The Nehru, Gandhi family

The blames, criticisms, insults, indignities piled on the Nehru, Gandhi family are unlimited. This is in spite of their sacrifices, two with their own lives in service of our country and people. In this land of dharmas, values and truth, ‘yudhs’ are also waged against them.

Even if purely political it is way too unethical and totally unjustified. But it is not always political forces but the vested interests with ulterior motives, agendas corrupting the minds of innocents and ignorants with jealousy, prejudices but bereft of truth, logic, reason.

The only fault of the Nehru, Gandhi family or the ‘dynasty’ as they call them, is their care and concern for the country, its people and their continued connectivity, bonding with people, the response, respect they get from them. This hurts and blocks few vested interests.

It is interesting to note the response of the Gandhi family to such onslaughts. They were never unnerved by accusations and were aware of their motives. They were unperturbed as they had the purity of heart and intentions. They never even defended or waited for the truth to prevail.

Power and position are immaterial to the Gandhi family. They can serve in any form and choose what is best for the people. This particular trait ran through the entire clan. Sonia also absorbed it to the core. Their fall and rise do not matter for them but it does for the people.

They know the well thought out, laid out principles and philosophies of Congress are the only source of strength for this country. They have to protect them from fringe elements that are seasonal, like winged insects before rains or the cockroaches that infest in holes and cracks.

They do not and probably cannot hate people. There were many who backstabbed Indira and Rajiv after using them to climb up the ladders. Still, they held no ill will or hatred towards them. They were welcomed back. The Gandhi family values space for differences as a democratic right.

They were not worried about their destiny but created history and could write about the trysts with destiny. One should try to understand the characteristics of the Nehru Gandhi family. Our new generation may not be aware of those gifted values; should read and absorb them.

The deception about Rahul

Many may acknowledge the strengths of the Nehru Gandhi family but may still have doubt whether Rahul has it in him to lead and fight against Modi and defeat BJP. We are inclined to believe that his potential is doubtful or deceptive unless proved. Post facto ‘predictions’ are easy.

When we refuse to see the truth or read signals correctly we deceive ourselves. But we conclude that the strength of the individuals or issues are deceptive. We fail to apply logic and sense to every aspect of successes, failures, information but jump to conclusions.

The successes and failures are decided by many factors. They should not be seen or compared in isolation. Circumstances and challenges before Rahul and Congress were many. When Rajiv took over Congress organisation strength was better. When Rahul took over it was in bad shape.

The transition to Rahul is happening under difficult circumstances. The Gordian knot has to be untied patiently and carefully. It has fallen on his ‘young’ shoulders as many view it. The challenges posed by the Modi regime was massive. Rahul had to rely solely on his vision.

The credibility of Rahul and his image has grown immensely in spite of the unrelenting onslaughts from all sides. The entire Congress party and its supporters are behind him now. Nonpartisan people are also now seeing him as a better alternative.  That is not a small achievement.

How did it come about? It was not sourced from other planets. It was due to Rahul’s inherent abilities, efforts and application of mind using available limited resources. Maybe his strengths were deceptive for others. It was not so for Rahul. He had a clear mind, plans, vision.

We tend to overlook the fact that the many positives and characteristics of the Nehru Gandhi family would be part of Rahul. Further, he must have had endless inputs as part of the family with various interactions, anecdotes, episodes they have come across. They have a value.

Rahul is also aware of history and is a great listener and thinker. He updates himself on all issues. His application of mind, logic and sense is very strong. He simply refuses to accept what he considers as nonsense. That brings him his clarity of mind and vision.

He does not reveal himself. That way one can say he was deceptive.  But even now his interactions appear more in the media. So people get to know him and his strengths. The Nehru Gandhi family were never publicity conscious to promote themselves. That also applies to Rahul.

They freely interact with all sections of people from the ground level. They do not just talk but listen. They know the pulse of the people including those who are around and who want to surround them. This again a characteristic that is part of them and comes naturally to them.

They do not encourage sycophants using their proximity to gain what they may or may not deserve. So they maintain diplomatic silence just to not hurt leaders but send across the message. They may be attentive but still playing with dogs. But leaders should understand. 

Rahul did reveal himself many times by his gentle, subtle and his characteristic listening mode. He has that deft touch, respecting seniors, giving everyone their space and still holding on to his views explaining the reasons. These are great virtues very much visible but ignored.

People still refuse to come out of their negative mindset and ask whether such great virtues will produce results. For the present positivity is to concentrate on adopting the right process. If that is done it will produce positive results. Rahul is setting the course right.