Chachu's column #9: Of Dhirubhai, Politicians and Cricket

The last week saw the demise of one of the greatest industrialist of contemporary times - Dhirubhai Ambani. The who's who of Indian politics, Industry tycoons and Bollywood celebrities made a beeline to pay the last homage to the great man. The TV channels and newspapers were flooded with obituaries reminding us the greatness of the man and how from being a gas station attendant, he rose to build a staggering empire worth 60,000 crore, now run by his sons. Ordinary people like us always ask the question ¾ What is the secret behind this extraordinaire rags-to-riches story? Why, while thousands of people dream, only few succeed. And even among those who succeed, only very very very few rise to the heights as that conquered by Dhirubhai Ambani. The secret was let out by the employees of the Reliance Company in a very subtle fashion. After the death of Dhirubhai Ambani, a notice was put at Reliance notice board expressing dismay and shock at the demise of Dhirubhai. The Reliance employees, in a remarkable gesture to show the solidarity towards their deceased leader, went on to work more than expected from them. The gesture was symbolic of the values imbibed by Dhirubhai who said he could retire only after death. I was truly inspired by the gesture. But this is not the end of the story. In a start contrast, a section of Gujrati businessman, decided to keep their business houses closed for a day to express their grief over the death of their role model. I just wished the businessman had the sensibility to take a cue from the Reliance employees, who went to do more work not less. Lot more can be said about this, but I will keep it till here.

Among other news, the politicians these days are showing remarkable solidarity for an issue that is threatening their very existence. Supreme Court (SC) some time back passed a judgement whereby candidates contesting elections were required to provide information necessary for the voters to decide their representatives. The information included educational qualifications, criminal precedents, and information about the assets held by them as well as their spouse/dependents. After the judgement, the Election Commission passed an order thereby implementing SC's order. However, the move made the politicians jittery. They proclaimed that they were supreme in their own sense, and that no orders from Supreme Court were required. Soon, legal analysts were brought in to find means to subvert the orders of SC. Finally a clause was found. The order had said, "In the absence of a suitable law". What if a law was made that suited the interests of the politicians. An all-party meeting was called and everyone unanimously agreed that Election Commission had arrogated the powers of the legislature. They then decided to bring a law that mandated that some of the information had to be furnished after the candidate was elected. Now, this law has two basic fallacies. Firstly, the original intention of providing means for the electorate to base their decision on solid facts was peacefully forgotten. Secondly, once the candidate was selected, there was very little chance of him/her losing her seat, notwithstanding whatever information they furnished. That is, if they ever furnish any information. In UP assembly, when such information was asked, only 6 out of the 400 odd members responded. God save the country from the self-serving politicians.

Lastly, today was a big day for Indian cricket. Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh showed a remarkable temperament to help India successfully chase a gigantic England total of 325 and lift the Natwest trophy. Kaif, who was not out on 87, was declared Man-of-the-match. The win was particularly important because through this win India broke the jinx of being chokers, as, preceding this victory, they had lost 9 successive finals on the trot. Today too, when India were 140 odd for five down, I had lost all hope. And I dreaded that along with two pieces of news that I have shared with you above, I would have had to share third bad news too. But Kaif made my day and India won a thriller. For once, three cheers to Indian cricket team, and especially to the young tigers like Kaif, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Zaheer. Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray! Hip hip hurray!