Forget domination, just do your best!

The Times of India today came out with a full page ad asking its readers (of course, the term “us” is used throughout, indicating we are all one happy family) to “stop basking in our glorious past” and start “dominating today.” Of course, I could go on and rant about how disgraceful it is that the nation’s leading newspaper prefers to put an ad of its own initiative before the main news, but that is a theme that can be picked up on another day.

My main concern is with the words “dominate” and “lead,” both of which are used in the advertisement – incidentally, the initiative is called ‘Lead India.’ Both are perfectly legitimate words. And both sound wonderful and dramatic.

Both also have a hidden meaning. When you dominate, you dominate somebody. When you lead, you lead somebody. Both dominate and lead indicate the presence of a follower – a person who has to be led or dominated. To be ruled. We were dominated and led by the British for almost two centuries. Do we want to do the same thing now?

You can accuse me of being obsessed with semantics. Perhaps I am. But to be honest, I am not sure I want to dominate or lead. I am one of those who believes that leading is necessary only in times of crisis or panic. In normal day-to-day life, a person should be allowed to make his or her own choices.India does not need leaders. The lord knows we have had more than our fair share of them – some good, most abysmal. What India needs is equality – of opportunity, wealth, and justice.

I don’t want India to become a superpower. There is very little to be gained by becoming a superpower, apart from the option of forcing trade terms on weaker nations or invading them. What I want is a nation where children don’t beg on the streets. A nation where a policeman does not ask openly for a bribe to do (or not do) his duty. A nation where justice is dispensed in a fair manner to all. A nation in which everyone has access to good healthcare and education. I don't want great generals, I want a great army. I don't want a superstar captain, I want a great team!

You don’t need to "get up, stand up and be counted" to make a difference. You just need to do your best. To do your duty. Not as specified in a corporate or government manual, but your duty as a human being. This is, after all, the land of the Gita (which incidentally, was written in the same “glorious past” that the paper wants us to stop “basking in”) which told us - “do your duty and do not worry about rewards.”

Domination? Leadership? You can keep it. I would rather walk with someone than force him or her to follow a certain path. And I am not going to stop “basking in my glorious past” just because a publication that values an advertisement more than news tells me to!

A final note to TOI: ‘Domination’ is not the only word that begins with ‘do’. Some of the words that begin with those two letters are distinctly unpleasant – dope, doofus, doormat...