IITians in politics

The major news item covered today:

IITians start a political party.

Now, as amateur as I am in politics, my opinions might be as far from reality as it could get.
Firstly, as far as an invisible, hypothetical support from my side goes, they have it. But support can be of different cuts. A sympathetic one, for instance. Or a fully passionate one. The instance here would salvage more of the former. There are quite a few points to be discussed here. At the outset, these 5 guys definitely need to be congratulated for even thinking of starting something which a normal IITian cannot think of even in the delta sleep. But, how far will they go is a big question. I know it's partly stupidity to ask this, this is similar to asking how many marks a person will get in an exam before he's even started writing it. But you can definitely find out the range of marks he's probably going to get, after finding out his preparation before the exam. And thanks to the government of India, for giving a holiday today, I could sit at home and watch this 'big story' on CNN-IBN. An exclusive coverage, interviewing the students forming Paritrana, watched a couple of times, could easily tell me that they were very very unsatisfactory in their approach. Simply because it seemed to me, that there wasn't any fire in the belly, or the adrenaline rush any entrepreneur has. (If this maybe called entrepreneurship)
It was more of a sprightly talk. Clear focus seemed to be lacking. Again, if I was given the chance of interviewing them, I would probably have asked them more specific questions than just the motive behind this, or their future plans. Also, the most important point being that this issue has come to limelight solely because of the 'IIT' tag associated with it. Just any 5 students in a remote corner of India forming a political party (am not sure if there already are) have faint chances of figuring in the national news of a leading news channel.

The biggest point is this: IIT tag doesn't mean a shit in politics.

This tumultuous field offers neither the scope for analytic thinking , nor intelligent rationality. It offers scope only for street smartness. Experience tells us it is only for those who have the uncanny knack. Statistics tells us, it's not for IITians. But, being an IITian here is a double edged sword. It makes people recognise you instantly. Your job is half done. But the other half, conquering this salacious field, is almost certainly far from being done. And being an IITian does not even take one remotely close to it. This is a field which originally started with the meaning 'The art of governance', and now has become a popular household term, in the derogatory sense, thanks to all the wonderful people who make up this field. Anyway, leaving that apart, I seriously felt this news issue wasn't dealt with properly, as in, it wasn't ripped apart the Rajdeep style. The guys would already be sleeping with brimming confidence, for having to go through such an easy day with the media on the very opening of their party. Aah, definitely not for long. Not long before they realise that tackling MPs is a tonne better than handling the media. Now they're under the ubiquitous camera. No escape. Chosen path, stick on!

Also, the media in general (especially in our country) is known for evading certain miniscule points, not because they're irrelevant. But because the Sensation, the sole reason for its survival, is avoided or nullified. Today is a perfect example. Note how conveniently, and glibly they avoided putting forth the facts about the students' past. A comment in passing which appears on the website just mentions that one of the guys was doing farming for three years. Yes, correct. Farming. Nothing about the others. I mean, doesn't this even raise a few eyebrows? I know I have been too cynical regarding this, but facts are all I want. Considering that there might be more politicians having flunked their 12th than those who have passed it, it is definitely NOT necessary to submit, or declare openly the academic qualifications. Only Tanmay's qualification is spelt open.(Btw, only God knows why he did an MA in economics after a Btech Mtech). The basic reason I'm really uncomfortable with this not being mentioned is, we fail to follow if this was their sole motive. Are they doing this just because they want to do it? Are they starting this just to create a sensation knowing that they have the hallowed letters aside. I feel slightly in the negative. One, because, there is no gut reason they offer. Making a statement ' We want to take India to its right place ' is as general as it gets. Goddamit, if I was Swati, I would have asked them to explain right there what 'right place' was, that they were hoping to reach amidst 10000 other politicians. Two, as I said earlier, they seemed so languid in their approach. Succesful politicians are those, who are passionate about their ideas, who can go any stretch to achieve what they want, make the most of all sweeping statements, but climb up the ladder pulling others down deceitfully. Peacefully too. How far these guys can do the same remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, a revolution starts somewhere. In all circumstances, we may as well find a total flipover in Indian politics in the coming decade or two. These guys have to stick to and uphold the responsibility they've taken. Which no IITian, to my knowledge, has done, again, even in the delta sleep.(Dunno why I'm obsessed) All I hope for is that they have realised what they're upto. And what they've aimed at. This is going to be 10 times tougher than working at MIT. I just pray these guys have cognized that fact.

Anyways, here's to their success.!