The Power Game…
‘Mumbai is about money and Delhi is about power’ was one of the dialogues from the movie ‘No one killed Jessica Lal’. But, this time like plenty of others, it was a power game gone wrong. A young lad had shot a model/bartender point blank for refusing to serve him a drink after closing hours. The accused in question though was sentenced and served his time, it was only after a lot of media scrutiny and a sting operation to unravel the truth from the witnesses who were threatened to silence.
When the movie initially released, I interpreted the title, ‘No one killed Jessica Lal’ as, it was not just one who killed Jessica Lal, but a whole lot of others, including her friends, witnesses, the police, the judiciary who together killed her spirit and her truth long after she was dead. The accused in question belonged to an influential powerful family. It’s an over abused phrase in Delhi in any street brawl, ‘Jaanta hai mera Baap kaun hai?’ translating to ‘Do you know who my father is?’ Everybody is a somebody there or at least they make it seem like it.
This incident to me like countless other examples in our country was an abuse of power. Is power bad? Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? They say, ‘If you want to test a man’s character, give him power.’ I think it was in the movie ‘Haider’ loosely based on and an ingenious interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ in the context of a politically tumultuous Kashmir, that a policeman mentions, “Aag ko paani ka darr hona chahiye.” A dialogue that stayed with me. It literally translates to, ‘Even fire should be vary of water’ meaning ‘The society should always have a balance of power.’ I know, I sound like a movie junkie by now, but Haider is worth a watch. Also, I am yet to read Hamlet.
That may be one reason why people laud democracies more than monarchy’s or dictatorships. There is nothing wrong with a monarchy or a dictatorship as long as the people at the helm of power have their head firmly on their shoulders. As long as they are benevolent, compassionate and fair. But, that is seldom the case and hence the birth of the belief that a multi party system or the people’s government will keep the power dynamics in a much required check.
Strength isn’t the same as power. Strength, as I understand is how resilient you can be in the face of adversity and power is how you can influence the world around you. As I debated with someone on Medium, when you can put up with a bully and remain unfazed, that is strength. When you can show your bully his or her place, that needs power and if you with all your might start preying on the seemingly puny ones, that is abuse of power.
Powerful men or women are not an issue. Power is something you acquire as a result of your life experiences. Someone once told me ‘Pain is directly proportional to power’. The ghastlier you life has been, the more your power. However, it is up to you how you let adversities shape you. Does it make you better and more considerate or bitter and malevolent.
I have seen leaders in various respects handle power differently. I know what both good and shoddy leadership looks like. Leadership isn’t about exuding an aura of fear. The more powerful and influential you become, the more humble and approachable you should be. If you choose to put yourself on a pedestal for everyone else to worship from a distance, you are failing the very people who hoisted you up there.
I usually refrain from quoting specific examples, but sometimes I feel it is well deserved. At least, I can speak about the good. Where I last worked, a few people did make a dent on my psyche. One was my mentor as I mentioned in my previous post ‘Why not knowing is alright’ and another was the CEO of the institution. It was especially during the trying times of Covid, when he could be found on the floors with the rest of the staff managing the logistics and easing the process out for the all of us apart from heading the numerous official meetings and other responsibilities that he had under him. I guess being trained with the Army shows.
He was always approachable unlike institutes where junior professionals are vary about interacting with their heads of institution. If you are ever called, it is assumed that you are in trouble. But, here was one leader whose door was always open for students, junior employees and senior employees alike. I think one should give credit where it is due.
Power and good leadership is sometimes about making those unnerving decisions. It requires a spine of steel and it isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. It is about being accommodating and compassionate at all other times but rising up to the occasion when a tough call needs to be made. If you have read the book, ‘Dongri to Dubai’, a biography of the underworld honcho Dawood Ibrahim and other books by the author Hussain Zaidi, you will get an inkling of what I am going to talk about next.
The book mentions how Mumbai had become a hub for nefarious activities and cases of blackmail and extortion were on the rise a few decades ago. Gang wars were an everyday occurrence and it had become increasingly difficult for business owners and movie producers to get anything done without being a target of the underworld. In one such incident when a shoot out took place in one of the public hospitals injuring civilians in the process and it became loud and clear that the misdemeanor was now trickling to and causing havoc in the public domain, the then police commissioner with his aides decided to sanitize the city in his own way.
From a power struggle between the mafia gangs, it was now a power struggle between the police and the mafia. Some people questioned the morality of it, but everybody unanimously agreed that it was indeed required. Nefarious activities still go on, but just not very blatantly in the open and I am sure most of us are grateful for that.
Even when it comes to the larger picture of Geopolitics, I am a proponent of a multipolar world as long as it is peaceful because yes, I do believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely and that Aag ko paani ka darr hona chahiye.
