A hug and a wink; both in a blink! A hoodwink?! Well, some say yes, some say no... Did it link the Congress with a stronger comradeship or end in a reverse surgical strike by the BJP to make them sink? I have never read so much about an issue with as much non-essence as this, at a time when other pressing issues should instead be engaging our attention.
After all, the motion moved was of ‘no confidence’ in the ruling party of the largest democracy! The ruling party was well-anchored to defeat the Opposition’s challenge and would surely have come out victorious, had it not chosen to bypass the content of the deliberations that went on for 12 hours in the Parliament. Instead, it harped on dissecting a friendly gesture by a potential prime minister waiting in hope for his day to arrive towards the present prime minister living in the hope that his day won’t depart…
The hug came across as admirably genuine and spontaneously smart to many who watched that moment. It seemed like one among a many stunning ‘confidence motion’ by Rahul Gandhi, as he comes of age as a leader in India. Forget his privileged antecedents. He is indeed trying (no pun intended)!
As to the hugs and winks, the likes of me have grown up enjoying these without the notion that they’re kinks, rather genuine displays of affection within family, friends and loved ones. Winks are teasers that often test one’s ability to accept a joke. It stands one strong in dialogue and dissent. Hugs happen suddenly, perhaps even between strangers who’ve touched our sentiments for some reason. Isn’t one example the famously personalised embrace now known as the Modi ‘hug’, with which our Prime Minister has sought to endear himself to other world leaders?
When are we going to allow each other to live and let live, love and allow to be loved without being so judgemental on what was once or was not, and therefore should be or should not till the end of time. What suits some of us, we simply dismiss from our traditions, what does not, we suddenly rake up. Such attitudes bewilder us…
Please, let’s get on with matters that matter to the common folks, like good neighbourliness such as we enjoyed while growing up during the ‘50s, concentrating on the promised bijli, paani, roti, kapda, sadak, makaan and swacchh everything, eradication of poverty, empowering of the girl child etc! Let’s move beyond oneself by engaging with others to better understand lives we may perhaps have sidelined, let’s break these man-made walls, let’s treat one another as equals.
Rahul’s hug and wink were viewed as from a non equal, as disrespectful, as against tradition. Well, I disagree!