Commitment is the casualty

Commitment is a strong resolve to move things along in a forward direction and see visible improvements. Today we need commitment to our people, their skills, their livelihoods and our ability to build a new future for the country

It’s a fickle world we live in where words are cheap and a willingness to “walk the talk” is rare. No better example than the incredible drama played out in Maharashtra after the announcement of the election results. Even as what was seen as a fait accompli, the uneasy marriage of the BJP and Shiv Sena, came unstuck with accusations of broken promises, an opportunistic alliance of three seemed to be on the verge of cooking up “the impossible burger”.

As the nation went to sleep one evening, it seemed that it was all over bar the shouting and Uddhav’s promise to his late father was to be fulfilled with a Sena CM sworn in the following day. But strange things happen in the night these days and the nation woke to the news of a Fadnavis-Pawar swearing in at the crack of dawn. And even as the kudos started pouring in about the ultimate “modern Chanakya” Shri Amit Shah and his ability to form Governments against all odds, the drama did a new “kahani me twist” and the climax led to a denouement that even the most cynical politicians would not have envisaged in the state or country.

All this drama played out for me on my mobile phone amidst a barrage of cheeky WhatsApp forwards, since I had the misfortune (or good fortune) to be away in Thailand and Vietnam that whole week, partly on vacation and partly to speak at the plenary session of the Horasis Asia Summit in Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaking to a group of Singaporeans of Indian origin on the sidelines of the event, one of them raise the of tasked question these days, “So what exactly is going on in India? With the politics, the economy and the state of jobs and livelihoods?” Flying the Indian flag with all our might, a CEO colleague from the All India Management Association and I flagged our ten-year achievements with Aadhar, Jan Dhan and mobile phone proliferation and the promise of Ayushman Bharat to be one of the largest healthcare programmes the world has seen. But deep down, even as we spoke valiantly about the five trillion dollars promise and the emerging trillion-dollar digital economy, beneath the external bravado, some disquieting internal noises refused to be silent. What exactly ails India these days?

As a nation, we need to commit to do our bit-for seniors, youth, children and our environment to make India the great nation

It would be easy to point fingers at politicians, social media, cynical businessmen or even an uncaring public but nothing would really be the total truth. And sitting in the midst of senior folks from the ASEAN the dismissive Chinese and Singaporeans, the resurgent Thais, Malaysians and Vietnamese and even folks from Bangladesh, who are justifiably proud of their growth numbers and their “ability to play the India-China” game as one prominent business said on stage, patriotic Indians like us have begun to wonder what can be done to get India back to the realisation of our true potential. And the word that strikes me as being missive in the narrative today and sorely needed to get us all back on track is “commitment”. Commitment is an easy word to articulate but so difficult to put in practice. In the context in which we need to understand it, it is a strong resolve to move things along in a forward direction and see visible improvements. Today we need commitment to our people, their skills, their livelihoods and our ability to build a new future for the country.

Interestingly one commitment we have sorely lacked in India is the commitment to our own elders in the country. While ageing countries in Europe and Japan and even China make this a central theme in policymaking, we happily leave our elders to their own means, with only their family for support. Surprisingly, a real exemplar of commitment in this sphere comes from the Western Cape province of South Africa. With a stated commitment to acknowledge senior citizens as pillars of the community and the contribution they make to society, the initiatives taken in the province include guaranteed care and accommodation to maintain the health and well-being of the elderly, provide minor health ailments treatment as well as rehabilitative care and assisted recovery from illnesses and hospitalisation. Assisted living through the provision of affordable, safe and accessible accommodation, providing supervision and support when needed and making homes safe for those who wish to have an independent existence are all part of the services offered. Activity centres for exercise, recreational, cultural and spiritual activities, organising visits and enabling volunteers to spend time cheering up residents at old-age homes are all part of what is on offer. A formal department of social development provides information on all services available in this area.

Surely, some of these caring initiatives can happen in our own “smart cities” too. Whatever be the area of our work and focus, a little initiative and a lot of commiment is what it takes to take society forward. As a nation, we need to commit to do our bit for seniors, youth, children and our environment to make India the great nation she surely deserves to be!