The G20 extravaganza of optimism. Is it Modi’s “India Shining” moment in the making?
Indian people since ages have believed in a simple mantra — personal austerity and opulence for their deities. Even today, the society rallies behind leaders who create a perception of having made personal sacrifices to choose the path of humility. Gandhi ji’s simple appearance resonated with the society that otherwise will bathe their deities with milk and saffron. This civilization balance of aspirations has transcended hundreds of generations in India. A spectacle of opulence has its definitely has a space and appreciation in Indian minds. Nonetheless, the balance between austerity and extravaganza is delicate.
Between 2004–2006 the then #NDA government unleashed the “India Shining” extravaganza on the Indian people through television ads and public display of opulence in the name of economic optimism. For next 10 years, an ultra-socialist #UPA ruled India. Rest is an unfortunate fragment of history. India lost on the great leadership of Atal Bihari #Vajpayee.
Fast forward to today. G20 summit is knocking on Indian doors. Almost every nook and corner of urban India in either under construction or beautification. Posters and hoardings galore, #Modi, and Modi alone, is proverbially omnipresent. This neo-Indian celebration seems no less that then Deepavali celebrations in Ayodhya.
8/10 people in India to cannot tell the benefits that G20’s presidentship brings to India. They don’t have an incoherent reply, but simply no answer. 1/10 will provide a cogent reply that will lean towards a negatory perception. For the rest 1/10, Brahma created the Universe and Modi created Brahma — so really no hope for a dialogue.
The missing civic sense about the #G20 and the extravaganza related to the summit has a plump potential of being Modi’s “India Shining” moment in 2024. When electorate cannot put cause and the effect together, it turns even the most vital economic ventures into an eyesore.
Modi is a great communicator but he has failed to communicate the essence of the goodies that G20 will bring to the electorate. However, the effect is palpable on every traffic signal, misplaced plantation of trees, painting of random stones and the massive amount of cement-dust that urban Indians are inhaling (perhaps the root cause of the current lengthened coughing phenomenon due to allergies).
Modi must dial down on the showmanship till 2024. He already has the ear of the electorate — this high decibel event is close to bursting their eardrums. “Modi hai to Mum(kin) hai” is a better mantra for foreseeable future.
