There was a time, when bureaucrats used to give impartial opinion to their political masters and tell them which would be the right course of action. Senior politicians also praised him for this, even if they did not like his advice. But today there is an atmosphere of euphoria, in which bureaucrats think more about loyalty rather than duty.
Tulsidas has said it very accurately - Samarth ko nahi dosha gusai, like Ravi Pavak Sursari, that is, one who is powerful, he can have no fault, he is as pure as Sun, Agni, Ganga. Just be a bureaucrat in front of a minister or from the private sector. Watch the behavior of senior executives in front of bamboo, or people in life who are in a superior-subordinate relationship. It will be known that how true is the matter of blame, not Samarth.
He has become the 'Yes Man' and is ready to do anything to get the approval of the lords. It is difficult to say who is to blame more - the politicians or the bureaucrats. Such politicians are now becoming rare, who respected officials for their loyalty and courage. At the same time, the number of such officers is increasing, who if asked to bow down, they get down on their knees. This has created a culture in which both the leaders and the officials are happy with each other - one gets the honor, the other gets its reward like a rich posting or a successful career.
As a child, I heard a story. A king was tired of eating brinjal. One day he told the Wazir that brinjal was a useless thing. The vizier started the evil of brinjal by shaking yes. A few days later, Rajvaidya met the emperor and told about the beneficial properties of brinjal. The culture of 'Yes Man' in a democracy is a matter of great concern. Due to this the power becomes autocratic and starts taking wrong decisions. Ultimately, the common man has to bear the brunt of this. When the emperor also told this to his vizier, he started tying bridges of praise of brinjal. The emperor remembered that the Wazir had earlier said good and bad to the brinjal. Annoyed, he said to the Wazir that how can you speak two things completely different from each other? The wazir said, Huzoor, I do your job, not brinjal.
The flexibility that the vizier had in his behavior was based on the assumption that his personal opinion was not as important as the position he held. It is this attitude that makes us bow down to the mighty – once we know where the power is, how it manifests itself and what benefits we get from it. If these conditions are met, then principles can be easily sacrificed at the altar of personal interest.
The tendency to support authority by compromising on principles has made sycophancy an art. This is the reason why words like chamcha and maska are understood all over India. Those who want to get maximum benefit by staying close to power, they have to face many competitors for this. That's why they develop the talent to say the right thing in the right way, at the right time. The body language of the chamcha and its master has now become a code of conduct. It is determined by the status of individuals in a hierarchy. The remarkable thing with Chamchagiri is that it is done openly and with redundancy, not covertly. Due to this the owner does not feel ashamed, nor does happiness feel hesitant. They justify it as necessary, because praise is dear to the Lord.
