Change, they say is inevitable. It has to happen, no matter what a person tries. There could be a change either through the standard generational process, where one generation retires and the next one take over, or it could be through usurping power, or through the power of the common man, who demands it.
My inference of course is to the last part, more so with the Indian Elections recently being completed. A process of voters selecting their candidates who they believe will work for them. A process that runs across the country, in the true sense, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, covering every state, city, town, village, district in the country. A process that spread across all religions, not having any preference for any caste, race or culture, old or young, simply that one was an Indian and was over 18 years of age. The number of people invited to this event: A Mind Boggling 800+ Million. An Event called, The Indian Election.
What is impressive, is that this event has taken place 16 times. Every 5 Years. Sixty Five Years in total. Without fail. Without major incidents. Never scrapped. With an average of nearly 50 Million new users exerting their voice every 5 years. A friend of mine compared it to the 12 Year Kumbh Mela, that too being of a huge magnitude, however that is confined to one area. The Election is an across the country run, the comes out with an outcome that may be expected or unexpected. It may show a continuance of the previous management or demand an outright change where in new leaders are sought and they bring in their theologies, their ideologies, their thoughts.
The current set of Elections proved just that. A Government in power for a decade, a party that ran the country for nearly Six of the 6.5 Decades of Independence, a Party that was considered to be the very basis of Indian Existence, a party that was well over a 100 years old, a Party that was the forefront in pushing for Indian Independence. Wiped Out!
The Media coined in different words of being Destroyed, Decimated, Obliterated and why not. For a party with such legacy, being whittled down to a state, where they could not even muster enough strength to challenge the new Government on their own, was a major change.
Leaders come and go, Governments get elected and also pulled down, but what is commendable about the Indian Election is the peaceful manner in which it is done. There are the usual incidents of reports of violence in some / many constituencies, but more and large, one sees a peaceful change and a mutual understanding between the outgoing and incoming parties.
Leaders for all their fallacies, be it incompetency, ineptitude, arrogance and some times even indifference during their tenure in power, accept the voice of the people and rarely, if ever has one seen any Minister, or leader refusing to step down. The one time it did, the people of India simply responded in the next election. They voted the party out.
This in a country where more than 50% are illiterate, where nearly 70% live below the poverty line, these are the people who truly define change, these are the people bear the fruits of their decisions even if wrong for 5 years, but when they get a chance, they ensure they exercise it. On their own, through coercion, through manipulation, but done. Some where a lesson both in terms of Management of such a large event, to a lesson in understanding cooperation and coordination, where people from different walks of life, all come together for a uniform cause, to acceptance, that when people are not satisfied with your results, they will ensure they change.
Either themselves, or the ones who run them. Mostly it is the latter.
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