[Update: Thank you everyone, who went with the guy who deserved it more, irrespective of anything else. This is the time to feel proud of what you did.]
The bad thing about politics is that you don’t have to be genuinely good to win elections. You just have to play your political moves right. Being genuinely good helps only when the group of people who are going to vote for you (or against you, as the case may be) is so small that all of them know you personally. In such a case, logic takes over politics. When the group is so large that it is impossible for the voters to personally know the candidates contesting the election, politics works, rumors work, regionalism works, and to sum it up, all kind of shit works. This is one of the reasons, I never ever contested for any post in the institute. There always has been enough shit in life already,to take care of; who needs more?
I am writing this post today to ask you, who is reading it right now, a fairly simple question: How would you feel if you see baseless and false rumors going against someone who is genuinely good, and clearly more eligible for a job?
I will tell you how I feel. I feel like a helpless asshole because I do not know what steps to take to put down such baseless rumors! Can none of you reason out the source of such rumors? Can’t you open up your eyes and see that the very reason someone needs a rumor against an opposing contestant is that he knows he doesn’t have that genuineness to help him, that he knows he is not half as good as the other guy?
Yes, I am referring to insti politics. Elections are scheduled for tomorrow. There are so many posts that my poor memory fails to recollect the exact number. But there is one particular post that I am extremely concerned about. I am concerned because that single post has to do so much with how Shaastra, the technical festival of IIT Madras, of which most of the students are so proud of, is going to take shape in the Golden Jubilee year of the institute. On one hand I see a guy who is perfect for the job but who sucks at playing politics. On the other hand, I see a guy whose most important forte is not his set of credentials (neither his ideas about how to facelift Shaastra), but his ability to play politics.
Is this what Shaastra needs? A better politician? If you ask me, I would say, no. And if you have ever been a part of Shaastra, you should agree with me. There is nothing more I have to write about here in this post. Actually, this probably is the first time I am writing on insti-elections (and of course this is going to be the last time). Never before, did I feel the need to campaign for anyone. This one time, I want to. I want to, because I feel sad at the very thought of seeing Shaastra slip away from able hands; from the hand of someone who has seen Shaastra inside out and has the intelligence to change things. I want to, so that if genuineness does prevail over politics (we will get to know about that tomorrow), when I pass out, I can feel proud that I did what I could in the good act. If you, dear reader, believe in what I say, you know it already what to do tomorrow, when you go to vote. And if you can do anything more to make sure, fairness prevails over anything else, do that. Do that, so that like me, tomorrow you can feel proud of what you did, irrespective of what the outcome is.
Happy Elections, everyone.
[Update 2: On second thoughts, I shouldn't have concluded about a contestant being a good politician based on some anti-campaigning rumors. Spreading rumors is a bad thing to do. But then, that could have been the work of some of his supporters. So, I apologize, if my opinion on him, hurt him.]
[Update 3: It's time we stop discussing this post. There is work to do. I am closing off comments.]