Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Rotten Apple

A school teacher of mine, when referring to the few "naughty" girls who generally gave the whole class a bad name (as being indisciplined, noisy etc), used to call them "bad apples" and say that in a basket of apples, even a few were enough to turn the whole basket of them rotten. This analogy came to my mind when reading about Raj Thakeray's antics.

Amidst all the call for India's youth to enter Indian politics and be the change they want to see in India, the casual eye spots many positives in him. He is young, from a political family (so he is not new to the system) and has a passion for change. But all these positives fell flat against the one quality he was found to be woefully lacking in: sincerity. In trying to "differentiate" himself against other political parties he has only succeeded in creating havoc and damaging public property. He only has, as a newspaper editorial rightly pointed out, "nuisance value".

It's very easy to ask the youth to enter politics and do something for the country. As a career, politics is very volatile and the filth can chase away even the strongest of heart. It is men like Raj Thackeray, who can use their background as an asset to make a mark. Instead they make royal fools of themselves and do more damage than good.