Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhash Chandra
Muscles of iron and Nerves of steel

The month of January is an important month in the calendar of modern India. It is not only the month when our country became democratic Republic 64 years ago, it is also the month which has birthdays of two great sons of mother India, Swami Vivekananda born on 12th January 1863 and Netaji Subhash Chandra born on 23rd January 1897.

I have always a great fascination for these two greats as apart from both being truly great in the every sense of the term they have between them striking similarities. They were born within a span of 34 years in British India. Both of them lived a short life. While Vivekananda could not complete even 40 years of mortal life, Netaji Subhash was barely 48 years old when he died if the air crash theory is accepted. Vivekananda was born at a time when the Brahminical rituals had overshadowed the pristine glory of Hinduism, the Christian missionaries were getting foothold in the country and the elite of the society was getting exposed to western education and culture. Subhash was born at a time when the countrymen had started feeling the pangs of colonial subjugation and the breeze of nascent nationalism was blowing across the country.

Both are perennial source of inspiration to millions and millions of Indians cutting across the barriers of states, language, religion, caste, creed and communities. Both were stubborn fighters of the highest order, Vivekananda a warrior monk who fought for the glory of India’s religion and culture while Netaji Subhash was a relentless fighter for India’s freedom from the British rule. Both were born with rare talents.

 Narendranath whom the world knows as Swami Vivekananda was endowed with great physical prowess and brilliant intellect. His brilliant intellect helped him to embrace with equal zest not only the religious texts of Hinduism, the Vedas, Vedanta, Puranas and the Indian epics but also the Western languages and their philosophy, the scriptures of all the major religions, as well as all the modern secular subjects. Subhash had a brilliant academic carrier securing a first class in the university honours examination and then getting selected in the ICS, the most prized job for the then Indian aristocracy.

Unconquerable will and indomitable courage were the hallmarks of both these great personalities. Vivekananda was not deterred by the abject poverty which had befallen him after the sudden death of his father and did not give up his spiritual quest. He could muster courage to travel through the length and breadth of the country on foot as a Paribrajak without a penny in his hand to have a feel of India and her great diversity. He showed extraordinary courage to go to America and address the august assemblies there to proclaim the glory and the greatness of Hinduism and Indian culture. The courage which Subhash showed in his great escape form his house arrest at Calcutta to Germany to wage a war against British to free India may not have any parallel even in the most sensational fictions. His voyage from Germany to Japan in submarine at the height of the Second World War is a saga of unbelievable courage. Both are the true Indian icons of courage, determination and will power with muscles of iron and nerves of steel.

Both Vivekananda and Subhash were patriots of the highest order. Vivekananda’ speeches and writings which are quite voluminous are testimony to his great love for India and its people, the poor, the downtrodden, the low casts, the outcasts. Subhash sacrificed his whole life for his country. Instead of choosing a cosy life which he could have after getting selected in the ICS, he plunged headlong into the freedom struggle of the country.

Both were endowed with great organising skill. Vivekananda set up the Ramakrishna Math and Mission an organisation of monks with its branches now spread through out the country and abroad to serve humanity as embodiment of God. The way Subhash rejuvenated and galvanised the Indian National Army, the Azad Hind Fauj into a fighting army to fight the British army is an abundant proof of the extra ordinary organising talent that he possessed.

Vivekananda a devout Hindu and the great reveller of oriental culture and religion before western audience was also a great believer of equality of all religions and was always against religious fanaticism and bigotry. Subhash who himself was greatly influenced by the writings of Vivekananda  always believed in religious harmony and his Azad Hind Fauj was an ideal mix of people of all religions and genders.

The lives of these two great men are burning examples of the old maxim that we live in deeds and not in years.     

Aam Aadmi

Aam Aadmi is the most popular word in the vocabulary of all the politicians of our country irrespective of political affiliation. Every politician worth his or her name swears in the name of Aam Aadmi day in and day out. The election manifestoes of all parties always remain full of promises for Aam Aadmi. Every politician and our so called leaders are always eager to portray themselves as true friends of Aam Aadmi. The word Aam Aadmi has assumed so much importance in Indian context that a political party has since been formed in the name of Aam Aadmi which has already caught the imagination of many people and has got remarkable success in its election debut.

