Small is big and big is small- it dawns upon us every now and then. In an awakened state of mind (or in a mindless state), we are hit hard by this principle. If we try to act oblivious, we are jolted out of our cocoons and forced to see things as they are and not as we wish them to be. Every small gesture of love and care soothes our souls and make us a better person. Good in others prompt us to be a do-gooder in the same measure as a misdemeanor when dished out fuels our dormant self to wake up and react and if need be, retaliate.
Every single step matters and takes us towards our destination (whether long term or short term) which is normally seen as something big and life-changing. But astonishingly, when we reach the finish line, the euphoria sets in which can either prove to be a humbling experience that keeps us grounded and drives us further to reach greater heights or it can swell our egos to an extent that we get overwhelmed and in the due course fritter away our time and energies on sweet-nothings. First is favorable and second is fatal. Is there anything too big that can make us sit and gloat about? In fact nothing is. If our successes convert us into broken records, nothing could be worse. It has a psychological as well as a philosophical side to it. Psychologically (or pathologically) speaking, there are perceptual differences and perception is a cognitive process that involves thinking. Inpidual differences are the culprits that make some soar and others- sink. How you look at it is crucial. And if we take a philosophical angle (that too a Shakespearean one and rephrase it) nothing is big and noting is small but thinking makes it so. The two versions seem to overlap. Probably this is the reason why philosophy is the mother of all sciences. It comprises all and psychology being a young offspring is no exception.
When we enter the political arena, the principle in question becomes more pronounced. The bigwigs are boastful and bizarre. They make tall claims to lure the gullible us who have suddenly started feeling empowered after being bestowed with the right to reject. We would love to reject the falsehoods and the erroneous talking points of our politicos, in the first place. We were doing it even before by not stepping out on the D-day. And we will do the same now after getting past the serpentine queues at the booths, weathering the seasonal roughness of elections and gladly assuming the smallness of our act to be too big to be a game changer. We are the makers; we believe or would like to believe by exercising our right to vote. In the present political scenario, it has become a tough call. This predicament is the biggest barrier that see a major chunk of our electorate locked in, refusing to step out and make the difference. Our democratic sensibilities need to be restored lest they go astray and reject all for obvious reasons.
Every party enjoys the party time during their tenure, pushing their personal agendas on the fore and marginalizing the aam aadmi in a most ruthless manner. It happens every time but that doesn’t and shouldn’t stop us in anyway from involving ourselves in the transformative process for it is too big a thing that decides the well being of a billion plus. Scarred by the scams and scandals, our politicos are in dire need of new avatars. And they are leaving no stone unturned to realize this cherished goal. Never-heard-before practices are being followed with great pomp and show by all party people. Innovative ideas are having a free fall. Wordsmiths are at work day in day out. Financial wizards are working overtime to regurgitate the scorecards and image managers are mending incessantly the broken images. In the run up to elections, we are witnessing a lot, waiting patiently for our turn. Only time will tell who we excise and who we lap up. Till then, let’s see how the principles are framed and reframed to suit the purposes of our biggies. Whether small is considered as big and big as perennially small or we get to learn new algorithms. Who knows?