Power of Time, Time of Power
Motion Stills, a recently launched Android app, helps in efficiently capturing moving pictures. I took this image using this app on Rajpath in New Delhi. It shows the North Block (the seat of Home and Finance Ministries to your right) and South Block (Defence Ministry, External Affairs Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office to your left) with the Raisina Hill in the center taking you the other side to the Rashtrapati Bhawan (House of the President of India). In literal sense, this image depicts the center of power in the country. This image may have passed on as a routine picturesque image in any other case. But the moving feature of the image gave me the idea of writing this note.
Power of Time
There is a story which my father often narrates to me. P.V. Narasimha Rao was the first non-Gandhi family political leader to have completed a full term of five years as the Prime Minister of this nation between 1991–96. When the ticket allocation was being done by Rajiv Gandhi before these elections, he denied a ticket to Rao and famously remarked on the lines- “Arey ab to ve budhe ho gaye hain. (He (Mr. Rao) has now gotten very old.)”
Within a span of one month since Rao wrote a dejected note in his personal dairy over the disappointment of not getting a ticket (reference to the note can be found in a compelling read on the former Prime Minister, Half Lion), Mr. Gandhi had passed away and within two months, Rao became the Prime Minister of the country. An event that best signifies the power of time.
This moving image in a way, is a microcosm of this very phenomenon. One must never underestimate the power of time. It is famously said- A week is too long a time in Indian politics. On the expressway connecting the notions of power and time, individuals shall keep on moving just like the vehicles in this moving image. There will be ups and downs but the objective must be to keep your feet on the ground and keep on striving towards one’s pursuit.
On the expressway connecting the notions of power and time, individuals shall keep on moving just like the vehicles in this moving image.
Time of Power
An adage famously goes- A (wo)man’s character is best defined by how (s)he acts when in power.
These seats of power shown in the moving image are merely the positions which are to be filled to serve the nation and for the welfare of the society. Holding it for any objective other than these, eventually ends up truncating the time of power. It also takes away the invaluable opportunities to use this power for the larger good of the people.
I firmly believe that it pays to adopt an approach of ‘Having an ear to the ground and an eye to the clock’ while being in power.
The Art of Funambulism
The art of walking on a tightrope is known as funambulism. Earnest attempts to navigate the corridors of power necessitates mastering this art. A few techniques might be helpful in learning the same.
‘Having an ear to the ground and an eye to the clock’
The concept of Trusteeship- considering oneself as not the owners but merely the trustees as enunciated by Mahatma Gandhi tries to present a panacea to tackle the power conundrum. A book considered by the Mahatma as his guiding light in life, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, unequivocally emphasizes on the importance of considering oneself as merely a निमित्त (reason or a cause) for a particular action or an event.
It is only when a person respects time when (s)he is in power, will the time respect her (him) when (s)he is out of it. :)
