The Ugly Beautiful

Arjun (screaming): No. I don't want politics. It is a highly stinking sewage

Manivanan: If you call it sewage, then why not get into it, clear it up and make it pleasant for everyone?

Forgive my poor translation but Sujatha's well-chosen and well-worded slap on the face dialogue in the Tamil film "Mudhalvan" sums up the perfect state of affairs concerning the politics in our country. 

I am not going to go into the formal politics regarding our netas and babus who govern our country. They are highlighted, displayed and portrayed by the media in rich limelight everyday giving the much needed entertainment factor for us besides the deep betrayal, disgust and resentment that we feel for them at their attitudes, behavior, dishonesty and overt lies. I felt that I would rather explore the day to day politics which we encounter in our lives.

I wake up in the morning and after completing my morning rituals, I commence to work @ 820 am so that I can wade through the traffic easily and reach my office by 9 am. Stepping down from the stairs, you would want to peacefully take your vehicle and start to work. But, our esteemed neighbour will find the perfect time to carp " You had parked your vehicle in my space last night". Despite having a valid and genuine reason, I know that if I start explaining myself to him I wouldn't be on time to work. Muttering an apology and starting to work, you know that however safe and sound you drive, there would still be persons to criticize your driving. You drive rash. You get scolding. You drive fast. Scolding. You drive slow. Scolding. So, to avoid these comic characters, you drive to the extreme left/right of the road - Yep. the guess is right - we would still be luxuriously showered with unprintable words that are too strong for our delicate ears. After a successful scolding session, I manage to eventually reach my office between 855 am & 9am everyday. Now, the real drama starts. You work sincerely. You get spoken behind your back that you are being artificial. Ignoring the catcalls and focussing your effort and energy on the task in front of you, the web of people to speak behind your back just keeps on increasing at an alarming rate much faster than our galaxies expand. I know and understand that I cannot antagonize any colleague however brazen they are with their comments. Office Politics at its peak to the extent that even Mount Everest seemed smaller to such petty politics. So, what do I do now. Get a very quick 10 minute coffee break to ease up the tension and have a quiet time for myself. Unfortunately, we will have another situation here. I would be standing in the line to get the token for the coffee. Then suddenly you will find an over smart person trying to cut the queue citing some random XYZ reason for their actions. You do not want to pick up an argument with them. What do I do "Yes please". It does not stop with it. Similar situations happen to you during lunchtime also. So, the morning session is done. When you have calls and the client is being unreasonable in their demands, you know that it is not at all possible. They might even bite our heads in the process. But, in the most professional and polished demeanour, we enlighten them that what is possible is possible. The rest is not impossible but difficult to implement right away. So, the calls stretch till 830pm in the night and sometimes late into the night depending on the time zones. Patience. patience. patience. After a gruelling day's work, you once again encounter the same scolding scenarios before and at last reach your home sweet home. You have you wifi on and check the messages. Smile at funny updates and status and your mom gets suspicious that you are in love with a girl. She starts asking probing questions in unthinkable and unimaginable ways that even a seasoned lawyer would have to come to your mother to take up training classes with her on the art of asking questions. Just like how a warrior defends their kingdom, you defend against your mom's inquisitive questions. Finally, dinner is served. You have your dinner and hit the rack for the loop to continue again. 

This is when I felt something was terribly amiss. The loop needs to stop else I felt I would continue to be a victim of the circumstances again and again and again. So, what was actually happening here?

I realized that the moment people came together, formed and framed societal rules, politics became an integral part of the society. Every person has their own expectations, mindset, beliefs, attitudes, their own definition of right and wrong and has their own unique levels of patience and tolerance. I gradually became aware and cognizance of the fact that politics has pervaded into the very DNA of our system. I comprehended the indubitable truth at last and finally came in tune with the reality that escapism is not the way out. So, to traverse and wiggle through this complex interactions with multiple stakeholders, instead of running away from politics - be it home, office etc, I understood that it's I who needs to stay firm and hold my ground diligently by taking up responsibilities for each and every action - big or small. 

Politics - As I saw it - Poly: Many and Tics: Blood sucking parasites. That's how I viewed politics to be. But, since my realization on the truth, there's a beauty now in this harsh and cruel game. The everyday challenge. The daily fun. The day-to-day enjoyment.

To sum it up, Life is really and literally how we want to see it - It is red when we wear a red glass and green on wearing a green glass. The choice is always ours to know when to use which glass.

Epilogue:

Just wanted to try a different writing style for this blog so that a true and accurate picture is given in a simple, direct, straight forward and lucid terms.