Valentine's Day: My crush on Mr Kejriwal

Crush: A brief but intense infatuation.

Infatuation: An intense but short-lived passion or admiration.

Putting the above two definitions together, I think this Valentine’s Day I must confess a crush on Mr Kejriwal.

Oh, I’ve been here before. I’ve been one of the many who was a vocal supporter of the AAP during the General Elections last year. There were so many biting remarks from "friends" on my Facebook timeline from opposing parties, okay, the party about how foolish - how downright idiotic it was - to support a populist, narrow-minded, opportunistic freak who had proven himself incapable of governance and so on and so forth. I kept battling with them valiantly even though we were all actually just wasting our energy in engaging with each other. After all, anyone who supports the AAP and anyone else who uses as pejorative (and hopefully going out-of-fashion) a term as AAPtard can never expect to see eye to eye. Ever.

But back to Kejriwal. He was being attacked. Slapped. They said he had orchestrated the slaps himself to get attention. There were reports of him travelling to Gujarat, pointing out flaws and trying to get an appointment with Modi, who of course, pretty much just ignored him. I remembered the way Amitabh Bachchan referred to Dharmendra as "draamebaaz" in Sholay, and I must confess that there were moments when I felt that way about Kejriwal too. But above all, I recall one particular image of him, after yet another physical attack– he was just standing there, face swelling up, eyes closed, looking just so saddened. And plenty of people found it funny. I started quietly unfollowing and/or blocking them. Good decision.

Anyway, despite my vote - he lost, and that’s putting it mildly. There was too much anger and resentment in the air. Maybe he’d never had much of a chance at a national level anyway, but there was a turnaround amongst his erstwhile supporters, many of whom were really, truly mad about his famous 49-day decision. I looked around wonderingly and thought to myself. Wow - the things that we forgive! And an ill-calculated decision on one man’s part, even a downright irresponsible mistake - is that really the biggest crime of them all? It mystified me. I mean, didn’t people want to believe someone could actually be honest, and well-meaning? Had we become so cynical that we didn’t think it would ever be possible to have a politician like that? But there was no escaping it. He had let us all down.

More humiliation followed, including a period in jail for him. Much media attention making a big point around how much media attention he was desperately trying for. They all proclaimed the AAP dead and Kejriwal himself utterly defeated.

Fast forward to February 7, 2015, the day of the elections in Delhi - incidentally, the day I turned 35-years-old, and I was silently praying for his triumph as my birthday gift. It wasn’t until a couple of days later until it was confirmed, but now: Here he is. Valentine’s Day is here too, and he has achieved a sweeping victory (I hate that pun but love it too). I’m giddy with happiness, as apparently are a LOT more people.

Ah, Dilliwalas. I think our hearts are bigger than our heads. I’m the first person to admit I have been particularly unaware of politics, blissfully ignorant and probably have no idea of the way the "system" should work. People say, "He doesn’t know governance" and I say magnanimously, "But hey! Look at some of the blessed folks out there. Surely he’ll manage better than them!"

Here’s the biggest confession of them all. I already said I’m 35 - and last year was the first time ever that I voted. And my husband too. How irresponsible of us! Unforgivable, really. But lame as it may sound - we never saw the point before. They all looked the same. But when Mr Kejriwal came onto the scene, I ran to get my voter ID card made (and my husband’s) so that we could do our bit. Another first here was that my husband and I actually agreed on something, but this article isn’t about that.

It may sound like a weird and inappropriate analogy, but maybe, at least to me and a few folks like me: Mr Kejriwal is to politics what Chetan Bhagat is to writing. A breath of fresh air, a particular style not palatable to all, but one that clearly has relatability, given the numbers. Deep down in our hearts, we hope to see something new, to know that change is possible. Nah, to know that miracles can happen.

Now, things can always turn around. I may not feel this way about him a while later. Maybe there’ll be some developments that prove that those cynics were right all along. Maybe that fake-companies-donating-money-to-AAP thing will blow up in our faces. Maybe, in short, I’ll deeply regret declaring my admiration in such an open manner.

However, I’d still like to say that for this Valentine’s Day: Mr Kejriwal, sir, I have something more than a crush, a mere passing fancy, for you.

I have something called Respect.

PS: Happy Valentine’s Day, Delhi! It’s you, my big-hearted hometown that I now have a crush on.