The folly of great expectations

17 January 2016 07:47 pm - 0 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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After a Yama chaos aren’t we heading for a Yaha derailment?

Sane leadership is yet beyond the horizon

Why leadership?

Whether in small groups or large ones, people need leadership for the simple reason they are born with an inherent need to be led. From the time we were children in the care of our parents, we needed to be guided, protected, nurtured and supported. Schools and teachers also met the same needs during our student days.

However, after we get through these phases and enter adulthood the challenges increase threatening our pride, integrity, success in our careers and even our lives. So it’s natural that as ordinary people, we turn to friends and colleagues for support in weathering obstacles in an ever-changing world.

In looking towards guidance in the interpretation of “Why are we here?” a common question, we seek answers through our religious leaders. But for day-to-day problems we are inclined to turn to superiors-our bosses in our work places and also the country’s leaders expecting them to identify, understand our needs and provide agendas to mitigate or to nullify challenges.

People look to good leadership because they want to grow, raise families and live successful and happy lives. The apex of that leadership lies in political leadership. However, more often than not political leadership fails and we are quick to make the incumbent government a scapegoat. This should not be misunderstood that it’s a ‘convenient’ scapegoat; past history and experiences have shown that governments that failed to deliver deserved such blame because they were answerable to ghastly debacles that hurt us badly. Today’s political leadership is earning a name for itself as creators of despondency brought about by maladies of their own making. What is apparent is that the current leadership is losing the common touch and consequently missing the tempo of the country’s pulse. And sans the deliveries promised including the caning and jailing of wrong-doers of the previous regime, disappointed and frustrated people are moving away from their belief that ‘reforms’ would be forthcoming.

The cheer’s gone

“Meeooww”, stretched Tommo a pussycat engaged as a vermin controller at the Wallside Restaurant and Bar. “I heard bossa say that business is down at Wallside.”

“I noticed that too,” hooted Ooty an owl, pussy’s pal and working partner. “I heard that our governors are running too short to have their customary shots after the budget. Apparently even kassippu sales are so-so. I wonder what our governors drink these days. I also heard that they are managing on diets of rice, roti and kiri hodi and leftovers because prices of veggies and things have gone sky high. And Christmas was as blue as blue can be. It was the COL you see. And I don’t think governors cared to dance their cares away and kiss their partners at midnight on the last day of the year either. Haven’t you noticed governors don’t talk of the New Year; there was nothing new in it, the old aches and pains being carried forward to a fresh innings after the din of fire crackers subsided. But, weren’t some taxes lowered and governors given salary hikes to handle the rising costs of living?” The pussy and the bird were relaxing in the Wallside kitchen after a stint of mice hunting.

“Purshshsh. Have you ever heard of any government bringing down the cost of living, eh? It will be a wonder of wonders if any lot in Parliament can. It’s only a dream I tell you; increasing salaries to counter rising costs is a joke. Has it solved the cost of living problem? No, prices have gone up further. Gurus say it happens ‘in sympathy’ with rising wages. Even we pussies know that producing more at low costs is the answer to tackle high living costs.”

‘Megapolis’? What about the ‘Peoplepolis’?

“Thuhooot. I thought the imbeciles were in the previous govt. This one seems to be matching the former chapter by chapter. But I see one thing the present lot is much better at; they are masters in making convincing speeches about plans, visions and strategies for our governors’ welfare and in developing the country. Why, they are talking of creating a ‘megapolis’, a city that’s going to be the envy of Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong. It is supposed to seal the future of this country as the finest example of development…”

“Purshsh, what cockles. Our governors who weathered the nastiness, indifference and cockiness of the Yama-sataka regime didn’t vote for a joint effort in good governance for no reason. And they did it in style. On their part, the Yaha lot too chanting good governance got about their responsibilities with pleasing enthusiasm. Bu....t, although the take-off glare was impressive, the doing was hardly noticeable excepting the stories of every Tom Dick and Harriet in the King Rajapaksa family and its branches being grilled for hours by law keepers. No court cases, jail sentences or death penalties though.

Before long, even that little hustle and bustle waned to the disappointment of our governors waiting to see their former tormentors, crooked as hell during their carnival days getting their dues. But the waiting for Yaha justice and goodies has become unbearably long; the delay is so great many suspect that even a smell of the promised reforms may not come.”

"Sad to say, but the Yaha governors have made a mess of things and are making more messes every day. They are more into ‘dim-witted’ governance rather than the ‘good governance’ they guaranteed"

Tongue- in-cheek performance

“Sad to say, but the Yaha governors have made a mess of things and are making more messes every day. They are more into ‘dim-witted’ governance rather than the ‘good governance’ they guaranteed,” hooted the wise-looking bird.

“Purrrrr. Its recent budget that became an ‘amended’ one for the first time was a classy example.

It was like nuke falling on a refugee camp making the much-hyped Yahapalanaya look like a fishing net full of holes after falling foul of an unchartered coral reef. There was chaos; everybody vowed to fight the killer menu for 2016. ‘What in the world is happening?’ ‘Is this a budget, a cudgel or a costly ticket to Hades?’ were the questions.

“Thuhooot, where in hell is Hades?”

“The last time I heard it was miles underground,” explained pussy. “Anyway the budget blame was aimed at the country’s ministerial management accountant who blustered and bayed explaining his balance sheet. Meeoowww, but my question is, ‘Didn’t the green and blue captains even peek into it before making it public? What about the blue-green characters in the Cabinet? Didn’t they recognise it as an off-balance balance sheet when they saw it?”
“Perhaps most in the Cabinet especially the ‘back-door’ hobos chased out by everyone, couldn’t differentiate between a country’s balance sheet and a bank statement,” guffawed the owl the way owls do.

It’s a derailed-palanaya chum

“Purrr. It’s not funny. Our governors and their unions had to step in to make the budget more tolerable. And the green man was smart to blow out a few budgetary bush fires after ‘listening to the voice of the people’ ‘because after all it’s a democracy’ blah, blah. But can you see the invisible print between the lines? The Yaha big-wigs have lost sight of the ordinary masses and their issues. It’s a common political disease in this country; even the Yaha crowd has become a victim of that syndrome.

They have failed to see both the forest and the trees but they try to run although they can barely walk at the age of one. In their mental denseness all they see is the gloss and glory of power they don’t deserve to have. Hell! What’s the point wasting time talking of Yaha omissions, blundering scrapes and head-on collisions? They are happening so regularly, some governors are asking ‘Why a new Constitution when they haven’t plugged even some of the holes in the nation’s dykes?’ I feel sorry for our governors you know. After years of a Yama-palanaya, they welcomed the idea of a Yaha –palanya; but what have they got instead? A derailing one chum. Will they ever get a leadership that would sincerely look into their stresses and strains and provide answers?
“Ai-ai-yooooh…for our governors,” wailed the bird. “Me thinks they are praying desperately six times a day just for that,” hooted the bird.
“Purrrrhhh. Don’t be silly, Oots, it’s like sending faxes to Santa for better gifts next Christmas.”

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