So now they take their “seats”, and the prospect begins for us to take a stand. They will lodge themselves as the “Ruling Party”, but we need to overturn this attitude and convert them over by reminding them that we are all one, no one is higher, no one is lower. Our individual electoral choice may not have gone the way we hoped, or perhaps it did, and Cheers! to that. But conventional wisdom tells us that once they are declared “Elected”, for whatever graphics they have displayed during the hysterical cacophony of the campaign carnival, each candidate soon emerges from the cocoon that cleverly concealed his, or her, true colours. They will begin to crawl back into that all-encompassing protective legal shell provided by one of the world’s most robust Constitutions, the supreme sanctity of immunity from blatant abuse of the Law of the Land, for having achieved the enviable status known as “The People’s Choice”. And therein lies the rub, they do precisely what they choose, which invariably is not what the people want.
Television coverage of Statewide campaign events, the profusion of images on social media, although welcome from a “democratic” point of view, snide entertainment perhaps, but oftentimes providing an uneasy display of arrogance and defiance by many of these would-be “lawmakers”. And this question: Did you see even one campaigner exhibit a real concern for wanting, and willing, to work for the welfare of their chosen constituency? The body language, fake sentiments, insincere rhetoric, only emphasize an unwavering desperation to simply win, by fair means or foul. Personal reputation and nobility of character be damned! This is Big Business, a bar-room brawl for fame and fortune, and all’s fair in love and war. Love? Yes, they just love to disgrace and defame the other guy.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
As we all convalesce from election fever, where do we stand? Do we really and truly expect to see our hopes and dreams for a better Goa manifest during the next five years? The answer is “No”; but it’s also a “Yes”, if only we are ready, willing and able to be alert and watchful of every move the Government makes, and converting their mindset towards performing in accordance with the Rules and Regulations laid down to guide them in their role as Guardians of the Public Order.
High powered protests and court room confrontation would be the frontline choice to display the people’s response towards any unacceptable Acts emanating from the State Assembly. These forms of people’s reactions, even though tried and tested for decades, sometimes don’t always succeed. Besides, the energy, expense and emotion involved can reach its limits, sometimes at the cost of life and limb. That’s the hard, exasperating way.
What if we try it the easy way by converting the other guy into making him do, and think, the way you want him to? The age-old techniques of marketing and salesmanship have already provided the basic tool of how to make the end result of a negotiation or argument go the way you want it. “Confront your quarry eyeball-to- eyeball, make him a friend and promise him your trust”.
To bring this “Conversion Program” into action, we need to do our homework. Make a Directory, with the name, Constituency, address, email, and phone number of each MLA in the forty Constituencies. Include a brief history and other relevant information about him/her. This newspaper provided a full-page printout with the names and Constituency of all forty elected MLAs in last Friday’s issue, March 11th.
Most MLAs are in it for “business”, and being in the government is indeed big business, winning that seat is his end all and be all. So much so that he has sacrificed his reputation and self-respect, and that of his family too, to consolidate a “seat” the House of the “Ruling” gang that steals money from some of the poorest people on earth.
But there’s a catch. And this is where the “conversion” angle comes in. In fact, MLAs are the most concerned citizens among all of us. Only that their concern is: “How soon do I get that bonanza I worked so hard for?”, and of course the concern that they may get caught. But there’s also a conscience right there inside of him. He just has to be convinced that people get into business to find happiness. We must instead point out the most obvious and universal tenet: “That living your life for other people brings the greatest joy”. What better “business” can there be?
Our job is to go out and meet them all, on a one-to-one basis. Greed may have blinded him to what’s going on around him and the rest of the State. Visit them, take a box of sweets, or even flowers. Convert them so they become Members of Life’s Assembly, living for, and sacrificing for everyone they have been appointed to “govern”.
A total absence of corruption will bring about unimaginable changes in the lives of every human, and everything of what Goa is really all about. If this happens, and it can, each of the forty Assembly Members will be automatically re-elected every five years. The State would soon become the Land of Dreams for every inhabitant. If we achieve a position of Zero Corruption, this will become an historical moment for every Nation on Earth.
Instead of approaching your Constituent MLA with an unending list of grievances and complaints, make small groups and make official appointments, take the case to them by listing all the positive benefits that accrue from governing the way people want is to be. Take along a bag full of good wishes for him, or her; and perhaps a small token: maybe flowers and/or a box of sweets.
One of the most endearing aspects of Indian culture, whenever you visit a child, or a mother, or a person of high status, always offer an appropriate gift. This simple act of goodwill soon transforms into a win-win situation for the receiver and giver.
(The author is now
a permanent resident of Goa after many years
of living in Mumbai,
New York and London)
