I have a theory that the entire future of Indian politics and governance depended on the reelection -- or non-reelection -- of one man. And that one man was Chandrababu Naidu. Now that he's back in place, thank God, all is well. My theory is based on the Theory of Morphic Resonance. And since you've obviously never heard of it, let me explain... Morphic Resonance is an esoteric, complex (and slightly wacko) theory, the basics of which is this: In an experiment conducted by the Cambridge biochemist, Rupert Sheldrake, some years ago, identical rats were placed in identical mazes in different parts of the world. The mazes were extremely complicated and difficult to escape from. But as soon as one rat in one corner of the world learned how to escape from his maze, researchers found to their amazement that all the other rats in all the other different parts of the world suddenly solved the problem and began to break out of their mazes. (This has also been called The Law of the Hundredth Monkey: when the hundredth monkey in a tribe begins to behave in a certain way, suddenly entire unrelated tribes all over the monkey kingdom begin to spontaneously adopt that behaviour pattern.) The Theory of Morphic Resonance has been used to explain various things in the human realm, from synchronous discovery (i e, why does the same idea so often strike different people at the same time?) to marketing (what is the real reason why brands that are dominant in one market are likely to be leaders in other markets, as well?). Yes, you guessed it, it's all a matter of the metaphysical resonance triggered of by a single, significant occurrence. OK, enough gyan. Let us get back to Chandrababu Naidu. As someone who is utterly and completely disgusted with the quality of our country's politicians, I believe that now, at long last, in Chandrababu, India has one politician who stands single-mindedly for the cause of good governance, rather than the usual sordid mixture of self-interest, graft, power, caste, religion and downright criminality. If the voters of Andhra Pradesh propelled Chandrababu back to power with a significant critical mass (so went my thesis) through a process of morphic resonance, other states all over India would, in time, begin to propel similar leaders to the surface, as well. Not too different to rats escaping from mazes. We had a narrow squeak. At one point in time during the vote-counting, it looked as if the voters of Andhra Pradesh had blown it; that Chandrababu and the TDP were out -- victim to a cynical Congress gimmick of promising free electricity to farmers. But then, mercifully, the tide turned and the TDP came back with its thumping majority. Today, as a result, for the first time in many years I am optimistic about our country's future. In the next 3 or 4 years, I'm betting that the other states of India will begin to produce their own versions of Chandrababu Naidu -- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, even (please God) Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar. If the Theory of Morphic Resonance works, hallelujah. If it doesn't, we're on our way to becoming another blighted, benighted Pakistan. Have a nice day. Creative Director Anvar Alikhan is passionate about his politics.
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