Trigger warning: depression, drug addiction, death by suicide
On 10th August, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar dropped a political bombshell when he junked the state’s NDA coalition by booting out the BJP from his government and allying instead with his long-time rivals in the RJD. Those events are well-documented, and the narrative has shifted from the political pundits’ eloquent analyses to a bitter debate on whether Kumar is an ideological paltu ram or the herald of a united opposition.
The point of this piece is not to add to the [already vast] body of political analysis on these developments, nor does it seek to take a stance on the debate on Kumar’s integrity—not as if there’s much scope for debate on a politician’s integrity. The point of this piece is instead to explore a thought experiment, which entails viewing the Bihar developments through the perspective of a simultaneous rock enthusiast and an avid spectator of Indian politics.
Rock history gives us a surprisingly appropriate metaphor for this case. Even those uninitiated in the faith will likely have heard of legendary grunge rock band Nirvana, helmed by Kurt Cobain. With Cobain were Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, who primarily acted as bassist and drummer respectively. Many of you may also know of Cobain’s tragic death by suicide, which marked the end of Nirvana as the world knew it. He has been rightly described as the “creative force that took the band from obscure grunge act to arena-filling superstars.” Not only was he the USP of Nirvana, but also the glue that held the band and its identity together. It was only natural to surmise there could be no Nirvana without Kurt Cobain.
And so, following Cobain’s death in 1994, Grohl and Novoselic went their own ways. While the latter mostly faded out of the music scene, barring a few performances and one major album, the former had a long way to go yet. Grohl had no intention of giving up music, which had been a lifelong passion for him, and sought to reinvent himself, in a manner that could only be described as radical.
During his Nirvana days, Grohl was an acclaimed drummer, while the singing and guitar were left up to the other two members—apart from some background harmonisation that Grohl would sometimes take up, notably in the famed 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. However, post-Nirvana, Grohl decided to diversify his musical arsenal. He returned to songwriting—which he had briefly dabbled with in the past—and went on to make a debut album that he wrote and recorded solo. This new debut album, released just a year after Cobain’s death, was the first of Grohl’s new project—Foo Fighters.
From then on, Foo Fighters went from strength to strength, with Grohl taking on new band members, making it five-strong as of present. In its 28 year existence, Foo Fighters released nine studio albums, has been commercially successful, and remains among the most beloved and long-lasting rock bands of today.
Grohl, intent on reinventing his music, went on to craft the music of Foo Fighters as one completely distinct from Nirvana’s grunge rock. Foo Fighters represents an entirely different subgenre of rock music, no longer the dark and gritty sound and lyrics Nirvana was famous for.
Lest this piece completely goes off course, this is an appropriate juncture to return to the original focal point—Bihar politics. If at this point you’re saying that Foo Fighters has nothing to do with the Mahagathbandhan, you’d probably be right. But then again, this is a thought experiment, so bear with me, as I fine-tune this analogy.
For our purposes, the Bihar coup is analogous to what Dave Grohl did with Foo Fighters. The Bihar NDA in this case is Nirvana, with Grohl and Novoselic respectively being Kumar’s JDU and the BJP. Paralleling Cobain’s suicide, Kumar’s willingness to compromise with the BJP too died a sudden death that was induced by prolonged stress. For Cobain, it was in the form of depression and drug addiction. For Kumar, it was the overbearing BJP’s continuous attempts to pressure, limit, and control their lone ally in the state.
And now, with the NDA no more, Bihar’s Dave Grohl went on to radically reinvent his government. No longer playing the tunes of ‘double-engine sarkaar’ and nationalism, Kumar’s new project—where he allies with his main rivals—has now made a return to the politics of caste and social welfare. Not unlike Grohl’s reluctance to have Foo Fighters perform Nirvana tracks, we have the new Mahagathbandhan become a beacon of opposition to the BJP’s ideology.
However, regardless of how beloved Grohl is at present, with a stellar musical career behind him, it is also true that Nirvana’s cultural impact will likely always eclipse that of Foo Fighters. And so, for anyone clamouring for ab ki baar, Nitish sarkaar, a reality check is in order. It is accepted by consensus among the spectators of Indian politics that Kumar’s popularity is nowhere as vast as that of Narendra Modi, and the BJP’s organisational resources are probably vaster than those of the entire Grand Alliance combined.
Foo Fighters could never fill the hole that Nirvana’s collapse left in the heart of the fandom—though of course it never intended to do so either. The point is, even if the Foo Fighters wanted to, they would likely not be able to replace Cobain and Nirvana. Yet, the Foo Fighters remain a formidable and reliable face in music even today, with a stellar and consistent track record. And so, as we exit from the realm of analogy to that of educated guesswork, my final position: it would be near-impossible for a Nitish Kumar-led coalition to defeat even a friendless BJP, but Kumar, with a demonstrated expertise in social engineering, may yet hurt the BJP’s electoral fortunes and reduce its juggernaut. Audiences never ignore innovators, whether in rock or rajneeti.