Alibaba and 35 patriots

    24-Oct-2020
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Free Thinker
When the word 'Alibaba' is uttered , it will trigger two responses ; the present generation will say ,yes we know this MNC led by Jack Ma (now retired ); earlier generation may say, yes we have heard/seen "Alibaba & 40 Thieves" of Arabian Nights. My only purpose is to remind us that Alibaba can do so many things if we comprehend the lessons embedded.
Our incumbent Alibaba luckily got the keyword "Sesame" 3 and half years ago. But the treasury was almost empty; he may say that when he opened it, it was already emptied. Now Laxmiji is saying you can either borrow from RBI or from the open Market. Not a bad idea Sirji . Apart from finance, for successful running of the Government Alibaba himself has said that he requires 35 patriots/gems.
But from where will he get 35 committed persons, who are relatively clean, honest, sincere and loyal to him and at the same time patriotic at heart and pursuits. Now the search is perhaps on. First five have been identified. The rest will be explored sooner or later.
The powerful forty thieves could not do any harm to Alibaba because he was protected by his clever helper, later on became his daughter-in-law. Daughter-in-law or son-in-law if you get the right kind of assistance and intelligent inputs, you can encounter all the powerful thieves of any generation.
Qasim, the relative of Alibaba was greedy and he got killed by the thieves. Whereas Alibaba was not greedy even though he knows the keyword of the treasury. He took as much as required for a comfortable living. In a way he is also a thief. He took away a part of the booty of those forty thieves. But the world excuses him because he took the ill-gotten treasure of the thieves. There is also Manipuri saying "taku gi makhutta gi takati na lakpa".
We have read the success story of Singapore.Their leaders umpteen times tell the third world countries that only a few things are extremely important for steady growth and  development. Meritocracy - one must give first choice or chance to merit for everything, from business to bureaucracy, teaching to training, from sewing to sweeping, from policing to patrolling. Accountability - fixing responsibility for non-performance, lethargic approach or negligent acts etc. Transparency-from top to bottom the process of every Government departments/agencies must be made open to all (no RTI required) - everything must be transparent and all decisions are taken in National/State interest. Honestly-there is no absolute honesty; so our endeavour should be to be honest as far as we can; but we must be honest in all our public dealings.
Coming back to Alibabas, the ethical conclusion or the moral of the story is that we don't need to be over greedy. Once you have become one of the richest on earth no need to struggle to be the richest in the cosmos. Once you have become Minister, you all can't become CM. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba is now retired at the age of 55. He built a business empire worth 400 billion. Now he is enjoying doing philanthropic works and also  giving lectures everywhere on business. Get help from "Jack Ma Foundation" even for your personal ends. Who knows he may help you because of your looks. Gates Foundation is limiting itself to certain things  whereas Jack will spread like anything. Try your luck.
Emperor Akbar had 9 Jewels in his Royal Court.  Raja Birbal was also one of them. Akbar had real jewels. When our Alibaba is talking about 35 Gems, won't it be too difficult to find ? Compromising the quality is also not in public interest. People have started talking about the quality of the first five Gems, so far identified. They even started saying that the genuineness of these Gems should be verified by the real gemologists from Gujarat.
Let us not indulge in  too much pragmatic politics; every one has to retire one day or the other; when we have some say to rectify the wrongs, we must do so. It applies  to our Old Club Members sitting at "Heinou Makhong" today. Few of them are my close friends. They must  still  be nostalgic about their Karma-bhumis  at 'Meiro Leirak Machin' or 'Khuyathong Machin'.
Please help our  Alibaba to choose the right netas - his 35 Gems . It is critical not only for the State but also for his own survival and sustenance. Once again the criteria - relatively clean, somewhat honest, apparently sincere, moderately educated, deadly loyal, large hearted (accommodative type) , and slightly spirited (only in the evening) persons from any profession may be inducted not necessarily only from a particular Political Party.