Biases

Like most other races, Indians have plenty of biases. We have biases against people from other religions – it is very rare to meet a Hindu who is completely open and does not see Muslims with some bit of suspicion. Many of us treat people from North East as strangers. The white-skinned have always tended to see the dark complexioned as inferior. In many parts of the country, there are caste discriminations. There are stereotypes about communities, gender and age.

That is why it is so silly to see cases filed against Emran Hashmi for saying that he has been refused houses because he is a Muslim. It is completely hypocritical to profess otherwise. He has just stated the truth he has experienced. Many of us know that such instances are common.

We need to confront the ugly realities of our society and eliminate them rather than hide behind legal and political obfuscation.

Leadership Lessons From Obama

The ascent of Barrack Obama has entranced millions across the world. We find people in urban India bewitched by the rise of a black man in another country. This is true of many individuals around the world. From Kenya, through Berlin and Russia to Malaysia, we are all awash with hope and a sense of optimism through this splendid leader.

Reams have been written about him, his mixed lineage, his transcendence of race and his stupendously efficient organization of the election machinery. There have also been endless discussions about the fundamental transformation of the American society which has enabled his rise.

But the Obama phenomenon powerfully demonstrates the classic principles of leadership. These are the basics, many have chosen to forget or ignore, in the daily battle for survival and growth and some out of short-sightedness. True leadership stands on the pillars of self-awareness, managing paradoxes, authenticity, vision, and ability to fight against odds in pursuit of a dream. These have defined the paradigm of timeless and effective, long-term leadership through out history from Christ to Gandhi and Churchill.


Self-awareness: The Oracle at Delphi said Know thyself and the Indian scriptures espouse the idea of self-knowledge as being the highest form of knowledge. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Obama’s first book’ Dreams of my father’, he wrote at 33, is full of extraordinary self-reflections and insight into his complex years in different countries and in the fractured American society. It is an emotional odyssey that delves into his inner life, his variegated upbringing through intense reflections. It is a voyage of self-discovery as powerful and poignant as any other.

Self-awareness is the profound and deep understanding about your strengths, your desires and your sources of energy, your wings of inspiration and your place in the world. Self-awareness enables one to resolve your paradoxes, to transcend conflicts and to become the masters of our own lives rather than slaves. As Warren Bennis puts it,” You make your life your own by understanding it.” A self-aware individual has also the courage of his convictions. This is the stepping stone to leadership.

Managing Paradoxes: We live in a complex world. The leader is tested everyday by conflicts, contrasting positions and mindsets and it is his job to manage those paradoxes and contradictions. Barrack is a true master in managing paradoxes. He is a black from working class roots who studied in the best schools. He is a Harvard lawyer who chose to be a community organizer. He is a community organizer who decided to fight for presidency without any significant experience. His grandfather was a Muslim, his father an atheist and he is a practicing Christian. He diets on asparagus and salads and has complete empathy with his repressed black brethren. He fought hard against McCain and Clinton with grace and candour. He does not compromise and yet drives his point. He manages the contradictions between black and white, democrats and republicans, and change and American founding ideals with remarkable élan.

A leader has the ability to engage with diverse viewpoints, probe the ideas sincerely and then arrive at a rational solution embracing the contrasting positions.



Authenticity: A true leader is completely authentic. Authenticity inspires trust. It is about developing your personality free of falsehoods and illusions. Obama has never flinched from confronting realities about himself and his own inner contradictions. He has gone through moments of self-doubt about his race and his choices. He has always maintained with African –Americans that he is black but has never been keen on using the color of his skin to get votes. He has not withdrawn from taking on the most difficult facts about his life like his association with Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright and openly talking about them to the public. He is what you see and that authenticity has led to the extraordinary trust reposed in him by people across age, race and class.

Authenticity is associated with sincerity, honesty and integrity. It is a reflection of a leader’s own self and leaders have to adapt to multiple situations without losing their identity and that is why authenticity is so important and together with the ability to manage paradoxes , enables a leader to handle complex situations and uncertainty.

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Vision: Barrack has always communicated and remained steadfast to his vision. It is a vision of hope, unity and working together. It is free of rancour and negativity. It is remarkable in its scope of appealing to the best in us. It is a brave new world without any distinctions of race, creed or origins.

