Tomorrow’s news, today…

Remember that old James Bond flick, Tomorrow Never Dies? Remember that the film’s rouge media baron, Elliot Carver, who thought he had acquired a villainous capacity to order “tomorrow’s news today”? Well, in the time-honoured tradition, Mr Bond took care of him. But let me try to give our readers tomorrow’s news today — in fact, a long and protracted breaking news. How about this headline: “Modi leads NDA to 2019 Lok Sabha victory”. Or, simply, “Modi Triumphant”. Or, just, “Modi, again”. 

The Prime Minister and his colleagues have devised a brahmashastra: surgical strikes. All opposition parties stand decimated. The BJP’s campaign managers can be relied upon to keep firing this weapon of mass political destruction till the next Lok Sabha polls.

We are in for a long phase of warmongering. We will be invited to hate Pakistan, Pakistani Army, Pakistani politicians, Pakistani cricketers, Pakistani artistes, Pakistani food, Pakistani people. You name it ‘Pakistani’ and we will happily hate it.

Elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Each electoral contest will be so designed as to make it into a vote of confidence for the victorious Prime Minister. As the honourable Raksha Mantri has revealed to the nation that while the Army commandos may have risked their lives and carried out the “surgical strikes”, it was Prime Minister who deserved the largest slice of credit. And, of course, it would be nothing short of blasphemy to doubt our Raksha Mantri. In any case, no one from the Army will challenge this narrative. It will stand uncontested. Modi is our answer to John Rambo. 

However, this trick will not work in Punjab. The Punjab cake is already baked. The Army may carry out “surgical strikes” on a weekly basis, but they will make no difference to the outcome in Punjab. 

The electoral surgical strikes will be carried out in the prime battlefield, Uttar Pradesh. It is the UP electoral battle that is driving the national war hysteria. Nonetheless, it may be sobering to recall that after the Kargil “victory”, the voters in Uttar Pradesh had chosen to show the door to the BJP government, headed by the redoubtable Rajnath Singh. That rebuff came about despite an extensive campaigning in the state by the Kargil hero, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

Still, Modi is not Vajpayee. He is better and smarter than Vajpayee. He is certainly a more decisive, more daring leader than Vajpayee. The BJP is already smelling a victory in UP. And, that would set the stage for the next Lok Sabha polls.

A bereavement in the family found me making a sorrowful journey to Dera Baba Jaimal Singh in Beas. This was my first visit to the place which is a well-known site of spiritual pilgrimage to the millions of Radha Soamis. 

It was easy to be impressed, indeed overwhelmed, by the sheer energy and devotion at work in the dera. Organisationally, it is nothing short of a wonder. Though in India, we are pretty good at handling congregations of vast numbers of devotees — especially at the Kumbh occasions — the Beas arrangement appears to be a class of its own. The very idea of arranging and cooking food for gathering of half-a-million defies comprehension and should be worthy of a semester course in a business school.

It is a classic case of civil society at its best.

For over a hundred years, this ‘satsang’ has been looking after its flock, without any favour from the governing authority of the day. It sustains itself entirely from voluntary labour, funds and commitment of its congregation. It seeks no political alignments or favours from any quarters. Its remarkably presentable publication, the Equilibrium in Love, carries on the opening page Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy: “The best way to find your self is to lose self in the service of others.”

What little I can understand, the Beas philosophy is a simple regimen of simple living and desirable restraints. What is called the Sant Mat programme boils down to: no animal food, no alcoholic drinks, an endeavour to have a pure and chaste life and, two-and-a-half hours devoted daily to meditation. 

No one can have any quarrel with that.

It appears to me that the Beas order seeks to induce in its devotees some sense of karmic discipline in these times of excessive consumerism and rampant moral confusion. Again, no quarrel with that. 

What is more, the order recognises no divisions or distinctions of caste or colour or creed. The order not only generates spiritual energy in each of the devotees, it also obviously inculcates some kind of healthy, happy solidarity among the followers. This is valuable social capital anytime, anywhere. 

I was struck by the fact that the dera was set up in 1891, ten years after Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia had set up The Tribune. Some very, very wholesomeness must be in the air in those days. There is a remarkable convergence in the idea of trusteeship at work in both these institutions. Though it was only in 1957 that the Radha Soami Satsang Beas was registered as a society, Maharaj Charan Singh (who was the master from 1951 to 1990) was quoted to have stated the working philosophy of the trusteeship thus: “trust (is) for the sangat, never using it for personal needs but always for the benefit and development of the sangat.”

IN about three weeks’ time, the American voters will be making the final judgment about Donald Trump. Rest of the world remains bewildered as to how a crude man like him could come so far as to become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.

The answer, in part, is available in Michael D’Antonio’s book, The Truth About Trump. D’Antonio was engaged by Trump to write a book about him and then somewhere along the line, the relationship broke down, mostly because Trump was too much of an egoist, demanding, too interfering, and too overbearing.

“I had put three years into the task of investigating his personal life, business, politics, and more. I had identified the influences and experiences that seem to explain his penchant for bullying, manipulation, deception, and megalomania,” writes D’Antonio. The book is not a very flattering account, but it does afford a penetrating analysis of this man who wants to be the President of the United States.

The Truth About Trump tells a tale of how as a young man, he “prowled the precincts of greed, deception and depravity.” It also talks about how Trump and his companies had “victimized thousands of investors, consumers and bystanders.” 

Yet, Trump endures and thrives because he has “a will to power.” Since childhood, Donald has had this narcissistic streak. A desire for attention. A compulsive need to be the centre of attraction. D’Antonio writes: “Perhaps nothing in nature is more voracious than this man’s hunger for wealth, fame, and power.” 

Anyone reading this book will get a fairly good idea that Trump is no stranger to the Americans and that they have been familiar for decades now with the man and his unorthodox methods. He has perfected, what D’Antonio calls, “hit-back-harder philosophy.” Anyone daring to make an uncomplimentary comment about him invites an open rejoinder and ridicule. He is adept at using the tools of social media to vent his extreme prejudices. He has marketed his braggadocio’s personality as a paying proposition. There is almost a joyful addiction to an ugly confrontation. 

Still, this man has made it so far. Why? D’Antonio provides a clue: Trump is the very embodiment of all that the American society, economy and culture promote. He is “quite literally, the face of modern success.” American society values wealth above everything else. Pursuit of the riches is deemed to be the highest social and moral virtue. “Indeed, for all his excesses Donald Trump is a man perfectly adapted to his time.”

Many thoughtful observers across the world, especially in Europe, are arguing that Donald Trump’s success has brought disgrace to the idea of western democracy. Many Americans themselves are wondering what it is in their society that promotes and rewards so crude a man. The Truth About Trump leaves a chilling impression: Trump is merely reflecting the crudeness and crassness of the American society and its false gods of success. 

I am not sure if I would like to invite Donald Trump for a cup of coffee with me. But the Kaffeeklatsch readers are most welcome. Anytime. 

kaffeeklatsch@tribuneindia.com