue with your election debates, but occasionally pause to take an honest look at yourself.
So, while elections will happen and we will certainly fulfil our democratic duty, let us also take this opportunity to rise in spirit!
Cheers!
Deepak Chatterjee
chatterjee.deepak33@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/deepak.chatterjee.944
@Deepak33C
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I agree with you that this is for the first time that people are really passionate about their choice of candidates in the election. I have also never seen such fierce feelings in the past. Perhaps it is our angst against the politicians....if an ideology looks good, the projected PM candidate is immature, if the projected PM candidate looks mature, the party backing it up has divisive policies and those who claim to be honest beyond doubt come across as highly manipulative, wolf in the garb of a sheep. What should the poor electorate do?
ReplyDeleteIndeed, people are taking out their angst against politicians. That may be good for democracy. However, this could also an opportunity for voters to take a look within to see whether part of this angst could be a manifestation of the basic human unease that is fundamentally there, and has now got exposed. If we do that, we have a chance to move towards uncaused JOY.
DeleteA very well written post. It is high time that our leaders take occasional pause and take a close and honest look at themselves. This will help them to rise in spirit, find peace with themselves, control their ego, chasten their temperament, ennoble their minds and purify their hearts. This will make them more acceptable to the electorates in this fiercely fought election.
ReplyDeleteAlas... :)
Delete