Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Everyone wants to play God

Kerala is going to have local body elections on October 23 and 25. We are witnessing unprecedented campaigning and new promises being delivered by all candidates. The bottom line is that all want to win. All want to serve and all are doing it as social service. They tell us that there is no hidden agenda and that development is the key. They have all come into politics to ‘save’ the various panchayats and municipalities of Kerala.

Thus candidates of all ages, gender and political affiliations have a religious tone to them in the form of the save all attitude. But even after analysing candidate after candidate, one does not understand what they intend to do for five long years, apart from saving all of us. It is sad that there is no platform to bring all together and make them explain what they are going to do. Online electioneering will take a bit more of time and so we have to rely on what they say to our faces.

The poor and the rich in Kerala are into a spirituality which is uni-religious in confession and multi-religious in action. This is because people are willing to do anything to get their things done. One has to then wonder that if politicos did indeed fulfil their promises, the picture would have indeed been a bit different. So we are faced with the difficulty of saving one of the candidates to help them save us. It is a quid pro quo. You save me and I will save you.

I am indeed confused. My religion tells me that God saves and I am just a part of that saving process. But the candidate tells me that I can save and win too! This election process has thus put me and many others in a dilemma. Do I become God for a day and vote? Or am I being made into God for a day to serve all the other days? Coming to think of it isn’t that what the candidates are supposed to do? Serve the people and stop being God after they have ensured victory? Everyone wants to play God! Is God watching?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

‎Jerry John Kurien writing in facebook (Oct 19, 12:24 P.M.)-
".....unireligious in confession and multi-religious in action" ,i like that statement. It is true we need to get them to a platform together like wht happens in Uk and now Germany also have adapted by bringing the candidates on a nationalised debates .I think u would have heard of this NGO Janagraha (http://www.janaagraha.org/),which started in Bangalore to check on the transparancy of the funds and projects undertaken by the Coperators of Bangalore ,though under controversy it has done a lot ...i guess Kerala also have to adapt the same.

Fr. Jerry Kurian said...

Thanks for the NGO add Jerry. We as voters do need to know what the candidates think and will do. That sadly does not come out these days despite the fact that there are so many ways of doing it.