My heart goes out to Rahul Gandhi

Dear Rahul,
You must be terribly disappointed by the disastrous performance of the Indian National Congress, and more so because the party leaders are not allowing you to shoulder moral responsibility for the failure and quit the job you so distaste.

I know how it feels to do a job one hates and still remain captive to the self interests of a bunch of selfish politicians, who are self-centered and without an iota of self-respect to say the least.
I understand, you are also a prisoner of your family's self-indulged tradition of being the custodian of the Congress party and will probably lead it till the time the party exists.
We are almost of the same age, and yet you have to bear the burden of such high expectations, trauma, personal loss, ridicule, and what not. Sometimes I feel how lucky I am.
I was very close to my grandfather, and when he passed away, I was just over nine. Although it was a natural death at a reasonable age during that time, the pain of the loss left me blank for months. But my agony was no match compared to what you had to undergo when Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

It was in the height of summer in 1991 and preparations for my Economics Honours examination kept me awake till very late in night. So when my father woke me up very early next morning, I was angry. Little did I know that by then Rajiv Gandhi's body was ripped apart beyond recognition.

No matter what the world thought about him, Rajiv Gandhi was your father, who held you in his arms, cuddled you, taught you how to walk, responded to your babble and inspired you to dream big to fulfill your aspirations.

When everybody, including me, were competing to find the choicest of words to undermine and ridicule you, it struck me, why the whole world is against someone who probably didn't even aspire to be a politician. Why everyone is baying for your blood when you didn't want to lead the Congress party and leadership was thrust upon a reluctant politician only to protect the interests of a bunch of Congressmen, whose only ambition was to use you to satisfy their greed for power.

Pic: Courtesy Indian Express

You know Rahul, I was a lot luckier. When the norm of our time in a middle class family was to encourage boys and girls to go for Medical or Engineering, even if they had no penchant for it, my parents didn't force me to do so. The day, I failed to decipher how a Barlow's Wheel operates, I knew Engineering or Physics were not for me. I had a liking not to study the human anatomy but expressions and manifestations of their social behaviour and my parents readily agreed to live with it. I performed badly in my Higher Secondary examination, opted for a year's gap during my graduation and never gave my Master's in Economics the seriousness it deserved, yet my parents never questioned my wishes, because they loved me and were ready to do anything to make me happy.

Your were not so lucky Rahul neither was your dad. Rajiv Gandhi wanted to have a private life in the company of his wife, son and daughter and see their dreams come true, but was thrust upon into the murky world of politics. You know why! Only to protect a bunch of politicians, who camouflaged their self-interest with that of India. Your parents always feared that Rajiv Gandhi might be killed one day or the other, but they were left with no option.

These were the same leaders who didn't spare your mother. Even before the period of private mourning was over, they flocked together to force her to take up the post of prime minister in 1991. It's not only that they lacked self respect and dignity but wanted a fall guy who would bear the brunt of being in power.
After the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in 2004, I was a tad disappointed with your mother's conduct, given that she was not only the president of the Congress party but was also yours and Priyanka's mum. She allowed the Congress to ally with the DMK of M Karunanidhi, Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav, took support from the CPIM of Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and didn't turn down an offer of friendship from a cunning V P Singh. These were the leaders who one day went around the country campaigning: "Gali Gali mey shor hai Rajiv Gandhi chor hay" (meaning the lanes and by-lanes of India are filled with slogans that Rajiv Gandhi was a thief). I still believe the vitriolic campaign collectively unleashed by them contributed to a sense of national hatred that culminated in the tragic killing of your father.
Anguished, I wrote a letter to her, questioning the decision to ally. She didn't shy away from responding, as most politicians in India do, but described 'threat to secularism' as the moral obligation. I was not convinced then, neither am I now. She was trapped, coaxed and cajoled by willy politicians. It's the same politicians who rejected your offer to resign. They did it not because they love and respect you or the Nehru-Gandhi family, but because they want you to be the fall guy as they made hay.

Rahul, when I was pondering over quitting my job in the BBC after nearly  14 years, I was terribly shakened and literally didn't know what to do. Then my father told me, "if you are passionate about what you do and listen to your heart nothing can stop you."

I wish I could put my arm on  your shoulder and say, "Rahul do what your heart says."

Hope you find solace, joy and freedom in what you do in the future.

(A copy of this letter is being sent to Rahul Gandhi)


Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay is a journalist and media consultant.
He can be contacted at tirthankarb@hotmail.com
All comments are personal.