Living Those Ideals.

Political Science classes in grade 10 typically consist of heated discussions, which often turn into endless debates. During one such discussion, our political science teacher raised the question – what could be some advantages of democracy in India? The question was received with poor spirit from the class as only a few students mentioned platitudes such as unity in diversity, peaceful lives, and people in democracies being more content than those in dictatorships, right to speech and so on.

Then my teacher asked, “What could be some of the drawbacks of democracy in our country?” Oh boy! The answers came as a deluge of sound waves. We upped our decibels as we fought to be heard. However, even in amidst the ruckus, the word corruption could be heard crystal clear. Then frustrated, our teacher snapped us back into order. She assured us that each of us would be heard. One student blamed the less than perfect state of democracy in our country on the profiles of our leaders: uneducated, uninformed, aging. The teacher nodded. Another student raised the issue of indifference of the citizens, their general ignorance of the political situation. The teacher approved, again.

I suggested that perhaps India’s diversity in terms of historical descent, social and economic backgrounds, religion, culture, languages and customs is the greatest deterrent of democratic functioning of the nation. A few of my classmates augmented my claim with examples of vote bank politics during elections, the Babri Masjid dispute and communal riots. Our teacher’s expression elucidated her disagreement. 

She argued, “Well, but the diversity is the very reason we need democracy. And you cannot justify your claims with a few odd examples!” Nothing could sate our need for an extended debate at that point. Or perhaps, something could suppress it. Before anyone could put forward their counter-arguments, our teacher silenced our retorts by entirely dismissing the “irrational” suggestion. At the end of the class, I was fuming at having been snubbed.

In retrospect, I believe that this incident did shape my perspective of democracy in many ways. To begin with, I now note that when asked to point out advantages, we usually have little to say. However, when asked to point out flaws, the list was endless. One obvious inference is the bias in human judgment. Another inference is that only in a democracy (and maybe in a marriage too : p ) would such behaviour be accepted. A democracy allows us to think and speak without manipulation or diplomacy. It encourages us to be who we are. It empowers me to write these words without fear.

More importantly, we often represent enfranchisement as the symbol of democracy. Of course, the ability to choose one’s representative is the soul of democracy. Some other ideals that come to our mind when we think of a democracy are people’s rule, right to speech, right to choice of faith, profession, etc. These ideals are enacted in our country, aren’t they? Then why doesn’t our nation function as smoothly as it is expected to? 


Our model of democracy only works at the macro-level of a constituency, a state or a country. However, I believe that a system can be truly democratic only when the ideals of democracy are realized at all levels, sprouting in our homes, roads, classrooms, work spaces and then extending to larger scopes as cities, states and countries.


Democracy is defined by our words and actions. It could be two colleagues of following different religions respecting each others' faiths and opinions, no matter how radically differing they may be. It could be the simple process of a show of hands to decide between two choices at meeting. It could be by respecting the privacy of another person by not reading their mail, even if it's just a mass forward. It could be two kids sharing a school desk equally: without those "You're taking up more space" quarrels! It could be a teacher who listens to her student's ideas even if she does not agree with them. When we imbibe our democratic ideals in our routine, we are bound to evolve into those stellar citizens we wish our leaders will be.

Our dictionaries may still define democracy as government of the people. But the scope of the word “democracy” has also come a long way since the French revolution. A democracy is when the ideals we so often speak of are practised in all aspects of our lives.As a student, to me, democracy is being able to question the substandard quality of a food item at my school cafeteria. It is my right to choose the subjects I study. It is my right to choose the members of my school’s student council. It is my right to interpret a poem from the English textbook in my own way. It is simply my right to define democracy in the words of my choice.