“Delhi’s corridors are filled with powerful people but there are no lasting friendships here”
Delhi is the capital of the largest democracy of the world and so is full of powerful people. Atleast that is the impression that the common man gets when he arrives here. It is a cold and hard city for an outsider. It is a city which thrives on nexus between the Politicians, bureaucrats and industrialist. It is easy for a new comer to get carried away by being in the same sphere with the people who matter. Sometimes he gets carried away with his own self importance. There are enough wheeler-dealers in this town to make you feel they can do anything at a cost. They can easily sell you the story of how they can influence government policies. But are actually only boasting. In the corridors of power here, there are lots of wannabes too. This is a place which is heaven for those who want to make a living by just being seen with the powerful. But, here the powerful also use people as and when they want. There are no long lasting friendships or alignments here. You change friends like you change clothes. In this circle one does not talk to anybody who is not of any importance. An outsider will very easily get lost here. The people here can make your head swollen with attention and presents if you are in any position of importance. The minute you lose that place of importance you are dropped like a hot potato. Then you really do not know what has hit you. People hide when they see you and do not even want to waste their time saying a polite ‘hi’ to you.
I come from a small town and I know that senior politicians who come from different state’s to meet office bearers of different political party’s are shocked and surprised as to how little the leaders in the centre know about grass root. They look down upon these leaders of the states who actually win the states and make them powerful. The leaders in the centre are so arrogant and that these state humble leaders are left wondering why? They feel humiliated when they see that the corrupt and wheeler dealers get more importance here than them. The state guys who are the real winner’s do not wear Armani’s and carry designer’s pens and watches. These simpletons are not used to five star cultures. Their hard work in the state is not judged properly because of their so called senior leaders have the gift of the gab and are savy enough to hog and use the attention of the big guys here. It is a twenty four hour job for the non grass root person. It’s his survival instinct of buttering the powerful in the centre. They work once again in this theory of “you scratch my back and I will scratch yours”. Politicians feed stories to journalists and industrialist also do the same. It’s a small happy family together. If one is caught he is isolated immediately. There is also a use and discard formula.
A holier than thou attitude is not fit for anyone in this town especially not in the corridors of power. This is a town where boasting your access to someone important is a big thing. It is not fair to judge anyone. Everyone here drops name, thinks no end of themselves and no one can afford to point fingers in this town at each other. No one is better than the other. Some get caught and some get away.
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