Stay hungry, stay foolish: Rahul Gandhi’s apples are UP’s oranges

Apples are good for health, aren’t they? Kashmiri apples, Himachali apples. Even the imported ones with stickers. But then there are some in the market which shine too much. Scratch the surface and you will find a layer of wax, enough to negate the health benefits of eating apples. This piece though is not a dissertation on the most famous fruit of the rose family, but its famous namesake. The Apple analogy is what Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi offered as he made his 3,850th attempt (or thereabouts) at reviving the fortunes of his party in Uttar Pradesh. Experts wonder if it will do any good to his party's health.

The Apple analogy

We all know what an inspiring story Steve Jobs' is. The man who started from his father’s garage went on to make a company that made technology touch millions of hearts. And as he liked to say always, "When you touch people’s hearts, the possibilities are limitless".

Jobs also famously said that we should follow our hearts. It somehow always knows what we truly want to become.

What an inspiring thought! Should we be questioning Rahul then, for introducing this maverick personality called Steve Jobs to his karmabhoomi, Uttar Pradesh?

As soon as a vermilion-smeared Rahul, standing in the temple town of Mathura, addressing a crowd of Congressmen in a state where the party has consistently been a poor performer since 1989, said "Apple", newsrooms latched on to the sound bite. It was their Rahulism of the day.

The discussion on newsfloors, newspapers and even prime time TV debates thus began. Was Rahul’s Apple analogy lost on a largely rural audience in Uttar Pradesh? How is the Congress ever going to be revived if its key voice speaks a foreign language (no pun intended)? Will it then be a case of Rahul’s apples and Uttar Pradesh’s oranges?

What exactly did Rahul say?

He talked about a story of Jobs being shown some magic, in which stones were put in a machine and after a day of pressure and polish, they came out shining. In effect, Rahul said you needed to create an environment, both political and otherwise, which would help people explore the best in them. An environment of possibilities, an environment where those with the right skill set would not end up frustrated. An environment where the system knew how to put your skill set to good use and you knew how to benefit from it. An environment where you not only created jobs but opportunities for growth.

To presume that the rural folk of Uttar Pradesh did not get this message simply because Rahul mentioned Apple and Jobs betrays our poor understanding of the political and general awareness of the people of Uttar Pradesh.

People in the state read newspapers cover-to-cover. Those who don't read, watch news. Those who don't watch, listen to news shows. And everyone talks! Chakkalas, or a free-wheeling discussion on just about anything and everything, is in the DNA of Uttar Pradesh.

So Rahul talking about Apple shouldn't be a problem. The real problem is Rahul and his party miserably failing to match words with action. They have failed in the past, and they've done little to make us hope that they will break the pattern now. That, to my mind, is the real apples and oranges story. Until the next Congress revival strategy. So long!