A Leader

He was only a leader, in whose presence India and Pakistan would have been Hindustan today. To which Clement Attlee said; We left India not because of Gandhi and Nehru but because of fear of rebellion and Azad Hind Fauj not being able to stand again. He was a leader, whose Protesters participating in the Non-Cooperation Movement retaliated by attacking a police station and setting it on fire, killing all its occupants. On this incident, he had said by banning the movement; I don’t have faith in violence. He was a leader, under whose leadership 21 Jat Sikh soldiers killed 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.

Often we consider the best or the person who is in the first place to be the leader. In fact, “a person in charge of something, a leader who has the ability to take risks and challenge the status quo, and who is able to inspire people to do something new or better.”

When Subhash Chandra Bose reached to give a civil service interview, One of the board member said Mr. Bose in which language are you comfortable, they said you tell your language. The board member started asking questions in German and Bose started answering in German. He said what can’t Bose do? They said, everything can be done sir. He took out his wedding ring, kept it on the table and said, come out of it and show me? Bose took a piece of paper, wrote S.C.  Bose and kicked out from inside the ring.

When Abraham Lincoln became President. A senator stood up and said, Mr. President, your father used to make very good shoes. I am still wearing the shoe that your father made. Lincoln said;  Thank you for praising my father, I will try to be like my father. The way you praised my father for being a good cobbler today.  Similarly tomorrow your children praise me for being a good president.

There are many qualities required to be a leader. I have served very common and important qualities on your plate.

1. Powerful Mind: In a battle, Hussain Ali threw his enemy on the ground and as soon as he raised his spear to kill him, his enemy spit on his face. Immediately Hussain Ali kept the spear on the ground and said, go, I will not kill you today. He laughed and said, Hussain, you are making a mistake, you will not get this chance again. Hussain said, my mind was calm before you spit on my face. Now this mind has become restless and I do not kill anyone with an angry mind.

This life is a war and your mind is your commander in this war. To be a leader means to be a king. That mind which is under the control of others can never become a king.

2. Farsightedness: India’s literacy rate in 1920 was 10%. People did not even know the meaning of freedom. It was a challenge to gather people in the name of a nation in a country where there was no nation at all. This challenge was further increased when a person had come from abroad after completing law studies. At such a time, Mahatma Gandhi had gathered people for the non-cooperation movement whose main objective was to persuade the British to grant self-governance.

To tie all the people in a string, you will need a thread that all the people have. An issue that elevates all people above caste and religion and binds them together.

3. Communication: Nelson Mandela is universally regarded as a great leader. Actually his father was the chief of the tribe. He was asked, “How did you learn to be a great leader?” To this he replied, I used to go to the tribal meetings with my father. I remember two things when my father used to meet other elders. 

The skill of holding back your opinion until everyone has spoken gives two things: