Animesh Jain: Essay answer copy

A MAN WHO WANTS TO LEAD THE ORCHESTRA MUST TURN HIS BACK ON THE CROWD

"Either you lead the people or you will be lead by them"

• Ancient proverb

During Non-Cooperation movement when freedom struggle was at its peak, a small incident in Chauri Chaura forced Mahatma Gandhi to take the movement back.

People were confounded with his

stance. How could he undermine their struggle for a small violent incident against British? they asked. However, history has proven Mahatma right. He not only drove British out with his non-violent methods but also brought a change in people's hearts through emphasis on non-violence.

The above anecdote shows the importance of taking unpopular decisions. Crowd more often than not represent human's base instincts like anger, jealousy etc. To successfully lead, a leader has to be guided by a long term vision.

History shows that most impactful leaders were one who challenged the

crowd behaviour and provided a new roadmap to society. Bhagwan Ram left his kingdom for 14 years vanvasa against the wishes of his subjects. By following his father's dictates he earned the title of 'maryada purshottam'.

Similarly, in Mahabharata, Karna learned archery and became a great warrior against crowd's ridicule that he was a Sudra and thus unfit for fighting. He is an inspiration for all youths who wants to pursue their dreams but could not due to social pressure.

Turning back to crowd is also important for nation's leaders. They have

to keep long term interest of country in mind and not get swayed away by populism. After breakup of Ottoman empire, Mustafa Kemal Pasha introduced secular values in a deeply religious society. In subsequent years, while Middle East saw rise of terrorism and civil wars, Turkey embarked on high economic growth!

Leaders have to take strong decisions at times for collective good. PM Modi's decision of demonetisation of currency was oppesed by many i.e crowd but it gave benefits like:- cleaning up of black money and countering terrorism.

Leadership also entails compromising

with crowd's values for national interest. Subhash Chandra Bose joined hands with Axis powers including Hitler for India's independence. Similarly, India shunned its principles of non-violence when it became part of Nuclear club with Pokhran tests.

Turning back on crowd is also important to drive any social change. When Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, it went against crowd's preferences for realising equality and human dignity. Swatchh Bharat Mission is another example wherein government challenged crowd's behaviour for ensuring cleanliness.

A leader can come up with 'out of the box' thinking only when he

distances himself from the crowd. In 20th century, when nations were aligning themselves with USA or USSR during Cold War, Pandit Nehru gave alternate vision of Non-Alignment. India charted its own independent course in foreign policy matters.

Today this is reflected in India turning its back on West's sanctions against Russia for its energy security. Similarly, India refused to become part of Methane pledge in COP negotiations to safeguard its farmers interests.

Turning back on crowd also drives innovation. Steve Jobs with his Apple products revolutionised consumers experience. Instead of going for minor

tweaks over his rivals like Nokia, he went for paradigm shift with ios and iphones.

But is turning back on crowd always lead to good decisions? NO In Communist Soviet Union, decision making was centralised. No inputs were taken from masses. This led to mass famines like Holodomor in Ukraine since crowd's feedback could not reach leaders!

Listening to crowd is also necessary to make inclusive policies and ensuring good governance. In India, Laws like RTI, RTE, MGNEGA, Citizen Charter are a result of state's response to people's demands. This has heralded an era of Transparency and Accountability.

Crowd's feedback also help leaders in doing course correction. For example, Indian policymakers shunned socialist dogmas in 1991 for LPG policy. This heralded an era of high economic growth dubbed 'India story'.

In contrast, China failed to take people's feedback during COVID and continued with its 'zero COVID strategy'. The result was mass deaths and prolonged shutdowns.

Thus, a judicious mix of following one's own instincts and listening to crowd is necessary for a successful leader. This can be achieved by having greater good/ Sarvodaya principle of Gandhiji in mind. One's ends has to

be pure. When goals are just, crowd will inevitably follow the leader. Rabindranath Tagore says a leader has to walk alone at times to realise his goals i.e Ekla Chalo Re!

It is said that:

• A leader is one who knows the way, shows the way and walks the way.