The Aam Broom Swept the Streets of Delhi

'A leader looked unstoppable, an organiser looked undefeatable - just a few days back. A party looked ahead of years of monopoly in the political landscape of India - even until the early morning of February 10. A broom just changed all that - the arrogance of power, the confidence in invincible organisational skill, and above all, a boring political monologue. A two-year-old political party snatched the glory of delivering political gospels, destroyed the validity of rogue nationalism, and negated the promotion of overbearing religious beliefs.'

A friend of mine hurriedly gave the dramatized narration of outcome of Delhi election over telephone. Though she surprised me with her interpretation, I was prepared for celebrating the dance of democracy, a political storm that swept across Delhi. I was amazed of the kind of negativity towards a party which just got defeated, yet was adulated a few months back. Maybe I can cite a few lines from a poem of mine:

The day evolved through similar or radically different views from friends and unknowns on the ground and on social media. Some people wrote about the upcoming dark period in Delhi, or wished good luck to Delhi people satirically. Quite a few lamented the absence of opposition in the future Delhi Assembly. Others simply avoided speaking their minds; possibly they supported the oldest national political outfit.

I was delighted of the many differing perspectives. There are ones I may not agree. There may be several other views I support.

'It can happen in India,' I comforted myself. I was feeling elated like I was one year ago, like I was eleven years ago. It was just another change Indians together could inflict upon themselves though now in a much larger scale, yet limited to a lot smaller geography. People of Delhi have decided something; let the result play out in full, over the next five years - like the one-year old government at Centre still holds promises for the next four years. I am optimistic about India even though not so much about the ability of our politicians to enforce unity, strength and equality. This breed of people has managed the shoddy affairs from ancient times, to roman times and to modern times. But they are still less harmful than autocratic dictators. That is why I am optimistic.

Democracy is always better than other formats of governance. Yes, as long as we do not invent another, better.