Rahul is the man in the arena.

To all those finding faults with Rahul Gandhi and his Bharat Jodo Yatra, you are welcome to your criticism and also to shun joining in his plan to walk across the length of the country. You are welcome to mock him and his party, dismiss him, question his intellect, negate his understanding of India and Indian politics, or judge him as per whatever standards you deem to apply to your leaders and yourself.

You will agree that I too am free to do that (apply my standards) and take my own decisions. For those of you who know me, I think you’ll give me enough credit to have given this a thought and that even if RaGa is ‘Pappu‘ for you, you agree that I am intellectually as sharp as yourself at the very least.

My decision to join in the walk is personal. Anyone who wants to come is welcome. I am neither arranging transportation nor lodging-boarding. I am simply saying this:

I am walking. And those who wish to join will be welcomed with open hearts. While those who do not will not find love missing from me. If you come along, I will be grateful. If you don’t, I’ll walk alone.

That, I believe is precisely what Rahul is doing too. That is what  Gandhi taught all his life. And more importantly, Gandhi was Gandhi because he not just taught, but did what he asked of others. Rahul is taking a leaf off his book.

Remember, at the end of the day, he walks for you, me, all of us. And he neither expects our support nor cares for our mockery, as he never has even in the past. You are welcome to both.

You may prefer Priyanka. Or Arvind. Or Stalin. Or Mamta. Or Babasaheb. Or Patel. Or even the Mahatma. You may claim it would be better to have a Mandela. Or an MLKJr. Or a Nehru. Or whoever you fantasise about. It’s all academic. The truth, as you can see clearly, is that right now, at this very moment, as I write and you read this, it is Rahul who’s walking. Not woulda, coulda, or shoulda.

So, if you wish to join the walk and vote for the Rahul Gandhi-led INC-backed candidate in your area whenever elections come around, join me. Or not. Join Rahul. Or not. Agree with what he’s saying. Or not. It is up to you.

But having said that, remember that he is on the field, on the ground, in the arena. And we are but spectators. And critics.

I’ll leave you with the wise words of Teddy Roosevelt, former President of the United States, who said in his famous speech at the Sorbonne in Paris on 23 April 1910, and I quote:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.