In the ruins of Magadh. By Ashutosh Bhardwaj
Kya isse kuch fark padega/
agar main kahun/
main Magadh ka nahin/
Avanti ka hun?
Magadh ke maane nahi jaoge
Avanti mein pehchane nahi jaoge
WHILE IT IS easier to
decry Nitish Kumar’s
BJP embrace as yet another instance of rotten politics, the Patna text demands
a different reading. Here are eight propositions to decode its narrative.
One: Indian Politics
is now an individualistic utilitarian act. It has moved beyond the Plato’s
advice in The Republic that true politics is ethics in action. It now involves
the art of managing multiple partners simultaneously, with the sole aim to
maximising pleasure and power. It celebrates and legitimises narcissism. Many
have practised this art before Nitish, he will also have his successors, some
of whom will perform this art on him too.
Two: The Patna episode
was not a drama, but a novel. Such political coups, because of their curious
turns, are often termed as “dramatic”. In great novels, of Paul Auster’s for
instance, even the most bizarre twists of life appear predetermined and
inevitable. Indian politics has now the ability to deliver the most curious
scenarios with routine ease. It no longer surprises us, but reveals itself in
chilling banality. The drama is over. Indian politics is now a novel waiting
for its generous writers.
We already have an
illustrious novel to exemplify it. Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and
Forgetting begins with an 1948 incident in which the revered Communist leader
and author Vladimir Clementis took off his cap and placed it on the fellow
comrade and Prime Minster Klement Gottwald’s head before an applauding crowd of
several thousands in Prague. The sky sprinkled fresh white snow over Prague as
Czechoslovakia ushered into a historic moment. Soon after, Clementis was
charged with sedition and executed. His cap still remained on Gottwald’s head,
but few knew that it belonged to the persecuted leader.
Three: The phrase
“U-turn” needs a review. We take many turns through our life, changing jobs,
lovers and friends. Our choices often contradict each other. We move on, but
quite often return to embrace those with whom we had a bitter separation. We
can also lend some space to politicians to make such turns.
Four: His BJP embrace
does not mean that Nitish is now “anti-corruption” but supports “lynching and
communalism”. To assume that he was a staunch advocate of secularism until his
resignation but lost these credentials thereafter is a misleading interpretation
of the human mind… read more:
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/in-the-ruins-of-magadh-the-subtleties-of-literature-rather-than-cold-political-analysis-will-help-decode-events-in-patna-4774713/