Praise and Criticism

To dissent and criticise the actions of the Government with disdain being the prerogative of the Opposition in the elected legislative bodies from the nation’s Parliament down to Gram Panchayats as well as ULBs (Urban Local Bodies) as the hallmark of Democracy in the country, to praise their leaders of the respective political parties in the seat by the elected members of these bodies is their pleasure. Ignoring the full-throated rhetoric by the Opposition berating the Government of the day left-right-and-centre both in the house and from public platforms, the top brass in administration nonchalantly brings out leaflets and also compilations of work done and results achieved to proclaim their achievements in instalments of 100 days, six months, year wise followed by full-page, multicoloured publicity material in virtually all dailies in addition to blaring on the small screen in different languages of the land as well as English. This game of blame and defence goes on like the river in the poetic line ‘Men may come and men may go, I go on forever’ by British poet Alfred Tennyson in the poem The Brook in 1886. If the game is not played, subject to Parliamentary etiquette, irrespective of the outcome, pundits are sure to remark that Democracy is in deep slumber.

Mysuru’s elderly citizens, particularly those who served as Officers in the Government during the reign of Wadiyars in the Princely State can recollect the hailing of the King’s arrival to hold durbar during Dasara with praise by lines of great lineage of Mysuru’s royalty and glory in superlatives. The group doing a professional job of praising were described as hogalubhattas.

The country’s present-day politicians not only know the trade of garnering votes to win at the hustings but also know the tricks of the trade. One of those tricks is to do the talking about their credentials to claim the leader gaddi by their hirelings, modern avatar of hogalubhattas of yesteryears. Not to let the gullible Indians get the feeling that the Government is doing precious little for the cause of their welfare, the more eloquent among the top brass in the Government comes out through all media channels to neutralise the charges of governance failure levelled by the verbose Opposition. In fact, the incumbent Government at the Centre seems to have silenced the Opposition by the Finance Minister’s response, “We are a Government that listens, whether it is criticism or input.”

Praise showered undeservedly and that done for a good cause are different cups of tea. Bottom line: “The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism” attributed to American author Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993), known for his work in popularising the concept of positive thinking, may serve as a guide to both the Government’s Spokespersons and the Opposition.