Preparing for the Long War: Some Stark Truths & Harsh Realities

This post was triggered by a discussion on FTI (internal) forum in the context of preparing for a political career and the difficulties that lie along the way. Here are some of my thoughts on this matter…Pl note what I am sharing is my personal opinion – based on personal experience. It may or may not apply in all cases – and may not match your own personal experience(s). But I hope it does provoke you to think..

The “cause” that we are fighting for – a fundamental reform of the political system in India – is easily the most daunting thing that most of us will *ever* do in our lifetimes. It is easily the most difficult thing that I have attempted so far. The odds are heavily stacked against us..Circumstances do not favour what we are trying to do. The right environment to nurture what we are trying to do does not exist. There are large incumbents who will be determined to thwart any progress that we make – if we are seen to be making progress. For now, we are insignificant, completely under the radar and submerged in popular consciousness. There is every likelihood that we will not see the change we want in our lifetimes.

If you are still with me up to this point…and still determined to give this your best shot, come and join the club..We are the optimists and the believers..but there is a wide chasm between starry-eyed optimism and the cold, practical reality of what we face today.

For most (all?) of you who are reading this, politics is not a “profession”. There is no “payment” or salary or any kind of monetary compensation you can expect for your “political” work – whether it is writing a blog – or addressing meetings – or coordinating conference calls or chats on topical issues. Which may be fine as long as such activities are in your spare time…or outside of your work hours. Even then, such activities will very seriously intrude on your personal time and time with the family. You can pretty much forget about most of your hobbies. And unless your family is fully behind this – and supporting you as you spend endless hours in these apparently thankless tasks – you will not get very far – or may have a family breakdown. This is  stark truth #1 …and it is better to understand this now than realise it (painfully) later.

Support from the family becomes even more critical as you move on to step 2 – which is devoting significant time to political activism. My definition of significant is simple – anything more than 2 days a week. It is very likely that if you are doing this, you are making some serious compromises in terms of your finances – unless you are are very well off (financially retired). If you are thinking about this, you will almost certainly have to downsize and your family will have to support you in terms of adjusting to the new reality of reduced discretionary expenditure…and even less time to spend with them. Equally, if you do not move to Step 2 by the time you are 50, it may be too late. Not just in terms of your age (and energy needed for this activity) but also in terms of “adjusting” to the reality of down-sizing. It is not easy – take it from me. In my personal case, the ONLY reason I was able to do this – even though I still have very significant financial liabilities (a house which is still on mortgage and a daughter in education) is because I have the blessed fortune of having unwavering support from my wife ( and I daresay, my daughter). Without their backing and wholehearted commitment to our cause of reshaping the destiny of this great nation, I would have been in the same boat as most of you – busy with my day-job, occasionally trying to “do something”, possibly writing a blog, having a few meetings.. and that’s about it. Which brings me to stark truth #2: Unless you are prepared to radically downsize your lifestyle – and re-examine all your priorities, you cannot afford to be in politics – full-time or part-time. This holds true for most of us (I am guessing the vast majority of those reading this still have to work for a living and are unlikely to inherit sums of money that will enable them to stop working)..although there may be exceptions..(+ you can always win a lottery!)

Even this though will not be enough.

The next step – namely contesting elections (unless you are only thinking of a local election) will almost certainly demand your full-time involvement – although many of us would wish it was otherwise. The reality of politics in India means that the voter demands that (i) you be always “available” for his/her problems and (ii) you are able to do something to fix them.  This means any plan(s) you may have of combining politics with any kind of job/consulting will not work – particularly so if you get elected (the pressure on your time will go up almost by an order of magnitude). This means you *must* have access to a steady cash flow and income earned through transparent means to support yourself and your family through this phase. This is hard because this effectively bars all but the most successful (financially) from the game, unless you are willing to make “sacrifices” – which I personally do not recommend (knowing how hard it is).

This brings me to stark truth #3 which is: unless you happen to be born in a wealthy family, you will need to make sure that (a) you have worked hard (and long) and earned (and saved) enough to have a fairly large* corpus of funds which can provide you sustenance (b) that your immediate family is happy with you fore-going 10-15 years of gainful (and I daresay, highly remunerative) employment to support you in your “cause” and (c) that you and your family are prepared – and willing – to down-size your lifestyle for a very long time to come. For many of you, this might mean postponing all your political plans by a decade – maybe more. Does that mean it is the end of the world? Hardly. As I mentioned previously, what we are fighting for is very likely the hardest thing you will ever do in your life…Which means you need to prepare – and prepare really hard – and well. This is what you must do over the next 5-10-15 years whatever the case may be – before you are ready to take the plunge.

There is a lot more to say- and to discuss…The hard bits – and what comes next forms the core of this workshop that I did last year (and will be repeating later this year): Leadership Workshop for Political Activists.

If you are still determined to walk down this path, Join us! ..and make sure that your spouse reads this..make sure your parents understand this and support you…and if you have kids who are in their teens, make sure they know that their Dad/Mum has not “lost it”..but are trying to do something meaningful (and unpopular) against very harsh odds. Comments & thoughts welcome – as well as first-hand experience(s).

P.S. * In case you are wondering how large is “large” (see stark truth #3 above), I cannot obviously tell you how much will be “sufficient” for you. That is for you an your family to decide..what may be “sufficient” for you may not be sufficient for me – and vice-versa. I am reminded of something else I say in my discussions with youngsters: You will need to learn the difference between “need” and “desire”. There is unfortunately no other way…unless you happen to be a Gandhi.

Related Post: Changing India – One Step at a Time.  Please also read: How Can You Help?