The dawn of a new era :: 50 Years After Nehru

May 26th, 2014 would go as a watershed day not just in the history of India but also of the entire world. It would mark the departure of India's First Prime Minister and his ideological undercurrents which continued to influence India's statecraft 50 long years ago even after his demise and the ascendance of India's 15th Prime Minister who has a mind and worldview of his own.

While the late J L Nehru ascended on the India's political scene courtesy his Anand Bhawan legacy as well as the blessings of the national leader of the time Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Narendra Damodardas Modi had to confront one and all to make his way upto the top. The very patriarch who could have anointed him as his political successor simply found himself in a competing slot. 

While Nehru was the blue eyed boy of the retreating imperialists as his beliefs and vision were quite in sync with theirs, Modi is seen with tremendous suspicion and caution by the powers of the day in a yet another epoch of global change.

While Nehru was unapologetic for his English taste and convictions, Modi has not let any doubt about his conviction for Hindu Nationalism and to put it into practice. This would certainly mark the political advent of a third worldview of Pagan ethos led by the Commonwealth of Hinduism apart from the Christian and  Islamic ones.

Even after being the protege of the Mahatma, Nehru was known for his vociferous indulgences of all extremes, Modi coming from his RSS training is a mere tea totaller who displayed his frugal vegan life by ordering a pure vegetarian banquet right on his swearing day.

While Nehru was oblivious and anachronistic to the Indian ethos & traditions and systematically sidelined the leadership of the day to a dry, materialistic, indulgence ridden ideological cocktail which later came to be recognised as Nehruvianism; Modi on the other hand is extremely vigilant about the cultural diversity of India and has the mettle to not only understand it but also the uncanny capacity to synthesize it in prevalent systems and institutions.

Nehru's 18 year rule and romanticism was somewhere involved in brewing an unnecessary impractical cocktail which led to the eventual invasion of India by China. Modi on the other hand has demonstrated in his 12 year stint in the State of Gujarat a unique originality on almost all fronts quite in sync with the realities and realizations of the Indian ethos. He displayed his statesmanship right on his swearing in day by engaging the immediate neighbours load stock barrel.

While Nehru created a blind trust and belef into the capabilities of the western educated mandarins, Modi is more biased towards sons of the soil for critical advise and action.

Nehru was enamoured by power and pelf and most importantly the personal cult to such an extent that even after being preferred over Sardar Patel to take on the reigns of the nation, he dumped his very benefactor and his entire vision for the nation at large. Modi, though might have passed through a gruelling succession heat, has not sidelined any of the ideals and vision which his political mentors in Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi had crafted all through their political life. He lives and seems to continue the same principals. The operations might see his characteristic originality.

While Nehru left a battered, bruised and breathless nation which had to beg for even food grains, Modi by all means is expected to leave a legacy of self-reliance, self-confidence and self-sustainability.

They say it's all in the man at the top. This 26th May after 50 years of Nehru's demise would go down as a transformational day for the nation as a whole.