This vision is forged in the reality of today, is interpreted through the existing strands of culture and is an indistinct but credible version of tomorrow. The leaders need to develop a vision and communicate it continuously.



Fighting against odds: Last, Obama stands out for being able to fight against odds in every situation. His entire life is a story of overcoming odds stacked against him by his origins, his circumstances and then in the presidential battle by the formidable Clinton machine. Along the way he fights mental demons, prejudices of his closest friends and family and battles on for a brave, new world without harbouring any self-doubt.

The media and bookshelves are full of material and literature on leadership. They emphasise communication, false significance of heritage, confidence and various other attributes. They are important but they do not make a true leader. They are the secondary characteristics of a leader. The principal pillars are these timeless principles.

Forecasts for 2009 Elections

In less than an hour, the results of the 2009 elections will start flowing in. This is turning out to be one of the most exciting elections ever with no holds barred campaigns, shifting of course by many parties and the undercurrents of socio-economic change driving preferences.

The opinion poll forecasts went horribly wrong in 2004. The forecasts started off by giving 335 plus seats to the NDA and then towards the elections came down to 272 odd. But the seats finally were much lower and the Congress came back to power in a really unexpected comeback. The media was even more confident of the NDA victory.

The media tends to hype up the parties like BJP more ,because ideological parties tend to be more passionate in articulation of their views and in their fervor. This over a period of time before any election ,starts giving a slightly higher degree of false hope and momentum to these parties. Secondly, the silent voter, most likely of a mainstream non-ideological party, keeps a low profile and so does not go to rallies and this leads the other parties to underestimate the potential of their opposition.

The media is more circumspect this time. The psephologists are also more careful. The undercurrents suggest that the forecasts of NDTV and CNN-IBN seem to make the most sense. TN, AP, Maharashtra are going the way these exit polls have predicted and not the way the media read. This means the Congress will win about 160 plus seats and the BJP marginally lesser than 140. The UPA will be comfortably ahead.

2009 Elections

With seven hundred million voters (possibly, two hundred million of them illiterate) and a colorful cast of leading characters, Indian elections are one of the most fascinating events of our times.

Sonia Gandhi: Sixty something Italian, widow of a Prime Minister, cannot speak Hindi clearly, represents the heart of the Hindi belt, reticent and operates by consensus.

Mayawati: Dalit woman, unsophisticated and aggressive, unmarried, narcissist and uses the administrative machinery to build huge statues for herself, weighs herself in gifts of gold on her birthdays and accumulator of wealth.

Advani: Refugee from Pakistan, erstwhile RSS member, loves Hindi movies, chief claim to fame being that he rode a truck decorated as a chariot to demolish Babri Masjid, 81 years old and using the full power of the net to promote himself.

Manmohan Singh: Ph.D. from Cambridge, economist, brilliant and honest, has had three heart surgeries, lost the only election he fought, bureaucrat extraordinaire.

Jayalalitha: Ex-film star,voluptuous, rumoured to be a special friend of the earlier Chief Minister of the state, capricious, intelligent and charismatic.

Naveen Pattnaik: Sixty year old Doon school educated son of an earlier Chief Minister, friend of Jackie Kennedy and assorted New York socialites, unmarried and honest, author of a book on Indian plants,cannot speak the language of the state he is the Chief Minister of.

Narendra Modi: Risen from RSS, Chief Minister of Gujarat during the worst communal carnage in Indian post-independence history and accused of hatred towards Muslims, demagogue and strong administrator, poster boy of Hinduvta.

Prakash Karat: Marxist ideologue , never fought an election, opposes anything American.

Mulayam Singh Yadav: Ruled the largest state in the country, wrestler and rustic, promotes film stars and socialites in the party, wears dhoti himself and master of caste politics.

Lalu Prasad Yadav: Had the gumption to make his primary school educated wife the Chief Minister of a large state, supposedly turned Indian Railways around, extraordinary talent in using humour to strengthen his position, breeds cows in his official quarters and father of nine children.

Rahul Gandhi: Son, grandson and great grandson of Prime Ministers, shy and soft-spoken, still learning the art of politics , loves bikes and dimpled, thirty-eight years old and bachelor.