The Decision

                The Decision

                                     Nidhu Bhusan Das

  This is time of reckoning. It’s the moment when time is out of joint.No, no dithering. I am to decide, boldly, thought our Paramita. She remembers once her wise octogenarian mother told her, ‘Paramita, don’t go by what the sycophants say, give importance to the critics who point out mistakes and faults, throw suggestions. Remember, to err is human. Don’t be in the illusion that you cannot make mistakes.’ The mother is no more, but the advice rings in her ears now when she is in crisis following the Sarada scam.

 She thinks, ‘I can….jettison. I must or the applecart will turn over me. But ... Kumar is tainted, so is Sukul, Sanjoy and Sadan, according to media exposes so far. They had been my media faces till the other day. If I continue with them, people will begin to believe I am hand in glove with them.’ People still believe, some reluctantly, she is untainted. The sycophants are the villains. But how long will the belief sustain? She ponders over the question and says to her, ‘No, I cannot allow it to happen. I must decide.’

  Paramita goes back to history: ‘Mrs. Gandhi decided, Thatcher did, and they succeeded, made their marks.’ If she follows them she may decide and hurl overboard those who within a couple of years in power caused huge damage to the image of her party and government. Will she be able to decide? She had shown her determination and traversed where angels fear to tread as she did in case of Singur and Nandigram. Has the determination fizzled out? It is troubled time for her. She has been an ace trouble shooter.     

  She appears to be mercurial, but one cannot overlook that she has a method and she is ingenious. Yes, in the recent past she stumbled, it was so when she was influenced by sycophants. They persuaded her to play the national game, and she failed. By now when her house is in trouble she should understand and go for decisive action. Women in leadership have shown they can be ruthless. If she shares the psyche of strong woman leaders she can salvage the image she built through a long and protracted struggle. In that case many heads will roll in her party and the government. ‘Beware of sycophants,’ her mother would say. The warning rings loud in her ears.