For a losing manager, Mr Cesare Prandelli dodged little. According to reports, he told the mercurial Mario Balotelli that Italy was beaten by a better-playing opponent. For anyone in the hot seat like Mr Prandelli, or grieving fans of the Azzurri, a state-of-the-team audit would be the premise for inquiry and action. That’s sport. How many times have we witnessed a state-of-the-nation assessment? How many times has a prime minister shared his or her concerns with the electorate? Is it because governance doesn’t matter as much as a football match?

Reluctant to confront

A state-of-the-nation speech would be different from an election manifesto or a common minimum programme (CMP), which are directions that parties set. They are influenced by competitive politics and brand differentiation. They appeal to a point. Beyond that, you suspect the sales pitch. When it comes to money, we are more careful. We have the annual economic survey and the hoopla around the Budget. The economy became the indulgent child of our times. Governance and inclusive nation don’t interest us as much. The Libor gets rigged. Yet there is no trading high finance’s glamour for the relevance of values. Values can be debated. But money — it works even when values are corrupt or still being debated. So, while for money’s sake we will have our next budget circus as scheduled, we will have to await an honest state-of-the-nation address because it is unglamorous and eventually, it’s about us and our ugliness, not the gold in our banks. For governance to be gold, it must first matter so. How will it, if you don’t notice what’s to be governed?

After the 4-0 drubbing by Spain at the recent European Championship, I doubt if anyone in the Italian dressing room will excavate old glory for inspiration or fashion hollow promises for tomorrow. You start from what’s going on in football. On that field at Kiev, what’s going on was visible to the manager, the coach, Italy and the world. You can’t hide it. Kievs are many in India. But we hide. How much we hide; how much we deceive ourselves — they indicate how sincere India is in governing itself. They show how far we are from a state-of-the-nation report and how reluctant we are to confront it. So do we habitually hide small or big? One Indian act consistently betraying above said trait is the refusal to admit over-population. Like poor losers, we favour business consultants’ reports hailing future workforce, market size, etc., while wasting our present chasing everything from drinking water to railway ticket. Of course, we can take recourse to Indian alchemy — if we monetise our miserable shortages they become the stuff of potential opportunity and wealth. That’s money! Or, we can face the problem and say, it is no longer high fashion to grow population and promote instead social values more sensible than child birth. Which leader will advocate so? Who will speak up? Being the prime minister or the finance minister is easier than holding a mirror to Indian households.

Problem is us!

Population is only an example. Like no other force around, population shapes everyday India. Yet that is what finds no mention in everyday India. For us, the biggest problem around does not exist because the problem is us! Need we then discuss how we will tackle the less visible (certainly so for eyes missing population) but hugely worrisome problems such as water shortage, housing shortage, infrastructure, sanitation, health issues — even GDP slowdown? To that extent we are unforgivably a nation with no sense of its situation. Where then is a fundamental matrix to design and anticipate governance models, governance styles? No wonder, governance breaks down. It is the price you pay for sparing that great Indian problem called our numbers and our families. When the problem doesn’t exist to our Houdini-mind, how can its many direct and indirect symptoms?

A real leader would challenge the Houdini-mind and make the link between governance and households crystal clear. Such periodic communication is essential for public awareness and public ownership of governance. Our present leaders prefer abstract GDP, annual budgets, corporate results and stock market concerns. When these don’t obsess, it is God and religion. In sport, where victory and defeat is closely tracked as surrogate expression by fans, the absence of relevant inquiry won’t be forgiven. Mr Prandelli and Mr Vincent del Bosque have to address what must be addressed, one to win, the other to keep winning. But even in Europe — as the state of its economies and recent news on the Libor show — it is easier to play football than to extrapolate it as an example to correct countries and households. Distraction is good business.

(The author is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.)

Related Topics