The Common man wins. Broom Broom Brooooooom…..!!

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Walt Disney

Show the world that there is a way to make your dreams come true without getting your hands dirty.

As Arvind Kejriwal (45) is all set to govern, with his six cabinet ministers, as Delhi’s seventh and the youngest chief minister, speculations are all time high. Whole country is eying on the power of a common man and waiting with bated breath to see whether he is able to fulfill his promises to “completely overhaul” the system and give us a corruption free government. Now that he is powerful enough to fulfill all his promises, it’s time to see AAP in action not to be judgmental. It takes time to learn the ropes since he comes neither from any political party nor a family. For those, his predecessors, not so happy to see him as Delhi’s CM are doing their best to turn AAP down. First people (politicians) blatantly ridiculed him then they provoked him to join politics, and now again they enjoy belittling him publically. I understand it is not easy to come to terms and accept defeat after ruling 15 years in the Capital but one has to accept the reality, they will do better or not that time will tell but people making false speculations and derogatory remarks personify their insecurity. From last couple of years, as we all have witnessed that politics has almost become synonymous to corruption until Anna Hazare raised the issue and gathered like-minded people to fight for their right which inevitably gave birth to AAP.

It’s already been a landslide victory, 28 seats out of 70 for a debutant party is no less than a miracle. I have no doubt if it becomes a case study at Harvard, Stanford, IIMs or any other top B-Schools in the world. As their victory somewhat reminds me of Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings, people won’t believe you until you do it, till then they will keep ridiculing you but at last they will accept you. Mahatma Gandhi showed Indians a glimpse of hope at that time same Arvind Kejriwal has done by touching people’s heart which other parties never did. Let’s see if Kejriwal is the right person to fit in his shoes or not, it’s time to show support not hatred.

Appreciate the good work, always!

I once read in a management book about how people in India differ in their opinions when it comes to teamwork and support. What I read is almost true, after reading this excerpt you can easily relate it with the prevailing situation:

A few months ago a professor went to a meeting in Bangkok which was attended by participants from various countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, the Phillipines, Japan, India etc. Whenever a Pakistani said something about his country, his colleague supported it. Similarly, when a Bangladeshi spoke about his country, his colleague from another department supported it. All the countries worked like this. However, whenever an Indian spoke, another Indian always contradicted him saying, what my colleague said is true in his state (HR) but the situation is different in my state (UP). Another Indian would get up then and present a third story. Sometimes these disagreements would even lead to fights. It was found that by the fourth day the Indian delegates were even staying at different places and coming at different times to the conference. Seeing this entire issue a delegate from other country said, “I understand that in your country teamwork is difficult, as every Indian seems to differentiate himself, unlike others. We on the other hand are an integrating nation and we help each other.”

Similarly, we often see most of our public servants are dubious about the capabilities of Delhi’s new CM, embittered BJP says AAP is desperate for power, SP says he it’s a fluke and Congress (with unconditional support) as usual plays its political tantrums, although I still can’t gulp the unconditional support thing, I think that was their only saving grace.

However it is all clear that AAP won with the clear cut support from the public without any sort of politics or false practice, although its longevity still remains uncertain. Now it’s time to take a stand in unison and show support and respect for the victorious AAP and the Kejriwal.

Kejriwal’s pledge to unveil Jan Lokpal bill within 15 days of taking office, give us clean governance along with other promises like slashing electricity rate to half, provide 700 ltr free water to each house in Delhi, overhauling elementary education by building 500 new government schools in the Capital etc. is sure to come true. As far as their working and commitments are concerned I have full faith in them but it is important not to raise expectations instantaneously, as this is their political debut, and give them ample time to understand the marrow of politics.

Let’s not belittle instead learn some lessons from them:
Our government spends whopping amount in sending their ministers to developed countries to learn good governance from them still they are unable to deliver their best. AAP has done a tremendous job even their predecessor agrees to it by saying, ‘We wanted to do the same what AAP did.’ Instead of wasting money they should be asked to learn from AAP.

1. Be perseverant: It was not once they were ridiculed publicly but innumerable times, not just that their members were beaten down several times and sent to jail on false charges. But they never lost faith, I remember when I met on of their members who proudly said that our people are in Tihar Jail, some are in hospitals but we won’t give up, we will give tough competition until last, get our people back and help clean Delhi from Corruption.
2. Believe in yourself first then convincing others: We all know how many of common men/women raised their voices against corruption but nothing of sort happened until Anna Hazare went on an indefinite fast. And soon people joined him in leaps and bounds from all across India, I remember when I went to join his movement at Ramleela ground, Delhi, I faced many difficulties to reach there because metros were dismissed in order to withhold people from joining him and roads were jam-packed. I thought I was alone but later on I found many of my friends and like-minded people from diverse professions joining the procession. It all happened because of the faith team Anna had in them.
3. Keep your calm: It is one of the most perceptible weaknesses I have ever seen in most of the people I have met. I had been through this myself but I practiced and transformed myself as soon as I realized that other people can easily take liberty of you. You may understand and relate it to yourself too, if a person like us leading a normal life can get influenced by others’ remarks then how about those who are always in the limelight. They got to listen more and speak less and whatever they speak becomes debatable, so it is of utmost importance to maintain your calm to maintain your dignity.
4. Don’t relish your success for too long: As it is all pervasive that better we do more we raise the expectation bar, and if we don’t do better next time our victory is adjudged as fluke. It had happened with famous people from Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Jobs to Narendra Modi etc. AAP has hardly done that, as we see they are now preparing for coming Lok Sabha elections, but that is going to be the acid test for them. Bill Gates rightly said, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
5. Never settle for mediocrity: It is easy to slow down once a goal is achieved, research says – many successful people fall into depression because they never set another goal after achieving one. The first victory for Arvind Kejriwal was when he formed AAP, subsequently many people joined him and money started pouring in. And today we all can see AAP didn’t settle for anything less that becoming an autonomous party. The one-year old party has given a taste of defeat to many political honchos, it has already created a history.

And the most important lesson is to do something wholeheartedly and give your 100% until you achieve it. Not necessary that you will win but it is important that you keep the lamps of hope lit in you and always give your best.  In the end all I can say is ‘Politics is no more a dirty word.’