No Power Is Perfect

(Published in Banking Services Chronicle December 2005)


The sun rises in the east. The darkness disappears. There is hope in the air often riding on a gentle breeze. Clouds, if any, lie in tatters. More stratus than cumulus or nimbus. Freshness on every face. In the slowly, sweetly spreading sunlight man readies to take on another challenge. Full of hope. Enthusiasm oozing out of every pore of his.

The rising sun starts working miracles upon mankind and celebrates its ascent in the sky. After all, it has enthused billions of persons and goaded them to realise their potential through work. Work is what brings us happiness and most of us are likely to accept that the sun has proved to be our source of happiness.

Noon. The sun is at its peak. Triumphant pride now seems to be turning into abominable arrogance. One can sense it to be filled with a feeling of its own indispensability. “I shine, therefore the world is.” It appears the desire to serve has now given way to the ambition to govern.

Alas! Noon is only a point of time. A point that is unflinching in adhering to the law of nature: what goes up must go down. And how surprising that this law works even when there is no gravity involved! The decline of the sun, as it appears to us, stands testimony to this. And finally the sun sets. Leaving us alone in the dark to ruminate on the last line from Billy Wilder’s classic film, Some Like It Hot: “Nobody is perfect.”

No civilisation is perfect. No power lasts for ever. The Roman Empire dazzled in its scorching brilliance so much so that it was said, “All roads lead to Rome.” And then in recent history, we are told, the sun never set on the British Empire. Post-World War II, however, the British Crown could only console itself with the glory of Commonwealth.

The latter part of the twentieth century belonged to two superpowers. The US championed the cause of capitalism while the USSR clung to communism. Until in 1989 the USSR collapsed and split into 15 smaller powers. Leaving the US as the sole superpower, the uncrowned king of the world.

But then, as mentioned earlier, no power is perfect. And so it is only a matter of years. The US, which laboured its way to supremacy for more than two centuries, has now begun to unleash its arrogance—be it in Afghanistan or Iraq. It has proved one dictator can be thwarted by another. It has proved that even mighty powers bow before a superpower and lack the courage to veto its decision.

The winds of change, however, are already being felt. This century, it is being said, will belong to the Orient. To China and India, to be precise. They can combine their enormous economic prowess with the requisite military strength to become eligible to be a superpower.

The superpowers—be it the sun or an earthly power—thus hold a lesson for us ordinary mortals. There is always room at the top. Just because someone is ensconced in the driver’s seat and doing a good job, we can’t conclude that there cannot be a better driver. For every India Today there can come an Outlook. Every Sunil Gavaskar can be bettered by a Sachin Tendulkar. Every Rajesh Khanna can be overshadowed by an Amitabh Bachchan.

The secret of success lies in dreaming big and making every effort to realise that big dream. Don’t be afraid because a star already exists. You can always be a superstar.

And what can the superstar do? Do what the movie Superstar, the Big B has done. The magic of Amitabh Bachchan lies in his ability to adapt to changing situations. Though noon can’t stay for ever, it certainly can be prolonged this way.