Do you find the aura and majesty of a J.R.D. Tata in any of the present-day business tycoons? Would a rustic Kapil Dev ever ask his fan to leave India, if the fan expresses the view that he enjoys the batting of Australian batsmen better than his? Do you find the magnificence and benevolence of Khushwant Singh in M.J. Akbar? Do you find the disarming compassion of Mahatma Gandhi in any of our national leaders today? Do you find the showmanship of a Raj Kapoor in any of the latter-day Kapoors?
The Chief Justice of India was only being true to himself when he observed that the aura and majesty is missing among the judges of the higher judiciary. Generally speaking, we do not find the judicial majesty of a Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer or the fearlessness of a Justice H.R. Khanna in many of the higher judiciary judges today. This is not to say all our present-day leaders in various fields are not worthy people. They may be effective in their own professions, but they have shrunk significantly compared to the larger-than-life leaders of the past. “So clean a man that he makes angels look disheveled and dirty,” Khushwant Singh said about Justice H.R. Khanna.
Leaders in all fields have shrunk, no question about it. Hubris, greed and a sense of entitlement have shrunk them. Some also lack the conscience and courage. #MeToo allegations have exposed many a leader with feet of clay, in the fields of sports, industry and media. Some whistle-blowers have exposed quid pro quo deals and sheer corruption in many top institutions.
The reasons for the decay in the majestic qualities of our leaders are not difficult to understand. In the olden days, the saying, yadha raja thathapraja (as is the king, so is the subject) held good. In the present majoritarian democratic milieu, the opposite of that holds sway. Leaders are what the people want them to be. If people like muscular nationalism, “gentler, tolerant and consensual forms of politics” may not be practised by the leaders. If society gives real respect for wealth accumulation and sheds crocodile tears for honesty, we will rarely come across the likes of Satyendra Dubey or a Shanmugam Manjunath among our bureaucrats.
“Money is like a manure. It sinks when you pile it; it grows when you spread it,” J.R.D. Tata once said. Employee welfare and society’s good are the two pillars that held the business empire of the legend. To him, “no success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people and is achieved by fair and honest means”. He also lived life a little dangerously. He was a restless seeker of adventure, and became India’s first licensed pilot. In today’s context, one’s rank in the Forbes billionaires list is what matters most to business tycoons. That’s what people admire them for. To be on the right side of law is the only ‘fair and honest means’ business conglomerates practise.
Till a few years back, I used to admire at the great and insightful language used in some of the judgments of the higher judiciary, where law used to intermingle with literature and humanism. Last year, a Supreme Court bench had set aside an eight-page Himachal Pradesh High Court judgment as it could not comprehend the contents and language!
It is the jamana of well-dressed, street-smart leaders in all spheres of life. Inner majesty and magnificence are conspicuous by their absence.
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