What if I told you that it is largely because he reminds us of ourselves? In a lot of ways. And in a lot of ways, he doesn’t. It is this interesting amalgamation that might be a major psychological factor at play, in the process of pappufication of Rahul Gandhi. Let me share my thoughts on the same. I am no expert. So, in a lot of ways, I might be wrong. In some ways I might be right too. It is worth discussing though.
“yahaan se aloo daaloge, wahaan se sona niklega”
Most of us have heard this statement, which is practically a viral joke about someone who has been built as a bit of a viral joke himself – Rahul Gandhi. What is interesting is that this statement was made to mock Narendra Modi, comparing some of his claims and ideas to the stupidity of a thought like – “yahaan se aloo daaloge, wahaan se sona niklega”
Even today, you will hear this joke used to ridicule Rahul Gandhi. Even today, you will find a lot of people, supposedly informed, who are clueless about the context of this statement. Now, this does not mean that Rahul Gandhi has not actually said a few stupid things in the past. But there is a marked improvement too. Add to it the fact that he has constantly taken questions from the press and public alike. Unlike someone else, who still continues to be a rather smart and powerful man in the eyes of many. Someone who has made much more, and much bigger blunders in his speeches and interviews, even when most of them were clearly scripted.
While the truth of our respected Prime Minister is catching up with him and finally it seems that quite a few people seem to realize the lack of intelligence and sensibility he has – and is accordingly even being ridiculed. Yet the fact of the matter is, for an observant eye, it was always visible. Just like the significant improvement in the sense and sensibility that Rahul Gandhi had begun to display. At least for the last three to four years (and if you explore multiple unedited videos of this period, you will realize it), Rahul Gandhi has been making way more sense than someone who remained the most popular Indian leader in this period. Still, Rahul Gandhi (largely) continued being the joke that he was around 2014. This brings us back to the question, why do we love to laugh at Rahul Gandhi?
Who Is Rahul Gandhi?
He is quite visibly a person who, for a significant part of his life, seemed reluctant in doing what his parents expected him to do. He did not seem interested and quite clearly lacked the natural gift for it. Both these factors working in a cycle to further escalate each of them, the lack of talent, and the lack of interest. Yet, he was almost pushed into this world, chosen for him by his parents (mother) and in a lot of ways also driven by societal pressure. After all we are the same society that hates nepotism, but are crazy about the pictures of Taimur’s diapers on social media (well, almost). Of course a part of us dearly wanted Rahul in politics!
He chose something that he was uninterested in, due to external pressure and expectations, and seemed ill-quipped to handle it. The result was a mediocre performer.
This description reminds me of someone. A friend of mine. Another friend of mine. A college batch mate. And another batch mate. And so many others. It reminds me of most of the people that I have come across in my life. It is the story of an average Indian. Even the people who go to some of the best college campuses of this country. I have been to a couple of them, and whoever is willing to be honest about it, these produce truckloads of mediocrity. Also, some of the highest posts in the biggest of the companies. Again, with some personal experience I can vouch for the level of ordinariness on display, in the ‘intelligence’ of ideas that so many of these business leaders have. This is not to say that people are not talented. This is because most people around us, are not really chasing the things that they are most excited about.
The things they are likely to be the most talented in. Because in a capitalist setup, that is not how dreams and ambitions work. Also, the best of the ideas, in a corporate set up are not always the best ideas. They are mostly the ones that will help produce best appraisal reports for the employee – and that can often overpower the actual decision-making skills of these people. But the fact remains. Too much mediocrity around. And at the core, the reasons behind them are precisely the reasons that define Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi, surprisingly, is very similar to an average Indian. To all of us.
Except for one parameter. Privilege. And this is what changes the empathy and relatability that we might have felt for him, completely on its head. Rahul Gandhi reminds us of ourselves, but then it also tells us that he has his privileged cushion to fall back to. Which we don’t. And we hate it. We want to mock it. We want to laugh at it. And we do!
This is not to debate whether we are right or wrong in doing so. This is merely an attempt to understand it. Which brings me to an extension of this argument. When I say that we are all surrounded by mediocre people, I am not discounting the fact how so many of them still end up fulfilling all the expectations that were thrust upon them. They do manage to consistently get those good appraisal ratings and are able to play various roles quite well as per the societal conventions. And they manage it by trying, harder and harder. Going, further and further. And beyond a point – it almost looks immaterial as if this was not a choice that they made for themselves. They almost accept it as a part of destiny, and just give their best. They know it will involve its fair share of compromises, they will not always be able to say and do the most sensible things, but in the larger scheme of things, that is okay. They keep on trying. And improve. Like a lot of people around us. Like, Rahul Gandhi.
The fact that someone has so much privilege, will obviously make us uncomfortable. But even with all of it, he still was made into a punching bag for various souls in the country. He faced defeats and public humiliation, and he faced it multiple times. In all our little worlds, all of us face something of this sort, all the time. And today, it seems like, we can learn a thing or two from someone we have always laughed at. Even with all the humiliation and defeat, he has been able to fight back. Most importantly, with grace and dignity.
In hateful times like ours, where we are all so frustrated (and often depressed) in our private spaces, it is refreshing to see someone speaking the language that Rahul Gandhi speaks. He talks about forgiving the killers of his father, he talks about no tolerance to a crime where many people believe people close to him were involved. He apologises for mistakes and does not complain about the ridicule he faces. He remains dignified in situations a lot of us would have failed. A lot of this is a result of expensive personality grooming classes, but even with all the training, eventually it is one person, out there, in front of everyone, fighting his battle.
We have laughed a lot at him, but if we are paying attention, there is a lot we can learn from him right now. The question is, are we paying attention?