A charismatic Hindi language academic Dr. Kumar Vishwas is a key mover in a dashing new political approach appealing particularly to the future generation in India. Combined with the youth driven Occupy movements which have blossomed around the planet in recent years, this new style may well provide the spark to tackle the apathy and sense of disempowerment that has beset the so called democratic practices in many jurisdictions.
By Vonnie Boston
Vishwas became a professor in Rajasthan in 1994. He taught Hindi Literature to higher class students at LajpatRai Post-Graduate College for sixteen years and is now capturing worldwide attention through his poems, performance and a singular presence, in person, and particularly through the social media channels of our time and which are proving especially powerful for reaching the youth who are being so ignited by his policies and vision of a harmonious unified world.
Comedy, sharp wit, and award winning poetry are proving a heady drawcard as presented by this new voice on a life mission to encourage world peace and brotherhood in this way; and the exciting fact is, it’s working…both in his homeland and globally.
Already Kumar has some 4 million followers on social media: Twitter and Facebook; plus has made a powerful showing in politics where corruption in the Indian system is something he’s determined to expose and confront along with other practices abhorrent to the burgeoning youthful sector and culture of his nation. He supported the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and is a member of the national executive of the AamAadmi Party (AAP).
He’s been invited in to Google headquarters, Adobe, Unilever and Stanford University to name a few and is a sought after performer both at home and abroad where he infuses with his integrity to age-old values and disdain of any form of manipulative play or palava. The direct and cogent wit he uses to reveal such subterfuge delight his audiences as they affirm for many what they know too well but often fear to express … but once one person opens the door you can easily see a torrent bursting through that may well have the clout to achieve the vision this new scholar/leader projects.
Early this month he entranced the Indian population in New Zealand. First in a lecture to academics at the University in Wellington and then at packed public concerts in the main town centres. “I’ve come to a very new country from a very old country, “ he said, and in citing the age-old wisdom of India he pointed out that what he’d concluded was a need for India to gain some of the newness of a New Zealand but at the same time a need for such new countries to acquire something of the oldness of his homeland, such as the eternal truths in the old manuscripts of more than 5,000 years ago…. particularly with regard to establishing a future harmonious global community and world of nations where wars and strategies to overthrow each other were not even contemplated.
In a time where apathy, cynicism and disenchantment with life has infected many societies. undermined by corruption and bureaucracies which have also caused disenchantment with the democratic process, Dr Kumar acts as a virtual magician. It is heartening to see how a man of letters so steeped in his poetry and that of his ancestors can act as a veritable Pied Piper for today’s youth, carrying them way past any bleak or dire future by inspiring them to action, by giving them confidence to express their dissatisfaction and recognise that the time is theirs and that they need to step up and oppose the injustices that are creating such huge inequalities in the present time.
He also noted changes are already in progress re many issues that have beset his nation. And as example explained that their caste system is falling away in a natural progression for whereas when he was a school child everyone knew exactly which caste each child belonged to and parents were very conscious of it relative to their friends now his own daughter, a young school child, has no idea which caste her schoolmates are from and neither does he nor his wife have any such awareness of the friends she brings home to play with; so that old order is crumbling but in an erosion kind of manner.
The strong following for Dr Kumar’s care for all approach is an encouraging reflection of how quickly the youth will find their voice given the power of social media to reach beyond the conventional publicity outlets which have also lost their freedom and credibility as a result of being controlled by a few moguls with self-seeking interests.
None of this is going unnoticed or unremarked on anymore and the resounding joy and excitement from his audiences to him voicing such injustices is a sure sign the majority and especially the tech savvy youth are about to arise and ensure the traits of peace, brotherhood and kindness are reinstated in a manner that would surely bring a smile to the face of India’s former great soul and role model statesman, Mahatma Gandhi, himself, …and once again ripple out and remind mankind everywhere of the import of such universal age-old wisdom. And much credit will be owed, it seems, to this fast emerging personality with the potential, it appears, to be a future world seer and leader.
Vonnie Boston, Journalist, educator and artist who has lived many years in Asia is currently in Wellington, New Zealand. Author, The Pike Miners – their eternal essence – She also has university degrees in psychology and literature and studied esoteric wisdom and sacred sites in many countries.
