Option of Choice

Sorry, if I seem to be repetitive. Apparently the heading does seem to be so with option and choice being synonyms of each other as far as their applicability goes. But given the context of the text to follow, I couldn’t come up with any other but this.

In the next 72 hours the electioneering would be over and in the subsequent 72 hours the whole nation, err, the whole world shall know of the outcome. Though the world will not be waiting with as much bated breath, as we shall be, being the direct guinea pigs of our rulers.

In keeping with my earlier blogs, I again reiterate, that we have many leaders but very few who can truly lead the nation. Ruling and leading are different aspects of different coins, contrary to regular belief that they constitute two faces of the same coin. We couldn’t have had a better demonstration of the proverb, “too many cook spoil the broth”.

I think the nation never faced such a dilemma called the right to vote. I call this a dilemma, because we have too many options. And in most of the constituencies, the candidates don’t suffer from a stirring soul, egging them to serve the people and the nation. So whom do we vote for? Truly “national” leaders are so sparse in number that we are made to suffer the “ tragedy of excess of bad options”. But since the “democracy” has to be honoured(!) we cannot abstain. If we abstain, we shall be deemed irresponsible, indifferent and ungrateful to the honour levied on us of choosing and forming the Government thus indirectly.

That leaves us with only one option, to vote and to vote for the “lesser evil”; because it is not the question of choosing the best candidate but preferring the bad to the worse. This implies that the foundation of the election is based on enforcing a decision on the citizens, which is purely based on “compromise”. And if this was not enough, the parties boasting their superior ideologies over their, pre-poll “rival” parties, shall definitely shun their differences and forge an alliance which will put us to further shame. The parties will play martyr stating that they are burying their differences at the cost of “sacrificing” their ideologies all for the sake of us: “We, the people”.

To sum it up, the democracy will be made to survive by serving on a platter option of choice which leaves us with no option but to choose not the best person, always, but generally, the bad from the worse.
Sushmita Mukherjee,
10th May, 2009