To bee or not to bee

S.PrasannarajanThe lull is over, and suddenly, politics in India has acquired a narrative tension. For so long, it has refused to be anything more than a duller page inhabited by a hologram and an oracle, both inanimate and remote. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, with words unspoken when they were most anticipated and action untaken when it was most required, did not make politics worthier than a one-dimensional, monochromatic affair. The Political Book of India certainly needed a new pair of characters, a fresh infusion of passion, and some ideas to match.Enter Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, and we are being introduced to two versions of power, or maybe out of sheer desperation we have pitted one against the other for the benefit of a more rewarding political text. Every argument needs a counterpoint, and when Modi's high decibel argument rules the airwaves and front pages, he deserves a counter-argument, not a bogeyman, for it is conversation between the incompatibles that makes democracy less monotonous. So in the prospective bestseller of 2014, recto-Modi and verso-Rahul make an irresistible pair for the simple reason that, together, they are a study in power.Rahul Gandhi (left) and Narendra ModiOne thing that can be said about Modi is that ambiguity is not the word that can be associated with him. He is in politics because he wants to be in power, and he will fight for it. In India, "power hungry" is a bad word, but then, if you are in politics and there is no hunger for power, what is the point? In the land of moral harrumphers, renunciation is a virtue higher than ambition. Modi in this moral universe is a stranger, and the velocity of his passion evokes more awe than admiration. His "power struggle" began from a position of disadvantage, and in political terms, it could have been nothing less than purgatory.for a lesser politician. From the embers of Gujarat 2002, Modi has come to occupy the national mind space, and therein lies not just the story of one man's transformation but the first draft of modernisation in the Indian political campaign itself. Defying the restrictive walls of the Sangh Parivar and, more significantly, the still-not-exorcised ghosts of 2002, he plays out his power script across India, and every stopover in his show is a salesman's tent or an evangelist's camp. Development is not his fastest selling item anymore; almost every other chief minister is today selling growth indexes to catch attention. It is leadership. It is also India. Modern politics is a permanent campaign for power, and Modi has been on the stump since that train burned in Godhra.Rahul Gandhi, the second most powerful politician in the other family, is not your average heir apparent. He is not just one of the Gandhis as much as Modi is not just another sevak in the House of Saffron. For Modi, it has taken a thousand speeches to make himself a bestselling, self-marketed political brand. Rahul did not need more than one speech, which incidentally was perhaps the most deconstructed graveyard soliloquy after the Prince of Denmark uttered those words:To be or not to be: that is the question; Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortuneOr to take arms against a sea of troublesAnd by opposing end them? For the ponderous prince of the Beehive Kingdom, power doesn't rhyme with office; it is all about engaging with the million complexities of the unequal nation with the detachment of an outsider, and in his case, an outsider aware of his entitlement. In retrospect, his bee metaphor was more appropriate for his own party. Rahul is still discovering India; Modi wants to own it.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Apr 19, 2013 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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To bee or not to bee

For Modi, it has taken a thousand speeches to make himself a best selling, self-marketed political brand. Rahul did not need more than one speech,which incidentally was perhaps the most deconstructed graveyard soliloquy after the prince of Denmark uttered those words: to be or not to be.

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