I have been engaging with the practice of democracy in everyday life for some years now. My recent two work experiences compelled me to engage with questions of democracy. An organisation’s ethos and culture is influenced by its leadership. If the leader is indecisive, the employees would find it difficult to find direction. Due to indecisiveness, the leader can create ambiguity, which could be used in his/her favour later. Unplanned and ad-hoc ways of working makes the work environment very oppressive for the employees, who are seldom clear about, direction and also what action to take. Then suddenly, one morning they are asked to do an assignment, which is overdue from the leader’s side.So all the pressure is now on the employee. Speeding up the work takes away the sense of fulfilment and satisfaction from the employee who begins to doubt her/himself. Did I do it write? I hope I didn’t forget it? The context state of self-doubt and uncertainty and lack of planning ensured at the structural level takes a toll on the employees. They begin for feel unfulfilled, anxious and restless all the time. While the leader becomes dictatorial. Such dictatorial practices are possible only one or two people are entrusted with power and decision making for a number of people. When an organisation becomes a one-man show. Today, it is very easy to find such organisations that depend on just one man. Rarely, that man is a woman. One cannot say for sure if it is a coincidence or a gender disparity?
It reminds me of Gandhi. He ensured that every proposal was tabled and that every one was convinced and on board before going through with it. Even one small, feeble, singular voice of dissent was heard and engaged with and the action was deferred till that voice was also not on board. Time was not a limiting force for Gandhi. Time was space, boundless, inexhaustible space.
Living in these times and working in such organisations, one wonders if the times we are living in are democratic. Imagine when dictatorial attitudes and oppressive behaviours are becoming so common that nearly everyone has been afflicted with it in someway or the other, on does wonder if the democratic fabric of our society has faded. Why is the common person so violent, unfulfilled, indifferent and frustrated today? If you are looking for evidences to this, the just pick up today’s newspaper and you will find it filled with news of road rage, parking disputes, domestic violence, rape and murders.
These changes have been gradual and if one goes back to tracing these changes, one could easily think of the 1980s at least. Education system, reading culture was on a decline then. Libraries were turning into abandoned spaces. This is a more complicated and long discussion for some other time.
A newspaper opinion published in The Indian Express by John Keane helps us make sense of our present times. The opinion is titled How does a democracy die? John Keane explains how after the 1920s and 1930s democracy is once again under threat all over the world.
What resonated with me was the way he describes the changing everyday life of the citizens when the democracy is under threat. This change illustrates that democracy is not just an institution or a structure. It is a way of life. It is a way of life that we choose to live by. It comes from within and is manifested in our everyday practice.
This idea fills me with hope because democracy is in the palm of our hands. We can make it work and re-fuel it. We just have to choose it and live by it.
Exploring Possibilities 