Jottings - Slice of Life -257 ( The annihilation of Kamal, the amateur politician by the seasoned, articulate and intellectually superior Smriti Irani - in a recent Republic TV debate)

Jottings - Slice of Life -257 ( The annihilation of Kamal, the amateur politician by the seasoned, articulate and intellectually superior Smriti Irani - in a recent Republic TV debate)

Thomas B. Reed, one of the most cherished Speakers of the US house of representatives ; known for his wisdom, arbitrating skills, justice and eloquence, once intercepted a member of the senate, who was debating at length without any specific purpose and told him “ Mr Russell, It seems you dont understand the theory of debate. The object is to convey to the house either information of misinformation. You have consumed several periods this afternoon without doing either”. On watching the debate between the Smriti Irani and the actor turned politician Kamal Hassan, hosted by Republic TV a week ago, and arbitrated by Arnab, I was reminded of Reed’s interjection whenever Kamal was given a chance to speak. The only difference between Russell and kamal was Kamal’s attempt to speak took more time, than actually speak something. The debate itself was a no-contest. It was Smriti who did all the eloquent, effortless, educated, well researched, witty and forceful talking; and Kamal, on the other hand, sat, dumb faced , grasping the mike with rigid fingers, mumbling incoherently, absolutely clueless why he was invited on stage, and what was his position and role in the debate. I have not been actively following the political movements and alliances in Tamilnadu for some time now; but I am aware that Rajnikanth and Kamal have finally “ condescended” to launch their political parties and hoped to cash in on the fanatical fan following their acting personas have in the State. It is for the first time , I heard Kamal speak on a platform in his new political avatar, and what I heard and saw horrified my sensibilities.

At the outset it was a bad idea to bring Kamal to debate with one of the finest debaters in the ruling Party. Since her active entry in Indian politcal scene in early 2000, Smriti has grown in stature and strength with each passing year. She is not merely charismatic in her saree clad presence, bilingually fluent,; but as a seasoned parliamentarian and autodidact, she is always prepared with the necessary facts and opinions well stocked and labelled in her mind before confronting an issue . Since 2009, She has been one of the prime torch bearers of the BJP agenda on television, and on the field. From a former contestant in the Miss India pageant in 1989, to acting in soap operas, to joining the BJP, She has displayed a firmness of purpose and commitment in all her actions. The prime requisite to become a politician, is to have firm convictions, whatever they may be and wherever they come from, and then find the right vehicle to translate those ideas into action. Smriti naturally gravitated to BJP, because her parents were affiliated to it, and her own ideologies further complemented those leanings. But that does not mean, she didn’t school herself properly, or undertake the necessary groundwork to establish her place in the BJP hierarchy. She worked on the field, learnt the nuances of power, understood the importance of priorities and refined her positions on key issues, before taking the role of media spokesperson for her party. She filled a critical position in the media for BJP ,especially, with their predominant bias towards Hindutva and its ramifications. The party needed a popular voice who could balance the fundamental thrust of the party with the sweet rhetoric of development and progress, and the ability to rationalize the party’s agenda in non-partisan terms with intellectual rigor and integrity. After two decades in different roles, and in power, Smriti is a formidable debating opponent in any political conversation, and to her, sparring words with Kamal Hassan should have felt like a carefree walk in the park. A pleasant distraction to an otherwise grueling administrative routine.

