Speculation has been rife about Narendra Modi’s mental health ever since he declared that he is not ‘biological’, but instead, has been sent to earth directly by God.
Other declarations and comments made by the prime minister during his many ‘interviews’ and election rallies have also started raising concerns about his mental equilibrium. For example, his outright denial of making anti-Muslim statements right after he has made them, his recent threat to “start speaking after having kept quiet for ten years” (a strange statement to make, considering just how much he has spoken over the last ten years that he has been in power) and his bizarre claim that Gandhi only became world-famous after Richard Attenborough made a film about him.
The Opposition has, of course, lost no time in questioning the prime minister’s fitness to occupy the top post in the country in light of his outlandish statements.
While some are not sure if the prime minister is still of sound mind, others insist he is simply saying outrageous things to keep the focus on himself, thus taking it off his government’s many failings over the past decade.
It is also possible that Modi is experiencing what psychologist Julie Diamond calls “the disinhibition of power.”
Julie Diamond, PhD, has made it her life’s work to study the effects of power on leaders. In her book, Power – A User’s Guide, she draws a fascinating parallel between Mt. Everest’s ‘death zone’ and the effect power has on leaders.
At 26,000 feet above sea level, she says, the body starts to die. At this altitude known as the “death zone” – only 3,000 feet below the summit of Mount Everest – oxygen levels are a third of what the body needs to survive.
She says:
“You have about two days before you run out of air. As your body starts to deteriorate, your mind abandons you. Hypoxia, low atmospheric pressure, means less oxygen is entering your brain. Your judgment is impaired. You become confused, your balance starts to falter, and you begin to hallucinate. You are losing your mind—right when you need it most.”
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Diamond points out that similarly, “the rarified atmosphere of high power and status alters our minds, diminishing our judgment and distorting our perceptions. As we attain power, we develop an illusory sense of control. Our belief in our own ideas increases while our interest in others’ feedback and emotions decreases.”
She then goes on to point out an important difference between Mt. Everest’s ‘death zone’ and the ‘death zone of high power’.
“On Everest, climbers at high altitude feel awful. They know they’re dying. They suffer pounding headaches. They vomit. They become dizzy and weak, lose coordination, and have trouble standing or walking.”
By contrast, leaders in the embrace of high power feel great! The more altered they become, the better they feel! Diamond explains how high rank and power lower leaders’ inhibitions and prime them to act. Their confidence soars as their perceptions grow more distorted. Their self-esteem rises, while their self-awareness decreases. Their capacity to feel empathy for others lessens, just as the influence they have over them increases.
A better description of Narendra Modi would be hard to come by.
What leaders wielding an enormous amount of power need almost more than anything else is the “oxygen” of wise counsel, checks, balances, and most of all, genuine feedback.
But who in the BJP or the Sangh parivar would dare to question or contradict a prime minister who has conferred divine status on himself?
Also read: A Win by Handsome Margin in Varanasi is Must for Modi to Keep Intra-Party Feud Under Check
As someone who has consistently isolated and insulated himself from the checks and balances of democracy, indeed, the counsel of those who could have helped him make better decisions over the last ten years, Modi today finds himself quite alone and living in his own “reality distortion field”. (The ‘Reality Distortion Field’ was said to be Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs’, ability to convince himself, and others around him, to believe almost anything with a mix of hyperbole, charisma, and persistence.)
Modi sees his critics as sworn enemies and his political opposition as something to be decimated. He also sees himself as a god-king who has been ordained to usher in a Hindu(tva) millennium of sorts.
The accumulated results of Modi’s style of leadership are now clear for all (except Modi himself) to see. Massive unemployment, soaring inflation, policies that have impoverished the great majority of Indians, unprecedented farmer distress, and deep fractures in society. So much for a “strong government” with a strong leader” and an “absolute majority.”
The last ten years of Modi’s rule have, ironically, become the best possible advertisement for a coalition government. The idea of a coalition is now no longer nearly as unpalatable as it might have been even a year ago. Far from being an unstable ‘khichdi government’ as the WhatsApp universe would like us to believe, coalition governments by their very nature force its members to listen to each other, take a consensus-based approach to decision-making, find ways to work together, and consequently make better, well-rounded decisions.
As Rahul Gandhi has himself said on many occasions, the Bharat Jodo Yatras have taught him to listen. By his own admission, he was quite used to doing all the talking and dispensing advise till he embarked on his first south to north Bharat Jodo Yatra and started listening to the voices of tens of thousands of people. By his own admission, it was a turning point in his life. The Congress manifesto, in many ways, is a result of that sort of deep and genuine listening and taking into account the points of view of tens of thousands of people, which is probably why it has found resonance across large cross sections of Indian society.
By contrast, the BJP manifesto is all about Modi, who stopped listening to anyone but himself a long time ago.
Students of ancient history might remember the story of the Babylonian regent, Nebuchadnezzar II. (630 to 531 BCE) Chapter 4 of the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament records a particularly intriguing portion of Nebuchadnezzar’s life who, because of his extreme hubris, lost touch with reality and was unfit for human company for many years. Whether the story is true in all its details is debatable, but the fact remains that history is full of examples of the effects of unchecked power.
Narendra Modi is but one of its most recent exemplars.
Rohit Kumar is an educator, author and independent journalist and can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com
