Just another statue

I attended the exhibition of Suvaprasanna at the Lalit Kala Akademi here in Delhi. After reaching the Akademi I felt as if I were in one of Kolkata’s art exhibitions with many familiar faces around. Harsh Neotia, Krishna Bose, Shipra and Suva da were all there at the exhibition.

Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had inaugurated the exhibition while Kapil Sibal was the Guest of Honour. Renuka Chowdhury, Kaushik Basu, advisor to the finance minister, and others from the Delhi’s art fraternity were also there.

The Parliamentary Budget Session started today. For the past few years I have been a regular at the Speaker’s gallery to watch the sessions. I had witnessed the chaos in the Parliament during the Shibu Soren case.

As a frequent visitor I have had first-hand experience of the chaos and pandemonium that goes on inside the House session after session. With the national television beaming this mayhem and the whole country watching, this is hardly a matter of amusement. During the Shibu Soren fiasco I remember how our former Speaker, Shri Somnath Chatterjee, had pleaded with the Members to show restraint and maintain decorum in the House, but his words fell on deaf ears.

Once as I came out of the Hall after a not-so-peaceful session my eyes fell on the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation was standing right there outside the main entrance to the Hall. I have often wondered why the statue of Gandhi ji was outside the main building. We all have seen this statue so many times on television. A spot where the politicians sometimes interact with the media.

But now, when I looked at his face, I felt he was relieved to be outside. Having taught the world to look away from evil he himself did the same by not being inside the House. I could not help marvelling at the sagaciousness of the person who had decided on the strategic position of the statue, thus sparing Bapuji from being a silent helpless spectator inside the House.
After all with corruption, indiscipine, mockery of democracy and wanton waste of public money and resources all around, we have all come a long way since the days of satyagraha and ahimsa.

As the saying goes – When the cat is away the mice will play – the netas who indulge in all sorts of unparliamentary activities are able to carry on without any guilt or remorse. The sight of Bapu may have transformed the cinematic Munnabhai but these real life Munnabhais, who pass by this statue so often, have scant respect for the values and ideals he stood for. After all, it is just a another statue.

I remember few lines of the famous poet Surendra Sharma who once said in a Kavi Sammelan –
“Satya, shimsa aur sahanshilata se ab itna hi nata hai,
deewaron par likh deta hain diwali main put jata hai.
(The relevance of honesty, non violence and tolerance are just like the slogans on the wall we paint every Diwali).

l am happy for you Bapuji that you are standing outside the Parliament like Oscar Wilde’s Happy Prince.

ess bee