A legacy or legacies is what someone or something is remembered for or what they have left behind that is remembered, revered or has influenced current events and the present day.A legacy continues to be used, typically because it still functions for the users' needs.
I always understood legacy as cultural heritage one wanted to preserve. So my grandmother’s mutton curry, learning Gurmukhi to read the Guru Granth Sahib or the weekly trips to the vegetable market to touch and feel foods were my ideas of legacy for my kids.
The word has new connotations for me now . It is the word that is being used terribly lot by the politicians under fire these days - legacy of their predecessors.
I am impressed the politicians actually have role models that they revere and follow so blindly. And these role models are not Ambedkar or Gandhi, or even Nehru that they garland so religiously on all important occasions. These role models are the ones who have taught them to subvert the system and lead a good life!
None of our politicians are actually doing anything wrong. They are only carrying forward the good work done by their revered heroes. So Sharad Pawar is the sugarcane baron because his ancestors were also cheats and thieves. Raj Thackeray is a rabble rousing idiot coz his hero Bal Thackeray also thrived doing this.The devoted Aditya Thackeray is also following suit. Raja robbed the country of all the money because his hero Karunanidhi has also amassed great wealth. Yeddurappa did nothing wrong - it is the norm for politicians (like the emperors before them) to award land to their relatives and chamchas. Rahul Gandhi , for all his charming looks (legacy of his parents) is in politics making tall statements because of his political legacy, that helps him ‘understand’ this country.And really, that is exactly what Kalmadi did - our hygiene, safety and all other standards are different from the White Man’s. (And the Yellow Man’s!)
What I am loving - the way ALL the parties are screaming about corruption .As if it is not a political legacy they have ALL inherited. In Bandra, Baba Siddique’s family has been awarded all land re-development projects; check the number of PE funds that run on politicians money; investigate how many politicians have personal interests in infrastructure projects in India.
We all know these things. The only thing to do now is to subvert the constitution and let the politicians make hay - that is also their legacy as is our legacy to behave like dumb cattle.
