We might be conflicted over whose wisdom to use for history repeating itself: Karl Marx or Mark Twain. Marx said history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce. Twain argued that history doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes. A thoughtful look at developments today would indicate a return to the historic crisis of 1973. You can choose the words of Marx or Twain.
I’d prefer Twain to Marx because if I risk erring, I’d prefer to err on the side of optimism. Just that, if the turn of events today rhymes with 1973, it brings no gentle, benign, romantic tunes. Its essence is a prophetic lament, though we won’t call it apocalyptic just yet. That’s because India has grown far stronger in the past 53 years.Let’s lean back to 1973. Indira Gandhi swept the 1971 general election, netting 80 percent of the seats with her allies CPI and DMK. Later that year she defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh was born. The next year, she swept, even more decisively, elections in 15 of the 19 states and Union Territories that went to the polls. The four where she missed out, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Goa were tiny; the last two were still mere UTs. She was at the peak of her power and glory. She owned her party, Cabinet and Parliament. No Indian leader has enjoyed that kind of unchallenged sway. Narendra Modi is now close, and that’s another parallel with 1973.
