Har shaakh pey ulloo baithha hai…

About four years ago, the then Defence Minister of India, George Fernandes, who was on an official visit to Washington, was “strip-searched” by the U.S. security at the airport. In response, the usually thunderous Fernandes behaved like a scared puppy, and stomached his humiliation quietly without telling a soul. A year later, Strobe Talbott, the former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, published his memoirs where he spilled the beans on this eminently memorable (or, eminently forgettable, depending upon you are on which side of the table) Fernandes incident. It naturally caused a shock and hurt to India’s pride, with Fernandes admitting that the stripping had indeed happened, and eventually the U.S. government was forced to tender a formal apology to India, albeit belated.
 
Year 2007: In May this year, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma, got into a scuffle with the airport authorities at the Delhi airport, when he was asked to submit himself for security procedures and frisking. The incident caused such an uproar among the Ministers of State (MoS) in India that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to agree to add the MoS category to the list of “exempt categories” that do not require security frisking, which already included the President, the Vice-President, the PM, the Speaker, the Cabinet Ministers, the Chief Ministers, the SC judges, and the ambassadors and their spouses.
 
And very interestingly, now after sixty years of independence, suddenly, the armed forces of India have also woken up to the realisation that the Defence Chiefs of the three armed services in India must also be included in this “exalted list” of those who are over and above ordinary security procedures that are meant only for the common man in India. (As if going through a security procedure is an “insult”, and not simply a procedure.)
 
The government of India has responded in the Rajya Sabha that it would not be possible to extend this privilege to the defence service chiefs, because if the favour is bestowed upon one department, then every government department would start demanding the same status for their chiefs.
 
The debate has caught on in the intellectual circles, particularly because the “Defence Services” command a special respect in the eyes of everyone, considering the great sacrificial nature of the service.
 
The Point: It takes an evolved and matured society to understand the meaning of leadership by example, and not by lecturing others. When thousands of ordinary jawans have to undergo security procedures, their leader must lead by example and first of all submit himself for frisking at the airport. The point is not security. The point is displaying an exemplary regard for duty. The point is setting an example before your team, and standing tall before them, and showing them the way. That’s called leading from the front.
 
In India, every Tom, Dick and Harry is in the habit of bypassing rules and regulations, simply by citing that he or she is related to so-and-so VIP. Why? Had the VIPs been submitting themselves to rules and regulations, this rotten culture would not be born in the first place.
 
Now since the Defence Services of India have already caused a furore over a silly issue, let us seize the opportunity and turn the debate on its head (even though this debate will never be understood by the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha of an immature democracy): Scrap this provision of exempting VIPs from security procedures. Let the Cabinet of Ministers and the Defence Chiefs and so on lead the country by example. A good leader must not only respect the law, but he must be “seen” to respect the law. That’s leadership.
 
Kautilya described in Arthashastra that one of the foremost duties of the King is that he must get in touch with the ground realities of his citizens first-hand by moving among them in disguise, and not merely depend upon the reports of his informants and advisors. 
 
Can you comprehend the pain of a burn theoretically, if you have not experienced it first-hand? Can you understand the pain of hunger unless your own child has to go to sleep without food? When a Minister’s car entourage gets stuck in a city traffic jam, only then he will understand the trouble a common man goes through everyday on the roads. In public life, as in business, the real leader must be willing to face the frustrations of his weakest citizens or workers, so that he remains close to the bitter ground realities, and stays constantly motivated.
 
A great leader can turnaround a nation, just as a great CEO can turnaround a loss-making, demoralised organization. The key is understanding the problems of your people. Once you understand a problem, solution is child’s play. 
 
Hands-on leadership is a rare sight in the Indian society, because bureaucracy and hierarchy is seeped into the bones of Indians. If we do not break these bones even now, then these so-called “leaders” of India shall continue to make a hue and cry regarding all kinds of fake honors and privileges, without knowing the ABC of meaningful leadership.
 
Har kuue’n mein hai bhaang padi
Rahbar-e-kaarwaa’n kya hoga

Har shaakh pey ulloo baithha hai
Anjaam-e-gulistaa’n kya hoga
 
* Rahbar-e-kaarwaa’n = Leader of the caravan
* Anjaam-e-gulistaa’n = Fate of the garden