Size matters!

The symbol of new politics

In both politics and pornography, size matters. We have just seen a pulsating example of this titillating fact when Delhi was saved from going to the polls again.

But if you think size in politics is simply getting the right numbers, you’re really entering the house of real fiction. Yes, numbers and the mathematics of numbers is important… this is what gives a party even with a lesser right to actually go ahead and form the government. This is what we have seen in Delhi in December 2013. This is how the AAP managed to silence BJP.

If you have been paying attention to the daily news you’d know that AAP has also made the right noises. The size of noise bytes is also what matters. The seventeen points that the AAP is talking about is the sort of noise that makes a better and more forceful impact than the noise of tearing other political parties down. I noticed that despite all the volleys of provocations that Dr HarshVardhan of BJP sent hurtling towards Arvind Kejriwal, the response did not include even a single retaliatory word. Arvind’s speech made the right noises about issues and what matters to Delhi. So all the high decibels and dramatic gesticulations of the leader of the opposition did not follow the winning formula called ‘size matters’.

Suddenly, the size of VIP culture, the size of government accommodation, the size of your security cover, the size of the expense statement that a neta would force upon the common man has begun to matter. So in this case is is the size of denial that matters. Saying no to anything that seems or sounds unreasonable is what is expected. I mean, this is what the public really loves. Even in denial, size matters!

The size of netagiri matters… yes, but this is one thing where the definition is on the verge of being changed. Netagiri is no longer following the fashionable route meandering through red beacons, beating up employees at toll booths, aggressive handling of TV anchors, walk-outs, rushing to the well of the house, tearing up the constitution, or simply saying ‘I legislate, therefore, I deserve to do nothing’. Netagiri is poised to become focused on talking about and implementing tasks that the hoi polloi wants to be done. Netagiri is going to all about the health of each constituency now. You do it well, your size of netagiri gets bigger. Yes, size matters!

Size of your intent to clean-up the system matters. This is because the people are now fed-up of the size of debris that they are literally forced to live on. The convoluted piles of corruption. The emotionally draining piles of bribery. The debris of listlessness of governance. So it is the size of intent, serious intent that matters. Obviously, intent needs to be followed by some real action. So the size of real action and real intent going hand-in-hand is what matters!

Creative speech impresses. So obviously, the size of creative speech matters… and this does not include the coining of words like ‘feku’, ‘shehzada’, ‘daku’ or any such inane use of language. The leader of the opposition in Delhi Assembly was following the already expired laws of creativity that the politicians have been resorting to for these past decades. Come on, dear netas, that phase is now over. Creative speech of your sort is not what sounds impressive in televised debates. Just get down to sedate debating with real arguments and not all sound and fury! We all know how terribly non-performing these words of histrionics have been. We need to see and experience the virility and the power of words spoken with conviction. Loud interjections are out. Abusive inclusions are passé. It is the size of your understanding of our problems and then the size of the solutions that you propose that tells us the size of your creative involvement with governance. Yes, size matters!

Arvind Passey
06 January 2014