Already 60 years into the independence, one of the few secular nations, the second largest democracy in the world, the second fastest growing nation around the globe and the host for many cultural origins - India !!
Well, if all that is true then it should already have been at the top of the charts. Although appealing, the future looks a little grey to me. The reasons are plenty, but the biggest one is the political system as it prevails in the country today. With the UP elections over and Mayawati at the helm, many had doubts over the entire electoral process (Election commission did a fantastic job though, and should be congratulated).
My point is not just about the polling and rigging. It is a question about democracy itself. Does India really need a democratic system? Let's take the leaf out of parenting book. The parents make a lot of decisions for the kids till they think that the kid has matured. Another one would be out of the swimming book. The coach takes the student to the middle (I learnt my swimming lessons in a river) following him, and allows him to swim on his own when he is confident that he can.
Both the cases illustrate how immatures should be led to maturity. When we got freedom, it was too much of an immature society to cast the vote knowing their welfare. The politicians exploited the masses for their innocence too. The situation has come to a point where it has gone into a spiral.
More immature people selecting recklessly irresponsible leaders, these leaders leaving them where they are (at the same time multiplying themselves), leads to more immature population and thus election of more irresponsible leaders. What a nation as immature and as illiterate as ours needs is not a total democracy. There needs to be a system that is a mix of democracy and dictatorship. So, when a person does not know how to make a good choice, there is some system stopping one from making it.
After all, the one who comes once in five years, speaks in your language and has the exact same surname will not ensure that you uplifted too. He/she made a fortune for the self and the family, but who will care about the electorate. This is the reason why democracy is not the best answer. In that context, the role of the president also needs to be enlarged where he/she can interrupt the electoral choice.
The Constitution needs many amendments too. One of them is surely the eligibility of the candidates. There is no easy template to cleaning the mess, but there sure is a way out. The earlier we find it, the better it is for the country and for all of us.
Srivastava is based in Cincinnati and works as a manager (strategy)
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