But who is this Aam Aadmi for whom our leaders are so worried, so concerned and for whose benefit all acts of the Government, all its programmes and policies are supposedly meant for? How he can be identified, what are his characteristics? Does he belong to the poorest of poor, or he represents the lower middle class, the small and marginal farmers, small traders and petty shopkeepers, the low ranked babus in the govt. offices and private concerns or does he represent all of them? Are the big farmers, the top corporates, the rich industrialists, the high ranking bureaucrats and technocrats, the intelligentsia are not part of the Aam Aadmi ? What about the politicians themselves? Who can claim to be a not an Aam Aadmi? Answer to these questions appears to be as difficult as to searching and finding ones own self. Anandabazar Patrika a leading Bengali daily in its lead editorial of 3rd. January 2014 has described Aam Aadmi as one who does not have access to the corridors of power. According to the above criterion an Aam Aadmi is probably one who can not get his things done without greasing the palms of the authorities, without taking the help of touts and middlemen, whether it is obtention of Passports or Driving license, BPL card or Ration card, Aadhaar card or Voter Identity card, can not admit his  kids into schools and colleges without paying donation unless of course the kids are exceptionally brilliant , who has to always live beyond his means because of his income not keeping pace with the rising prices of goods and services. Shall we say that Aam Aadmi is the one who finds it difficult to have his rights and privileges to which he is entitled?  R.K. Laxman’s common man is probably the most authentic portrayal of Aam Aadmi, one who sees and understands what is happening around but can not do anything beyond that.   

Who is not an Aam Aadmi? Answer to this question is not that difficult to find. All the VVIPs, Ministers and Netas moving with security escorts in cars with red beacons, who are not required to stand in queues anywhere, who are not required to undergo security checks in the airports (within the country), the celebrities, the multimillionaire industrialists, the super rich actors and sport stars can not be called Aam Aadmi.  The mafias and dons of course can not also be called Aam Aadmi.  If Aam Aadmi is one who does not have access to the corridors of powers, a Khaas Aadmi is one who is close to the powers that be. A rich man does not necessarily have easy access to power, but his money can definitely help him to be close to the corridors of power if he wants so. As there are exceptions everywhere there are people who by virtue of their competence can have access to the corridors of power but consciously keep a distance and prefer to live the life of Aam Aadmi.  The concept of Aam Aadmi changes from situation to situation. A person trying to get his work done by greasing the palms of an official in a govt office is an Aam Aadmi while the official concerned receiving the bribe is also an Aam Aadmi in a different situation.

It can not be denied that it is the Aam Aadmis who form the cadre of all the political parties and throng rallies to hear their political masters. Aam Aadmi is the most effective tool in the hand of politicians to make their presence felt. But ironically these political masters will never allow the Aam Aadmis to come close to them by crossing the VIP cordons around them. This is not peculiar to India but true almost everywhere through the ages. True Democracy demands empowerment of the masses, the common man, the Aam Aadmi. Democracy envisages a welfare state and the acid test of a welfare state is its ability to bring an inclusive growth by ensuring not only growth but distributing the fruits of growth among all the people of a country in a fair and equitable manner. It is therefore in the fairness of things that the common man, the Aam Aadmi is not to be made a mere mute spectator to what is happening around him but should be allowed to make his voice heard by the planners and policy makers at various levels. This is however easier said than done in a country of India’s size with its multiplicity of language, religion, caste, creed, community and every possibility of conflict of interests among the people within the Aam Aadmi category. Decentralisation of power is a welcome step to make the Aam Aadmi empowered. It can not be denied that it is the contributions of Aam Aadmi that make a country great. The common man, the Aam Aadmi has always been in the forefront of all struggles, of all revolutions, of all upheavals.   A true leader is one who does not use the vast masses of Aam Aadmi as tools for agitation and protest but who can galvanise them into a gigantic work force for their own progress and development and make their motherland a strong and developed nation