We shall overcome…someday!

The controversy surrounding the Commonwealth Games has put us in a dharmasankat of sorts…We want to hang the corrupt officials – and we already are doing that through the media…which by the way is viewed by the world…that further puts us to shame. At the same time, the games are so near that we need the very same officials to pull the event through. I doubt if Lord Krishna could read a solution from the Bhagwad Geeta to such a quandary; the way he offered one to Arjuna at Kurukshetra.

Nonetheless, as we flip through the plethora of news channels and their over-eager reporters debating the ‘common’ and the ‘wealth’ issues, one thing is clear – come hell or high water, we have to pull the games through. Two recent events really caught my eye on this subject. One was an appeal from Subrata Roy Sahara to fellow media to exercise caution while reporting the misappropriations in the light of global visibility (and ensuing national shame) and the other was a pretty casual remark by a games official on national television.

I must note Subrata’s appeal was extremely mature. It takes guts to defy trends and appeal to the media to postpone their ire post the games; though I doubt how much it resonated with an audience that’s well aware that the issue would die a natural death later and hardly garner any TRPs once the games are over. Nonetheless, a brave request from someone who runs a media house himself. Let’s see if his channels practice what he has preached.

The second was a debate on one of the leading channels about the entire issue. A games official, who could not think of better responses to all the allegations, only had one thing to offer – “…eventually we will overcome all obstacles and the games will be successful”. Yes. We shall overcome…or as they would hum in New Delhi, ‘Hum honge kamyaad’… When? ‘Ek din’! Hopefully on October 3rd, when the games kick off.

For whatever reason, the ‘we shall overcome’ philosophy seems ingrained in our DNA. Why do we always scramble towards the deadline? Why can’t we plan in advance? Why don’t we allocate resources suitably so as not to put pressure on the available ones? While we eventually overcome obstacles, it does boil a lot of blood in the process.

And that applies not just to events of national pride, but to every small thing that all of us experience. We complete our engineering projects just in time for submission. We never hire specialists for critical jobs; did you hire a wedding planner? I didn’t, but I am sure if I had, it would have saved my parents, uncles and cousins a bit of last minute running around. We make do (the great Indian jugaad) with whatever and whoever’s available. We run about organizing college fests and company events with a madness (and of course passion) that grows exponentially as we approach deadlines. Have we ever seen a linear activity-versus-time graph? Even in cricket, we get off to a great start, slumber in the middle overs and eventually win in the last over. We have a penchant for making even the most lopsided matches interesting…maybe it’s got something to do with the bookies. But more often than not to our ‘chalta hai’ attitude.

Yes, we do overcome; but how? Our quality suffers at the expense of ‘simply delivering’. And we blatantly pat our backs for overcoming ‘despite hurdles’; but why do we need to plant those hurdles in the first place? We can easily cruise through if we build a smooth track. Some efficient project management is all we need. But I guess the last minute rush drives our adrenaline up; we love to be pushed against the wall, so we can emerge victorious and flaunt our despite- hurdles-win. Maybe if everything goes on smoothly, the recognition would be milder. But this does affect our credibility in the long run. Predictability and consistency are as important as the one-off wins if we are to be given an opportunity to repeat those.

On the positive side, the ‘we shall overcome’ attitude has helped us as well. The IPL South Africa edition is a classic illustration. When the tournament was in jeopardy over security organizations that were (rightfully) assigned on elections duty; we relocated it to South Africa within 20 days. Man, imagine doing that to an NFL or the European League and you will see every organizer put their hands up in impossibility. But the BCCI did pull it off; and in style!

For now, let’s hope we really overcome the Common Wealth Games. For deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day! Suggestions to overcome are pouring in from all quarters and one that particularly amused me is that to hand over the event organization to the Indian army. Ironically, that’s a testimony to the emergency situation we have placed ourselves in. And in army parlance, that does call for work on a war footing (as most news headlines describe). Hmmnnnn…..the metaphors fit in so perfectly! Enjoy this illustration as you recommend a few as well; click on the image to see it clearly: