The telecast of the Nehru Memorial Lecture delivered by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi the Nobel Laureate established her as an iconic figure. The lecture merits to be included in the text books of the future as it compares and contrasts the experiences and visions of Nehru and Ms Kyi herself. Her sense of humour with the charming smiles and laughter only added to her charm and made at least me wonder whether the lady could be only second to Mandela in my living memory. The anecdote on how the aristocratic Nehru ignored the crowds and the young Kyi while discussing matters of import with her mother with a mischievous twinkle or the deep readings of Nehru's works while analysing a poem which both loved were charming the elite crowd. However, she also subtly set all of us thinking when she spoke of renunciation. Even as she paid glowing tributes to the sacrifices of Gandhi and Nehru, she made it clear that they had the unstinting support of Kasturba and Kamala respectively.
The remark set me thinking as I had just completed the reading of a fiction of Ashwin Sanghi titled Chanakya's Chant. In this book, the enviable Kautilya keeps emphasising that the power of renunciation is what that attracts the multitude. The remark of Ms Kyi that the sacrifice of the icons were to fulfil an egoistic pursuit of a goal or to have a tryst with destiny could not have come at a better moment.She poignantly drew parallels and indicated that while she had chosen to stay be the Burmese at the cost of her family, it was their sacrifice that was greater as they contributed to another's ambitions and not to further their own agenda.
Hats of Ms Kyi!!! you truly answered my mind in simple words. I have always wondered who is better the individual who sacrifices to attain better goals or a person who sacrifices his interests to further others' goals. The thinker in Kyi answered me unequivocally. The latter was the better individual though the former was celebrated. This happens in every home. The homemakers hide themselves under the cryptic behind every successful man is a woman while in organisations, the top brass bask in the glory of the multitude they "manage". In a nation the leader basks in the glory of the masses.
In an interview with the combative Karan Thapar she charmingly disarms him by asking who am I to forgive? For once Thapar must concede that here is a batsman who says he is out before the umpire rules him out. Here is a leader who without hesitation accepts she is not infallible, she is human and she could be incorrect. This is indeed a breath of fresh air in an era wherein persons across strata do not wish to introspect or even consider for a moment that there could be a possibility of being in the wrong. We should envy the Burmese to have such a leader in their midst while we should also pity them as it is not she who is leading them.
I must admit that I have learnt the hard way that it is difficult to make another person hear you let alone listen. It is for this reason alone that mass leaders fascinate me irrespective of their affiliation or ideology. But their charisma is enhanced when they are able to admit that they could be in the wrong or they have erred. This is a rare quality more so in the political space which is busy teaching our batsmen a lesson or two in deflecting doosras and googlies.
May I express the gourmet's appetite for a joint session to be addressed by the two living legends - Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi - more as a measure of lessons for the generations to come - a recipe for a connoisseur. Another lesson that was delivered in no small measure was the importance of reading, analysing and digesting the material that is read. Many read for the sake of reading. But historical accounts are to be studied, opinions of legends valued, differed on rational analysis and digested to be part of history itself. It is time for us to rediscover the treasures of reading and debating. A gift that Ms Kyi has left for us to pick. Will we honour it by picking it up?
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