In the year-end viewers pole hosted by NDTV 24x7, one of India’s leading news channel, Sonia Gandhi was awarded with the ‘Indian of the Year 2005’ trophy. This is probably the most satirical event of the year where an Italian lady (by birth), who became an Indian citizen 15 years after her marriage with an Indian, received the 'Indian of the year' award. Imagine, she took 15 long years (after she started living in India) to decide whether she should take up Indian citizenship. Now, that's certainly one tough decision!
Forget being an Indian citizen by birth, a person doesn’t take up Indian citizenship after getting married to an Indian? And she didn’t just marry any ordinary Indian citizen whose only contribution goes as a vote in the general elections. She married the son of India’s then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi, who was the daughter of a freedom fighter and who also was the first Prime Minister of the country. Long story short, this young Italian lady got married into a patriotic Indian family, a family that was loyalist to the Swadeshi freedom struggle movement. Having married into the first family of the country (considering the fact that American's refer to their President's wife to be first lady!), it’s intriguing how did they not object this lady not relinquishing her Italian citizenship. Strange but true huh...
Now, I am pretty naïve in terms of my knowledge about active politics. Common sense suggest that it does not come as a wise idea to have a person of foreign nationality to live with the family of the Prime Minister of India. Even surprising, the country didn't object as well!
For a foreign national in India, it is understandable that one would like to keep his/her original citizenship in-case things go wrong in India some day; Something like a third world war, or perhaps another Pakistan war, it would be better to have access to go back to the homeland, than to take refuge in some other country. This line of thought makes perfect sense for a foreigner who is forced to live in India for some reasons. Since Sonia was a foreigner being forced to live in India, what she did was justified; to safe guard her own interest. Obviously, remaining an Italian gave her more comfort. Or maybe she was just too patriotic to take up Indian citizenship. I admire and respect this line of thinking.
But 15 years later "something" suddenly happened that made her change this decision. Is that not really strange? What was that something that triggered such a drastic change that happened after 15 long years? It just can’t be that one fine day she woke up in her bed in India and suddenly felt less patriotic about being Italian and decided to want to become an Indian citizen instead? Did the Gods shine on her that day and enlightened her with ‘today onwards India would be the heaven that the world shall desire, so you better take up Indian citizenship lady’. Naah... this happens only in fairy tales, right?
So what made Sonia change her mind and apply for Indian citizenship? The reason was merely political. (Monetary and selfish, if I can be blunt) She realized, or was made to realize that since she being part of India’s most influential family had the best chance or opportunity to establish herself in India like no equal. That Indira Gandhi’s successor would naturally be her son, Sonia’s husband. The only obstacle for him would be his wife’s foreign nationality. So she weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided that it was now the right time to take up Indian citizenship. The pros must have far outnumbered the cons. The comparison was to become the wife of Prime Minister of India (First Lady or First Citizen) or hold on to the Italian citizenship as a daughter of an ordinary Italian. Wise choice she made! Ms Sonia is definitely smart, ain't she!
This is a point worth pondering. I do not wish to politicise this issue, and thus do not want to brag about the same things that are known to many, yet not acknowledged by the larger community. But this I feel is an issue of simple ideology and logical thinking. Any ordinary human being capable of thinking level headedly will and should think about this.
The only feeling that I have towards Sonia is that of pure envy. She was indeed born with a golden spoon. Her gamble to take Indian citizenship paid off well; her husband did become the next Indian Prime Minister. Unfortunately he died early in his career. Some even go to the extent of linking Sonia to her husband’s death. But that’s a different story, another day.
Her stars continued to shine bright as ever; just as she started learning Hindi, the national language of India, the Congress party choose her as their President! She won huge sympathy of the Indian masses. She was even praised for the high sacrifices she had to make! Makes one wonder what sacrifices did she make! Maybe in India they consider giving up bread in return for a cake a sacrifice! But surely not elsewhere...
2004, when the Congress won the elections, she also got an opportunity to become the Prime Minister of the India herself. That would perhaps have been the brightest day in her life and the darkest day in India’s history. Fortunately, yielding to the Presidents insight, for the clause of reciprocity in the Indian constitution, or heeding to the death threats for her children, or due to other various shady secrets that the ordinary citizens of the country never come to know, her dream remained only a dream.
As a consolation to her desire, thanks to the NDTV 24x7 vote, she beat some very prominent Indian’s (from amongst all other streams like Sports or the IT Industry, or Cinema Industry for that matter) and managed to get the award for ‘Indian of the Year 2005’!
