Why think of politics as a career, think of it is instead as a service to the country. Maybe that will do the system some good.
Indian culture has always included politics. Be it the Mughal emperors to the democratic setup we enjoy today. Our very independence is a tribute to the political inclinations of the Indian public, across all spectrums regardless of caste, age, gender or region. It’s anybody’s guess whether we would be where we are today if a young Nehru or Bhagat Singh or Ambedkar had put earning before public service.
With the government of the day coming down, quite harshly at that, on campus politics that oppose their ideologies, most prominently in a campus in the national capital that has produced a string of leaders to grace the hallowed halls of the Sansad, students inclined towards a career in politics will invariably be of two minds. The considerable amount of peer pressure exerted through the advent of social media and the traditional pressure from family and acquaintances can deter even the purest of hearts.
As a student, I see career politicians indulging in the perks, while at the same time ignoring the needs of their constituents. Campus politics in my home state has reduced to a state of attrition with our campuses becoming battlefields with bloodshed as the only outcome of any argument. Political ideologies hold no value anymore as most of our representatives have spent or at least deserve to spend a period equivalent to their terms of office behind bars.
As a young man from Gen Y, my question to our leaders is this:
“What examples are you setting for the youth? Why turn a blind eye towards atrocities just because of affinities?”
I believe a change is imminent and can be put forward only through the youth. Vote bank politics should be cast to the history books in favour of doing what is right.
Is it a career for the youth?
Maybe that in itself is the problem. Why consider it a career as such? Think of it as a service. Maybe that will do the system some good. The perks are all well and good but they should not be the defining factor in choosing politics.
The idealistic are often described as those who never seem to make it in life, and I agree that in this case, politics is not for the idealists as they might just find themselves out of their depths. A healthy mixture of practicality and idealism would be what the nation requires, call it realism if you will. Practicality alone is insufficient.
India has a significant portion of its rather large population under the age of 30, what you would call the ‘age of boiling blood’ but the parliamentary representation figures are rather skewed towards the aged and with the world changing at the touch of a key/ finger, it is definitely time for the youth to step forward and push the country in the direction envisaged by our founding fathers.
Chandy Mathew, a student of Kerala University, is the winner of the opinion writing contest on the first edition of Democracy Wall. This was in a response to the question asked by ThePrint: Is politics a worthwhile career option for the young and idealistic?
Democracy Wall is a monthly free speech campus initiative organised by ThePrint in collaboration with Facebook.