In just eleven years, Sheikh Hasina has transformed an economically challenged Bangladesh into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. But, on the other side of our borders, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done the opposite in the past six years. His country surely is heading towards a serious economic depression. People say, Mr. Modi is a good human being though, but he lacks the qualities of a statesman. Instead, according to many, he is suffering from Cinderella Syndrome, something that keeps the leader of the largest democracy in the world in mere fantasy.
Back in 2014, right before the general election, Narendra Modi pledged a prosperous India by infecting dream of good days by proclaiming – achchhey din aney wala hay (good days are coming). Indian voters could not realize, those were either blank words or prophecy of a man, who is full of fantasies.
Cinderella syndrome, Cinderella complex, and Cinderella disorder all refer to a psychological condition in which a woman fears true independence and secretly expects a “knight in shining armor” to come along and take care of her. But in the case of India, it is not a feminine gender. Rather it is a masculine gender – a man – a leader of over 1.6 billion people, who is waiting for the Aladin’s magic lamp or a “princess in shining armor” to come along and turn Indian into an economic super-power and also a global superpower, just within the blinks of eyes. Mr. Modi’s fantasy is more dramatic than any Bollywood or Tamil movie, where an ocean can be created through the tears flowed from the eyes of an angel or god.
Generally, people suffering from Cinderella Syndrome show no sign of minimal willingness of doing anything on his/her own. They only wait for the miracle, similarly as Mr. Modi had expected a miracle from the sky to wipe-off coronavirus from the territory of his country. But in reality, it has been just the opposite. Millions of people are already affected by this pandemic leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead. Still, India has no clue as to how they really can get rid of coronavirus even by 2022. Indian companies had made pre-mature announcements of inventing the vaccine for this virus, though until now, there is no real sign of any progress made in this regard. Now, most possibly Mr. Modi is waiting for help from any friendly nation that would send billions of doses of the vaccine as a gift. In this case, again, the density of being under the influence of Cinderella Syndrome is quite exposed. As we know, those who suffer from this syndrome do always have fear of being independent, which ultimately causes unconscious desire (read dream) to be taken care of by others. Question is, during this extremely challenging time, who will come forward with the unimaginable gesture of helping India with billions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine? Even copying the degree of fantasy of Mr. Modi, if we think, some country ultimately will come forwards and send ships loaded with coronavirus vaccines – totally free – how many months or even years will take to finally getting each of the Indian nationals vaccinated? Additionally, we need to remember, while India will be struggling in ensuring a coronavirus free country, the size of unemployment, poverty, and economic constraint will continue to grow. India already is experiencing a massive decline in its exports and foreign exchange earnings. Economic depression may result in revolts in agro-economic sectors. It may even create an opportunity for the political opponents of India’s ruling party to divert people’s support from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to opposite directions. There may even be sudden re-emergence of insurgency as well rise of religious extremism and terror.
Can Mr. Modi finally tackle such a herculin task and save India from a possible doom? Can someone within the inner circle of the Indian Prime Minister now at least ask him to adopt effective measures instead of living in fantasy?
