The Hero the World Needs?

 Spanning three seasons, translating into 51 episodes and lasting for four years, from 2015 - 2018, Servant of the People, a political satire not only kicked Volodymyr Zelenskyy's career as a comedian/actor up a notch or two, but also provided the basis for his campaign manifesto a year later when he decided to contest the election for the office of the President of Ukraine. As one of its producers and the main protagonist, Zelenskyy, through this popular show, had openly ridiculed the dysfunctional remnants of Soviet era propagandist machinary, promising  instead a simpler, efficient, and corruption-free system.

The plot of the show, Servant of the People revolved around a young high-school teacher whose spontaneous outburst against oligarchy, fossilized social and political structures and rampant red tapism, is caught on a phone camera and released on youtube. This candid paroxysm becomes an instant hit, throwing the young professor into national arena and eventually to Hrushevsky Street, Kyiv, as the youngest President of Ukraine. Through this charming series, by formulating and mouthing the struggles as well as aspirations of the common man, Zelenskyy had already succeeded in amassing a loyal audience. 

On March 31, 2018, he started his own  political party naming it Servants of the People. While the series' hopeful message helped serve as the party's rescript of election promises, Zelenskyy's long association with showbiz also came in handy, aiding him to build an intimate rapport with his target-audience and command their attention.

The show, either consciously or inadvertently, became a precursor to reality, as Zelenskyy went on to win the elections with an overwhelming majority in 2019. His charisma and youthfulness, like that of Barack Obama, played in his favor in a world which so far had been largely dominated by ex-stalwarts of the Soviet communist era.

Interestingly, after his explosive foray into politics which found him at centre-stage, he soon began to follow the authoritarian footsteps of his predecessors. The candidate who had won by a 70 per cent majority, had sunk to low of 25 per cent in a popularity poll in 2021.

The recent Russia-Ukraine war however, has provided the President an opportunity not only to return to his legendary showmanship, but also steal the limelight at global level. In a world plagued by disillusionment and long suffering from the lacuna of visionary leadership, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become a household name. Here is a man at last: a man of courage and principles, refusing to relinquish his  nation's sovereignty to the brutish force of its tyrant superpower neighbor.

At 44, it makes him 35 years younger than his American counterpart. Moreover, his rugged appeal may put him at an advantage over other politicians, contributing further to the new Zelenskyy cult. Add to his stardom looks the raw material for fanning fantasies and winning him admirers the world over. Want cuddly Zelenskyy? Look up his voiceover for the Paddington Bear film. Patriotic Zelenskyy? Listen to his defiant wartime speeches. Hip-shaking Zelenskyy? Check out his swanky moves on the Ukrainian version of Dancing with the Stars. And oh, if you have the hots for him, there’s even a bare-chested Zelenskyy getting the vaccine. 

He may not be your Gandhi, Mandela, Sadat or Kennedy, but he sure is a showman with a well-oiled PR machine behind him. His famous "I need ammunition, not a ride" has become one of the most quotable quotes of the month. Garment industry can't churn out enough Zelenskyy t-shirts to cope with the rising sale. And despite much resistance on its part, Netflix is forced to bring back Servant of the People, by popular demand from its consumer base in U.S.- with English subtitles, of course.

Everyday one is now confronted with heartbreaking live footage of a country at war; shelled buildings, supermarkets sporting empty shelves, frightened families hiding in the basement, more than 2 million people rendered refugees, now scrambling to cross over to neighbouring countries. But the 'show' must go on. 

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look at my Works ye Mighty, and despair"

 

A War, a Movie and a Muskrat

My head hurt. The air, heavy with incongruity, was wired with tensions and fears, hopes and prayers. Television channels alternated between frenzied coverage of the ongoing war in our not so distant neighborhood and the blaze of communal antagonism and revenge sweeping  the homefront. 

I watched the birds diving and soaring against the infinite canvas of fizzy clouds, abundant in their expression of unsuppressed freedom. A jersey cow, visibly pregnant  chose my meagre classic syngonium plant peeking out of the railing, to feast upon over the plethora of wild and indigenous flora strewn across her wayward path. The sun set, gloriously round and primeval.

A Dream: I am drowned  now in a pall of muddled subconscious world, in which terror-stricken by some ongoing war, we are coerced into living underwater. Living is an overstatement; surviving should have been the word. "Just like a muskrat", I think to myself. Wind in the Willows comes to mind, and scoots out immediately, chased by the loud music bounding off from the temple a kilometer away. Traveling down the night-infested road, it has managed to incite my eardrums to vibrate. It seems so close, I can almost touch it, gauge its musty thickness. 

As my conscious mind takes the front seat, I realise it is the muezzin summoning the faithful to the adhan from a mosque situated 3 kms from where I am...who at this unholy hour could be tempted into seeking salvation?

Again, whirls of sleep take over. World goes on. The wars, the parliaments, The Kashmir File, sloganeering...I keep sinking and yet something inside me attempts to stay afloat, pretending to be a muskrat.

The War Machine

As a regular blogger, I feel weighed down by a moral obligation to write something about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine...The images of surgical strikes, of an enormous tanker mowing down a car, of hungry students in bunkers, of backpackers hoping to cross over to the neighbouring countries should have made me indignant of the superpower's browbeating approach. It should have been an inner compulsion, and a natural revulsion against such a tyrannical act of this magnitude which should have prompted me to pen something incisive. But I have been numbed over the years by the plethora of causeless wars fought mainly for personal gains of some civilized nations and mega multinationals. Skeptical of the unwarranted haste with which U.S. invaded Iraq, brutally ending the lives of more than a million civilians, and of the war in Afghanistan which raged over four decades, the Vietnam fiasco and its meaninglessness, Bosnia tragedy and the Syrian seize, a never ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and an ongoing civil unrest in Yemen, I  have reached the conclusion that  wars are increasingly being used as booster shots for world economy. It is an effective means to mobilize an immense machinery being manipulated by several invisible forces across the globe. Weapon deals get struck in billions. Defense contractors too bag their fair share of business, and so do the intelligence and surveillance divisions of several tech companies. And certainly it's a field day for oil and gas corporations as well.  Stock markets turn bullish, and all's well with the world. People go on with their lives, trying to cope with rising inflation, because of a war they were dragged into. Wikipedia and history books get upgraded.  

While in its present form, the shape of the current war is being determined through confusing statistics, only future will reveal the real story. Right now, what we have is live coverage of explosions, of people fleeing to the borders, some scrambling to leave Ukraine, some returning to partake in the war, empty shelves in the supermarket and traffic jams, as well as plenty of forged news and virtual war footage directly picked from popular video games circulating the whatsapp circles, accompanied  by frenzied commentary by self-proclaimed anchors. In India, PM Modi is being portrayed not only as the ultimate saviour of 20000 some students stuck in Ukraine, but also as an epitome of wisdom to guide the world out of this unparalleled crisis. Here are some headlines from local media:

"Both Russia and Ukraine request PM Modi to intervene"

"On PM Modi's request to give a safe passage to Indian students stuck in Ukraine, Russia orders ceasefire"

"PM Modi World's only hope to charter a peace treaty between the warring nations"...

Not surprisingly, for the ruling party in India the war might turn into yet another opportunity to gain political mileage. Period. 

Yet, all things considered, one can't overlook the fact that it is the first time since World War 1 that a country has invaded another, not feigning any ideological ground, but simply to deter western forces from entering their buffer zone at the pretext of Liberty and Freedom for all.