Crawler, yesman, toady, slave, parasite, cringer, fawner, hanger-on, apple polisher, groveller, boot-licker, truckler, goody-goody, adulator, lackey, sponger …
An unflattering start indeed. Well these are synonyms to the ultimate flatterer, the Sycophant, whom the dictionary defines as ‘a servile self-seeker who attempts to win favour by flattering influential people’. In the strict sense, a sycophant has a selfish motive in flattering someone. But many of those we routinely describe as sycophants have no such malicious intent and are often innocent or ignorant beings carried away by their adored object’s perceived persona. In the current Indian political idiom s-phants, therefore, form a wider club than conceived by the English language, including in their sweep both the hardcore S and the misguided S with several shades of grey in between. Flattery, however, remains the common denominator.
The psyche of a sycophant has agitated the minds of psychologists, behavioural scientists, management gurus and political pundits through the ages. Theories, studies and research papers abound and all the attention and profuse literature would make a professional S himself feel flattered but the conclusions may not. S-phancy remains a social vice and is looked down upon, in society, families and business organisations. But in politics it is deemed a virtue, to be unabashedly flaunted and cashed on. But what makes one drool before someone else at the expense of self-esteem and even self-interest?
My take: The human mind with its limitations, is intrinsically inclined towards worship of a higher power. Most of us need a personified totem pole to tie our emotional beings around. Devotees have their gods, fans have their stars, sishyas have their gurus and rationalists too have their revered objects in flesh and blood … and stone. And there could be a pole for every one of our itches and emotions and we hang like a tent from them. Even love for art, music and sport, at some point gets transferred to the performer; the creator becomes greater than the creation eliciting blind backing even when the creation is faulty. That’s how admirers turn adulators and fallible artists turn into infallible idols. Even negative emotions like cynicism create a yearning for a higher human intervention if not divine. The mixed wellspring of hope and skepticism, and of faith and despair is thus always on the brim. And when an object tallying with the aspiration arrives, be it pure or just a pretender, the spring of worship overflows in automatic response to the much awaited stimuli. Aah, how many kalkis, mehdis, prophets, saviours and champions have come and gone! How many men, mere mirages, have become messiahs, and worse, the message itself! Nevertheless, worship of a worthy object and with honourable intent is a spiritual endeavour. But sycophancy is worship gone berserk because the object is spurious and the worshipper, dubious.
But no academic pursuit or introspective exercise can be as enlightening or as revealing of the idea of S as the live demos we often witness in Dravidian TN. Sure there are other contenders for the trophy/title of ‘S-phant terrible’ in the rest of India. For instance, an Arjun Singh with his ‘more loyal to the queen than the Q herself’ zeal or the cadre of Maya who brought down a statue of their leader only to replace it with a bigger one can give our local candidates some stiff competition and even a complex. But TN’s S factor has some unique flavours. The most recent … no, no, I didn’t say ‘decent’, display was on 3 June, the B-day of K when flattery flowed faster and thicker than even the H’nakkal falls, Cauvery waters and the shallow Sethusamudiram and yes, the ubiquitous liquor, illicit or otherwise, put together.
Indira used S as a tool to wield authority. For Sonia it is an insulation as well as a survival chute; she is too smart to take it for granted, even though Congmen have pledged it in perpetuity. But unlike them, the Ks and Js here have an extra penchant.They not only engineer it and enjoy it, but also feel entitled to it. They ‘very sincerely’ believe in their own greatness and glory. They are their own fans first and flattery begins at home, with the self, to be precise. K loves Kalaignar while J is enamoured of Jaya. I bet even greenhorn V, in all cinematic hangover, would clap and cheer when he sees the ‘Captain’ on screen. Cue enough for the cadre to touch new highs, rather, lows, if prostrations are the measure.
Several symptoms of their S-sickness abound. The ‘I’s and ‘My’s that outnumber other words in their daily statements are one gigantic evidence. In power, the S-rate would beat even inflation. Schemes, Corporations and Nagars routinely bear their nama with the naming ceremonies presided over by you-know-who! Cauvery may be elusive and H’nakkal may not fall here, but the credits have already been appropriated. Every dole from public funds is a personal gift warranting a thanksgiving fete, every welfare measure is a ‘magnanimous gesture’ for which the people should be ever grateful and every project is a personal effort to be plaqued for posterity, even if the project itself does not take off. Sethu for instance has now become a personal plea, with K seeking it almost as a B-day gift. Nothing official about it! And incidentally, almost the entire officialdom, IAS & IPS, have no qualms in joining the s-phancy spree. The leaders claim to serve society but really it is society that serves them … and their egos.
The run-up to King K’s B-day bash itself was a super set-up. When June 3 was still weeks away, K out of the blue declared that he would not be celebrating because terrorists were busy. The ‘reminder’ sank in and the persevering ‘Perasiriyar’ promptly persuaded the leader to ‘grant permission’ for the celebs even though no terrorist called it a day. The reluctant leader relented and the sulk soon gave way to the sycophantic surge we saw. What a script! And his acceptance speech at the felicitation function was a sensational climax, a masterpiece in self-eulogy. And K must be patting himself for that. Now if anyone can set a newer record it is doubtless his predecessor in power and in the alphabetic order!
This sycophantic see-saw is unlikely to cease. But where and when do we, the people, get off? Self-respecting souls can turn to real worship and await Kalki …or a clone. The rest, forming the rational fraternity of flatterers, can adopt any of the titles listed in Para 1 and join the party.
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