Lead India: 3 men with big dreams

TNN / Oct 16, 2007, 01:59 IST

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Three young men with big dreams for the country came together in front of a packed audience of leaders - from government, corporates and civil society, as Delhi's glitterati assembled to help choose the person who will represent the city in the Lead India national finals. It was a difficult task, for all three spoke with passion, their speeches packed with well thought out ideas - and couplets often thrown in to accentuate a point.
The task of choosing a winner fell upon an eminent jury comprising Union minister of state for women and child development Renuka Chowdhury, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd CMD Malvinder Singh. The jury was aided in their task by members of the audience, specially invited for the occasion, who were asked to mark the contestants. Manpreet Brar Walia, who had served as a judge during both the personal interviews and the semi-finals, was the moderator this time.
Before the action began, the mood for the evening was set by vocalist Shubha Mudgal, who, instead of singing her popular numbers chose to sing songs she had hand-picked for the occasion, which accentuated the theme of patriotism and leadership.
Amongst her selection was a song sung by the courtesans of Banaras, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, during the freedom struggle: 'Chun-chun ke phool le lo, armaan reh na jaaye, yeh Hind ka bageecha, gulzar rah na jaaye'. Explaining her choice, Mudgal said there were numerous folk songs about leaders of the independence movement. “But I could not find any about the leaders of today,” she said, tongue-in-cheek. “I hope the Lead India platform gives to the country, leaders about whom songs can be written and sung,” she added. Manpreet Brar Walia summed up the audience’s sentiments when she said the songs had reminded everyone of the magnitude of the independence struggle, and how freedom is a gift to be cherished.

It was now time for the terrific trio to take to the stage. Each of them was asked to speak on a common topic - ‘I have a dream’. They did so with gusto, bringing alive what Thomas Friedman had said about leadership - ‘the capacity to define yourself to others in a way that clarifies and expands your own vision for the future.’
There was much wah wah, when in response to a question on whether India should cut down on industrial emissions, Satyam chose to answer with a couplet, ‘

Woh katl bhi karte hain to charcha nahi hoti... Hum aah bhi bharte hain toh ho jaate hain badnaam.’ In fact, shayari seemed to be the order of the day, as Kaura too recited: ‘Kaun kehta ki aasman mein surakh nahi ho sakta, ek patthar to tabiyat se uchchalo yaaron.’
With each finalist giving it his best, it is now a close call, as to who will make it to the national finals. The ranking of each finalist has been done by the eminent guest jury. The points given by the audience jury are now in the process of being calculated by market research firm, Synovate. Who will emerge as Delhi’s choice will be known in a few days. Till then, keep watching this space and keep on voting.
Vote for the future leaders of India!
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