“It is perhaps symbolic of power, Anand mused, that nervousness trails confidence like a shadow. You do something that you think is right, but the very next moment you are no longer sure. A host of critics assail you at once. They believe that you can't do anything right anyway, whatever you do. You end up with more doubts. Until you lose your sensitivity and persuade yourself that you're always right, whatever you do.” PowerConfidenceCriticsWrongRightSensitivityNervousness Author:P.V. Narasimha Rao
“Anand's father said to him, "Look son, we've had no Lakshmi (wealth) in the family, ever. We had only one, Dhairya Lakshmi (the wealth of courage). Don't ever forsake her, or you will have nothing left to sustain you...” Courage Book:The insider Source: The insider
“Where motivation was concerned, there was hardly any difference between a caveman and a civilised human. The desire to live, and live as well as the next man, was common to all. The point at which virtually all of mankind began to develop a sense of discontent was when it discovered the hiatus between desire and capability.” DesireMotivationCapability Author:P.V. Narasimha Rao
“To do good seemed to take a great deal of effort, like moving a mountain, while to do seemed easy. Worse still, many people took evil as the expected norm - until it was publicly detected in the actions of the person in power. Then it was played up relentlessly till it was out of all proportion to reality. Often, the person involved was ruthlessly crushed as a fly under a sledge-hammer.” EvilPowerGoodNorm Book:The insider Source: The insider
“The caste factor loomed larger with every passing day, and Indiraji and everyone in the high command had noticed it. This unmistakable trend had appeared in the political process and threatened to overwhelm it eventually. A casteless society thus seemed to be impossible, at least in the short run, as matters stood. It was a grotesque irony for a party which proclaimed castelessness as its creed.” PoliticsSocietyCaste Book:The insider Source: The insider
“The great attraction of public life seemed to be its expanding frontiers, its flexible horizons. It was a realm of infinite possibility, a task that was never concluded, a challenge that never abated.” ChallengesPossibilityPublic Life Book:The insider Source: The insider
“To keep choosing between the one kind of damage and the other was unprofitable. Wisdom lay in preventing or avoiding damage altogether, of both kinds.” WisdomDamage Book:The insider Source: The insider
“Elections became an occasion to wage war, an opportunity for both groups and individuals to settle scores. Anyone could change his party at will. Anyone could desert any party at any time and re-enter it later, at his convenience. Candidates in some northern states captured polling booths like enemy military posts in war. The true spirit of democracy became a tattered illusion and a pathetic shadow of autocratic ambience that had existed in the country for centuries.” Elections In India Book:The insider Source: The insider