Dear Mr. Yogendra yadav,
One day, few of us friends were discussing the lack of real and fulfilling entertainment dished out to us in TV and films by established brands and media houses. So after a lot of sulking, and Facebook protests, and satires, we thought of addressing our need for thrill and entertainment, ourselves. We decided to hit the roads and have a trip of lifetime. One that we can enjoy while it lasts, and live to tell for our generations. We would be tired as hell but the experience would be well worth it.
Soon planning started, micro details were finalised and a perfect plan was set out. Can 5 people drive a car? No. so we put faith on one of us as a driver and then took individual and other critical duties, navigation. Pit stops. Finance. Logistics. So on.
Then one fine day, we did actually start. Initially everything was so so good. Almost perfect. Too good to believe. We were having time of our life and were convinced even a Nat Geo traveler with a professional crew wouldn't be having this much fun. Come on Nat Geo. We were doing the stuff even you will be envy of.
But does good times last for ever? Sadly, no. Soon different voices started to emerge. Friends that would otherwise agree on anything and everything, seems to have a different opinion. We would argue on things like 'should we be taking a bio break here, or not'. Some of us wanted to stop almost every few kilometers to take snap. If I wanted to skip lunch and enjoy a sun filled drive, someone was starving to death. If our driver friend wanted to follow a detour to cover few views, others wanted him to follow GPS and google maps. Then what kind hotel we should stay, who to share room with, where to eat. Our whole trip now seemed like a big exercise to reach a consensus. Every time. Every day. At the end of a week long trip, we were back. But were we really happy? Not sure. We had all nice pictures and moments and years after we all friends would still laugh and recollect and romanticize our cross country trip. But did we really enjoy the moment while it happened? For some the whole experience and the fact that we did and sustained it together matter, since time would anyways fill out these minor dents and scratches. For me, enjoying the moment while it happens matters most. Like actually viewing a sunrise, or feeling a snowfall. After this trip, we never consciously planned for a trip together. Years later, one more such opportunity beckoned. But this time we hit the roads in different vehicle. Although bound by same goal and destination, we headed and followed our own ways. Stopping when each wanted to, eating at own pace, slowing down when we see something to savor. We reached our destination, a bit further apart from each other. But we enjoyed to fullest.
Yogendra Ji, We all respect you for your professional achievements and your role in forming AAP. But I have a question since this media drama started over your differences with AAP. When you guys founded AAP, was any democratic process like voting was followed? No. You came together as being like minded professionals wanting to bring about a change. A startup. And like any startup, even though the destination is common, each founder may have a different plan to achieve it. Initially, they all rely on each other's ideas and suggestions, but with time and experience, and as each member gains confidence, they do tend to become independent. Without Arvind, would you have had the confidence to venture alone in politics? Or is it that without you Arvind would have the confidence in handling many questions and media? You both complemented and supplemented each other. Also the path of attaining the goal might also take all a total different course. Who would have thought thought a detergent manufacturer will be india's top software exporter? But I agree you are not for profit and serving serving a much greater cause. But is it very difficult to understand that down the line your and other's thinking might well have evolved ( as did with Mrs kiran bedi). And she was not even part of your party. A party is conglomeration of like minded people, who come together for a common cause. So if like mindedness might change common cause may not change. In that case is it not just proper to part ways and venture out to attain that very goal? When reliance behemoth was split, Anil ambani was definitely at the less fortunate end. He thanked his mother to give him birth a second time by agreeing to split. Because he was somewhere confident of achieving the same goals what they set out to, this time alone. And now, both brothers are mostly in the same industries, now as competitors. But still chasing the common dream that their great father had set out too.
When we go on a road trip with friends, each might have a route which they think might be a better. But for sure only one will be followed. Either by agreement or one forcing his way foward. So if someone tries to force his way, would the others fight with him, call him names and inthe process destroy the experience? Or just get out and hit the roads on own? Then meet at destination and live to tell the tale. For sure, none would be able to tell which was better, but still they reached a common goal.
In politics, however, one will never know if they infact had reached the goal. Just like chain of events in life, there is no end, just a new begening. But the more important point is to go through yhe chain of events and live to experience it. Not fight and destroy the experience.
I feel this power struggle is to have control over AAP brand and not a real democratic fight. If you have like minded people with you, no one is stopping you to go ahead and float another party with the same principles. Why do you want the same party to evolve and acdept your point? You might say yiu are doing it for people of india who have invested faith in AAP. give them a better alternative and they will happily take you up too. In economic terms, the faith we have spent on AAP as of today is the Sunk Cost. No matter how hard we try we cannot recover it. So we might just let it work and hope that it turns around. Any further investment, marginal cost, will be evaluated based on msrginal returns. If there is a msrginal profit, then they will have the next round of investment, if not a search for alternative is always on.
So please concentrate on the goal, the destination and not the vehicle.