By Sonal Srivastava
While on a state visit to India in February, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, the youngest president in the country’s history, was seen jogging in navy-blue shorts and a T-shirt on a dusty sidewalk in Mumbai.
In a gazillion videos on social media that captured the health-conscious president keeping up with his fitness regimen, Macron, surrounded by his security team, seemed unbothered by honking cars and the attention that Mumbaikars bestowed on him.
Most people in the subcontinent are unaccustomed to seeing their leaders exercising casually or cycling on the streets without a political campaign.
For it is an unwritten rule that those in positions of power must display ‘executive presence’ that is, they must appear calm, composed, and confident to the public eye.
In the Netherlands, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte rode away on a bicycle from his office in The Hague after handing over to Dick Schoof.
Rutte spent 14 years as the PM, yet when it was time to vacate the office, he chose to leave on a cycle. In contrast, netas back home must have iron-clad security so that they do not face threats to their lives.
Power, while enabling leaders to transform lives, can also become an entrapment, binding them to the carefully curated public image, and denying the respect their individuality deserves.
Public figures seem to drink from a poisoned chalice; while it propels them to the stratosphere of success; it takes something more subtle away: the capability to act on their own volition without constant scrutiny and criticism. ‘Log kya kahenge,’ — what will people say, sticks to them like a chewing gum to a shoe sole.
Even sartorial choices are calculated. Leaders dress to convey messages, bond with constituencies, and forge an identity that resonates with voters.
However, this very bond places limits on something as simple as wardrobe choices. Men are often expected to wear white kurta-pyjamas, achkans, white shirts and trousers, or a dhoti, depending on where the campaign trail leads.
Women politicians must wear handloom saris representative of Indic culture.
They must always act in accordance with what is perceived as virtuous. Take swimming for instance, a woman politician in a bikini is political hara-kiri, a scandal and fodder for the opposition.
It is said that power corrupts, but what is not discussed is how it can be cruel to those who hold it, shrinking their personal space and liberty. Abraham Lincoln is believed to have said, “Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow.
The shadow is what we think it is, and the tree is the real thing.”
Even strong trees need nurturing. Just like us, our leaders, too, need compassion. Only if they are allowed to be human will politics become more humane.
“If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion,” and “Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us tranquillity and happiness we all seek,” says The Dalai Lama, and we should pay heed.
Public figures must be held accountable, but they should also be allowed to simply be. So, if a woman leader wants to enjoy a peaceful swim in an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini, we must let her be.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
END OF ARTICLE
