Pappu?

In India, “pappu” is a condescending term meaning “nice, if not naïve and not-too-bright, boy.” Occasionally, it can be used as a term of endearment between very good friends. And it is what some senior and entrenched incumbents in one of that nation’s two largest political parties – the once monolithic National Congress Party (Rahul’s party) – call Rahul Gandhi, great-grandson of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the grandson of the fourth prime minister, Indira Gandhi, and the son of the seventh prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. And these incumbents aren’t his very good friends. Others call this younger man – just turning forty – “the Prince of India.” His family history is blessed with accomplishment and scarred by tragedy – both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were assassinated. Some felt that his younger sister, Priyanka, was the heir apparent, but she has focused more on her family than politics. So it must be with great interest that we in America must watch young Gandhi’s possible ascension to the top of India’s leadership – if he lives long enough.

India is currently the second most populous nation on earth and is eventually destined to pass China to rise to first place. The problems in this South Asian land are gargantuan. From the open hostilities – particularly over the Indian state of Kashmir – with neighboring Muslim Pakistan as well as sporadic and murderous attacks by Maoists hell-bent on toppling the government to the vast dichotomy between India’s 400 million middle and upper classes – productive and educated – to the sprawling poverty of her remaining lower classes, 800 million people who seem to be living in a long-lost century. With over 35% of her population illiterate, India is a long way from economic and political stability. This poverty drives India’s per capita down to around $3100 per annum, making her one of the poorest nations on earth.

If you spend time in the chi chi shops in Delhi or Mumbai, start counting Mercedes as they pass, particularly if you stay in one of the walled chrome and glass industrial/residential areas in India’s technology corridors, you might tell yourself how modern and bright everything is in India… but step outside the walls, and truth will slam you in the face. Battles for power must, of necessity, embrace the seemingly disenfranchised masses – who do cast votes – as well as the well-heeled middle and upper classes who are the engine that drives India to international greatness and economic power (she is currently the 11^th largest economy on earth); there are literally two nations layered on top of each other, each eyeing the other with fear and suspicion.

And therein lies the relevance of Rahul Gandhi’s position in the future of India. Is he a uniter? Can he bring hope to the masses while still allowing the middle class economic engine to push India to ever-increasing prosperity? Can he find peaceful solutions to the hatred of neighboring Pakistan? Who is he? What does he stand for? Will he be the “voice,” remain a “pappu” as some believe or will he succumb to his family’s legacy, falling to an assassin’s bullet before his time?

Rahul Gandhi’s persona resonates with particular power among the nation’s youth, who follow him with unparalleled zeal, particularly as he tries to mold large youth organizations into Congress Party stalwarts. The June 5^th New York Times: “Most Indian political parties are internally undemocratic and often dominated by political dynasties, none more famous the Gandhi clan. But Mr. Gandhi has also insisted that the party’s youth organizations hold internal elections for posts and operate as meritocracies… He also has succeeded far more than other Indian politicians in tapping into the hunger for generational change in India, analysts say, and has positioned himself as a change agent for the future, despite his obvious debts to India’s political past. He is trying to bypass the identity politics of caste and appeal to young people of all backgrounds. ‘We youth are with Rahul!’ said Manonit Garharabari, 23, at [a recent] rally. ‘The whole youth is with Rahul. We see an internal strength in him.’

“Mr. Gandhi is omnipresent in the media, and his face is plastered on untold numbers of billboards and political posters. His public image is as a humble, serious man, if somewhat shy, even as his name invariably tops polls ranking the country’s ‘hottest’ or ‘most eligible’ bachelors. Yet he almost never grants interviews, including for this article, and only occasionally conducts news conferences. Reporters are often tipped to his appearances at one village or another but often all they get is a photograph — which inevitably appears in newspapers around India.”

Even though Gandhi is a member of Parliament (Congress Party, of course, from Utter Pradesh), what we really don’t know is specifically what he stands for. Security around this young legislator is tight of necessity, and he plays his politics close to the vest, preferring to ride on his cult of personality instead of passionate campaigns on the issues. What we do know is his family and his educational and work history. His undergraduate education was in the United States, starting at Harvard but transferring to Florida’s Rollins College for security reasons. He followed up with a masters degree (development) from England’s Cambridge University, worked for a while as a management consultant in London before returning to India after his mother, Italian-born Sonja Gandhi, took over leadership of the Congress Party. Oh, in 2004, he did confirm – at the time – that he was dating a Spanish woman.

Sooner or later, young Gandhi is going to have to make his positions clear, alienating some who currently support him and perhaps making friends he didn’t expect… making tough decisions and probably more than a few mistakes. We call that leadership.

I’m Peter Dekom, and Rahul is just one piece of the global puzzle that will determine the future of our world.