Am I a leader in disguise?

On June 25, 2010, in Freedom Team, Politics, by

I was told recently that someone (let's call him "Harish") thinks I am a "sort of a leader in disguise " (!). Apparently I want "to play safe as I am working for Australian Govt and thinking of bringing political revolution in India while remaining stationed in Australia."

Through this blog post I'd like to let Harish know that I'm not a leader in disguise. I'm out there in public. No disguise. No secrets about it. My book, BFN talks clearly about it. I have never hidden my leadership ambitions. Because I believe I have information and capacity to totally change India's future. And I don't expect anyone to join FTI unless they are clear they have the capacity and calibre to become Prime Minister of India. Else we are getting second raters and we can't do anything with such people.

I'd like to inform Harish that I'm also clear about this – that I must lead because I CARE deeply for India and its future, not because being a leader is necessary in any form or shape for my personal happiness. I am PERFECTLY happy where I am and will continue to be happy to an extent that most people in the world can't even imagine. Happiness is such a personal thing, anyway; nothing to do with external paraphernalia of ANY sort.

And third, let me tell Harish that I want India to prosper (and the world), which means all this that I'm doing is not only NOT about me but CANNOT be about me. It is logically impossible for any of my work to be about me. Instead, it is about finding and fostering genuine leaders in India who can proudly lead India to glory and greatness.

India is not something that exists only in my lifetime. It has had a short 8,000 year old journey so far, but a much longer journey – of millions of years – lies ahead. It is not my goal to be a blip of light in my lifetime by becoming some kind of a special "leader" but letting darkness prevail after that. My goal, instead, to ensure that thousands of bright lights rise and shine in India, not only today but for ever. I love my people despite their flaws (But who is flawless – definitely not me! – we are all human). So I want to liberate my fellow countrymen from their slumber. And having done that, my job will be done. They will lead themselves. Self-leadership is therefore the aim, not imposing my 'leadership' in ANY form or shape. Leadership, in any event, is ONLY about achieving one's goals, not about oneself. That I'm on this journey itself gives me more satisfaction than I got when I was merely a bureaucrat, trying to 'adjust' the rotten systems we have.

And I am interested in supporting FTI become an organisation that fights for freedom, not an organisation that will depend on any single team member. Any of us can die next thing tomorrow: then what? Would the fight for freedom and good governance that FTI is working on, die? Is freedom so cheap that it must depend on any single person, whoever that person be? Why are we so foolish that we depend on a single person for our own freedom and prosperity? Don't we have self-respect? Why are we such total slaves that we need to think of leadership as a "position", not a function of citizenship and self-actualisation? When will we grow up?

Gandhi's age was of great leaders, although he just did simple things as a common citizen. Citizenship was so rare in those days that he became a great leader. But that was history. Why can't we all become good citizens today? Surely we don't need feats of glory any longer. We are adults, I hope?! With deep self-regard, and commitment to our own nation, our own world. This is now the age of citizen-leaders. Everyone must be a leader – a person who takes responsibility for his own country.

I ask Harish, therefore, whether he (and his team of highly qualified Indians) would prefer to be citizen-leaders working together to take India to greatness, or would they rather be loners, each of whom wants his own individual greatness? Harish, you surely realise that if you truly want greatness then you must become part of a great country, not a single 'great' man who sits on top of a petty molehill. So let's join together to make India great. Let's all work to ensure citizenship. Let's NEVER lose our identity to serve anyone else but ourselves! The nation exists for us. Nothing is greater than us. But we can't be great without a great nation. That is why we must work together. Then we can all be great! How simple is that!

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