Just won't step down

I do not know what would happen in Libya as you read this column

I do not know what would happen in Libya as you read this column. While I was writing it, all I could see on television was the air thick with smoke of the battle, streets running red with blood and Moamer Gaddafi still clinging to power as desperately as a man clings on to the edge of a cliff with a yawning abyss below. The recent Arab unrest hammers home the message that power is the greatest high.

Earlier, Tunisia toppled its government but not without a fight and then Egypt's Hosni Mubarak went kicking and screaming.u00a0 Other Arab nations sitting on powder kegs might explode but leaders they too would continue to cling to their seats fiercely, proving that to give up power is an incredibly tough thing.
In these attention short days of acronyms like LOL and ASAP, LTLG (Learn to Let Go) could be a useful part of the lexicon

Sonia Gandhi, Congress president was witness to her mother-in-law and husband being killed. The Italian could have departed for her beautiful country far away from the dirty, dangerous and deadly game that politics is.

What made her sit here and get into politics? No power (pun intended) on earth can make you power-broker unless you want to be one. The power bug most probably had bitten her as well.

There are Mubaraks and Gadaffis on smaller stages everywhere. People cling on to their chairs for years even as the howls for eviction rise in velocity. Power can come from heading small groups, schools, clubs, institutions, sometimes even families. Then again, power brings money (in many cases) and demands respect if not commands it. It is certainly the great un-leveller and it is also very addictive.

Maybe, there are different kinds of people in the world ufffd those who would rather throw it all away and sail along (only metaphorically) on a Hawaii beach. Others who love the creak of springs in the kursi they park themselves on. Then, there are others who are somewhere in between.

Harmandar Singh, a UK based marathon coach has trained a couple of marathon runners who were more than 90 years old, including the famous Fauja Singh. I asked him, what he thought was the reason for their longevity. Singh said they all have one thing in common ufffd they had learnt to let go. He meant that in general and in all aspects of life.

It's time dictators not just of nations, but in other ways too, look for the Fauja in them. In these attention short days of acronyms ufffd LOL (Laugh Out Loud) and ASAP (As Soon As Possible) Harmandar's answer tells us: LTLG (Learn to Let Go) could be a useful part of the lexicon.

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