There is no doubt in anyones mind that Kamal Hassan is one the finest actors of his generation. Fifty years of acting is no mean achievement, especially so, for Kamal, who has throughout his career constantly striven to break stereotypes and present new thematic representations of prevailing social issues. He is self-declared atheist, and is proud to be a non-conformist Hindu. His movies, several of them, have nuanced attacks on the need to look at God through the prism of social welfare, and Gandhi’s philosophy of embracing all humanity shines through in his work. As an actor, he is versatile, and committed; but his articulation on screen has often come under criticism. His voice often gets muffled in his attempts to speak in a deep throated voice. Outside the screen, in public forums, he comes across as a thinking person, but lost so much in cogitation that he often loses the thread of the discussion he is drawn into, and is known to give tangential answers to direct questions. He apparently loves Tamil, TamilNadu, tamilians and claims to be passionate about preserving its heritage. It is also a fact that he has in the past been very vocal about not entering the political arena, and in true cinematic fashion promised to make that move when the time in ripe. He is now in his mid sixties, and probably thinks, it is time now to get way from mainstream cinema, which has many young and talented faces, and do something else with his remaining days. In Tamilnadu, after cinema, Politics is a door that is always open. With mass following, and fanatical devotion to the actor, and unmindful of person behind the paint and mask, the people of Tamilnadu have always swayed to the rhetoric of their popular heroes and heroines, even when more capable, educated and trained bureaucrats and administrators are available. In fact, the entire country suffers from this disease in its own way and intensity, but no where is it so blatant and prominent as it is in Tamil Nadu. Since the time of MGR, and Karunanidhi before him, politics in this State has had deep connections with film industry; and the bad news is, it continues to be so, observing the rise of Kamal and Rajnikanth as potential political candidates in the reckoning. Of the two, I assumed Kamal would appear more prepared and focussed; but if this debate on republic TV is anything to go by, I am not sure at all. The man has no idea what he wants to do.

Participating in a debate, or a dialogue, or a mediated conversation have a few ground rules. The first of which is to come prepared with basic facts about the topic. The aura of being actor is not particularly relevant in an educated debate. In such forums what one speaks, and what meaning that speech contains is more relevant that glumly looking at the mediator and opponent one after the other in regular succession. It seemed to all us from Kamal’s demeanor and body language that he woke up, dressed, got into a flight, landed at the venue, and hoped his very presence would lull any chances of rebuttal or counter point. Smriti did indulge quite a bit, but Kamal probably forgot he was participating in an intellectual conversation concerning the upcoming general elections, and would not be questioned on the current state of commercial cinema. The result is : He was overwhelmed and out beaten by superior intellect in Smriti.

Secondly, delivering lengthy and profound dialogues within the framework of a movie is not the same thing as speaking impromptu, intelligently and spontaneously in a public forum with wit, grace and eloquence. Very rarely can one do both. Ronald Reagan , the former US President, was an exception. After this performance, If Kamal has any thoughts of becoming a strong political voice in Tamilnadu, he needs a few urgent lessons in the art of speaking. As a social commentator mentioned in his review of the debate, it looks as though Kamal is so conscious of his language, grammar and structure, that by the time, words come out of his mouth, either the question becomes irrelevant, or his answers unsatisfactory.

Lastly, throughout this particular debate, there was five main threads of discussion that Arnab initiated. In none of those was kamal able to articulate anything of substance. He was more of less in agreement with Smriti on every point; so what is the point of sitting on the other side? Furthermore, and this is perhaps the most important of them all : Kamal didn’t seem to have any conviction about any of his political views. He was mouthing few cliches, and to the audience assembled in the hall it was evident that Kamal couldn't justify any of it, except on the point that people should be given the freedom to honor the National anthem when they wished too, and such an adherence should not enforced as a statute - which, of course, didn’t earn him any brownie points ( he should have known better) with anybody.

On a positive note what this debate exposed was the hollowness of people who claim to be political ready to assume office. It is true that the Indian constitution does not impose any specific qualifications to aspire for political office; but that does’t mean, anybody poplular with masses for whatever reason, can be offered a ticket. We can! if that person can exhibit the qualities and skills required to speak to the real concerns the nation faces, and boldly stand by convictions reached after hard deliberation, and not seek political office out of some altruistic need to “ to do good”. This phrase has lost its value. That should not be enough anymore. We should have more such one on one debates against holding meaningless political rallies where people are fed with empty bu dazzling rhetoric. In debates like these, people can see how their potential leaders react to questions, talk, intelligently defend their beliefs and vision. I dont blame kamal for this dismal performance. Many of our would-be leaders would have met the same fate, if pinned to specifics. Arnab, while concluding the debate, mentioned that Kamal had taken time off his busy shooting schedule for a movie, which is to be his last appearance as an actor, to participate in this debate. If that was the case, one would have expected more preparedness and focus during the exchange. Unfortunately, that did not happen either.

At the end of it, It was an entertaining ninety minutes, and star of the show was Smriti Irani - hands down.

God bless…

yours in mortality,

Bala