This appeared in Sunday Times last weekend...by Shobha De.
The AG-RG
faceoff: Naani ki Yaad Aa Gayee
Simpleton or Savant? You decide!!!
So… shall we say dumb is
the new brilliant??? Frankly speaking, ‘those’ revealing 80 minutes last week
stumped the nation in more ways than one. Arnab Goswami,the country’s
conscience-keeper, was at his avuncular best when he spoke to the man who would
be PM , like a kindly uncleji dealing with a simple minded
nephew.Not bad as interview strategies go. A rope was given. It was
gratefully grabbed. And the public hanging was complete. Rahul Gandhi broke
several protective, motherly hearts (mine included), as he blindly rushed
towards a point of no return, watched by a billion jeering people. The noose
was tightened pretty early, but our sweet, trusting Rahul Baba didn’t realize
what was happening till it was too late and he was left sweating at the gallows
by an uncharacteristically calm interrogator-assassin. Without getting into
‘specifics’ ( sorry, Arnab!) of the lethal interview, let it be asked what made
Rahul Gandhi take this self-destructive step in the first place? There are
theories galore (“ He has nothing to lose…he knows it’s all over for the
Congress.”). But Rahul- watchers remain baffled . The thing is, this was a seminal
interview. One assumes there was no death wish involved. Someone
obviously talked Rahul into exposing himself on prime time television. Who is
that someone? Off with his head! Can’t possibly be a friend or well-wisher.
Once Rahul put his foot into it, he was stuck! Worse, he promptly forgot the
script and mangled his lines.But let’s be fair and give him some brownie points
for actually finishing the interview and not running away, unlike India’s top
orator and Rahul’s chief rival – Narendra Modi.Unfortunately, this interview is
likely to haunt Rahul Gandhi for the rest of his life.
Since then, there have been
countless attempts by Rahul baiters, haters, and rabid critics to dance on his
grave and kiss him a quick goodbye. But what is far more interesting is the
attempt by minders and admirers to provide an entirely different spin to the
disaster. It has been suggested that Rahul Gandhi is NOT really dumb. He
only sounds it! He actually fakes stupidity! That’s how brilliant he is!! Why?
Because that is a part of his larger, grander design to woo his core
electorate. This is how it goes : Rahul was advised by some super brains in the
party to submit himself to the Arnab barbeque and then go flat out to
appear daft. He was assured the nation was sick of listening to bombastic, old
school netas making tall claims and sounding insincere. Young India, they told
Rahul, was singularly unimpressed by crafty, nasty, oily politicians spouting
clichés, and pretending they had all the answers. Rahul had to create a
different slot, even if that meant making an absolute ass of himself. His
stubborn stone walling, is also being showcased as the master stroke of the
century. For, no matter what Arnab threw at Rahul, the answers remained the
same. This was no accident, insist his advisors. Rahul got the better of an
exasperated Arnab by frustrating him…. wearing him down…by coolly repeating
himself over and over again. Rahul, they now claim, effortlessly managed to
hammer home his message to those who matter the most in the next election – the
youth. Rahul also revealed his personal demons, confusions, contradictions,
fears, hopes, dreams, concerns, anxieties, vulnerabilities…even his monumental
ignorance! This, say his friends, made Rahul more relatable and real. The idea
was to project him as a sensitive, passionate seeker of a higher truth, leaving
lesser beings to grapple with ground level issues of leadership, governance and
other boring stuff. Gushed an acolyte, “How many leaders have the guts to bare
their souls on national television?” True. They have better sense.
While the attempts to
intellectualise / contextualize his responses (an absurd face- saving device!)
go on, an entire RG industry has sprung up online. People who are being kind to
Rahul, have been offering excuses and trying in vain to deconstruct those
cringe- making gaffes. They are also providing a clever subtext to the
entire exercise. Hours have been invested searching for deeper, hidden
meanings, while analysing each empty utterance. These strenuous interpretations
are being dished out by those who would like to believe this was not a case of
“ The Prince has no clothes”. Alas, the less charitable openly mock
his “Power is poison” refrain, pointing out how the Gandhi family had developed
an effective anti-dote to poison fifty years ago.
So what happens to Rahul Baba now?
Will the wicked ‘system’ which he is very much a part of, but likes to
denounce, allow him to lick his wounds in peace and get on with life? Or will
the collective scorn of opponents force him to adopt ‘their’ ways and become
‘one of them’? A creature and creation of dynasty politics himself, Rahul
thought nothing of rubbishing the notion with a straight face. Now, that
requires ‘solid’ acting ! In many ways, and on several levels, Rahul Gandhi
paid rich and direct tributes to familiar Gandhi traditions. The nation got a
lump in its throat. Seriously - Naani ki yaad aayi.
