The Politicized Party

     It had come down in tatters. “Corrupt political party” was what the media had named them. Half the team was arrested in glaring media spotlight. The rest had vanished, probably gone underground to shed themselves of the scandal that had been splitting the country’s political scenario. A 30 strong group of people that had once wanted to weed out corruption from it’s very roots, now on the wall of shame! “What had gone wrong anyway?” asked the public. On paper, the team had all it would ever need, to make a successful political party. It was educationally and mentally balanced. the group gelled together like brothers and what added a sting to them was that they knew their potential. They named themselves the ‘Brothers Thousands’.

     They comprised people of all castes, so that no one could point a finger accusing it of being non-secular. No one in the group was famous, but hey, like they said, only the notorious got famous with the media. They vowed to be known to every citizen, to stand in the upcoming elections and beat the strong old political mammoth of a ruling party hands down. 

     By Knowledge – Superior; Ideas – Plentiful; Corruption – With a hunger to kill; Energy – Limitless. There just couldn’t have been any better political party. Any problem was handled by group effort. Every idea that the opponents could think of to bring down the team, was handled.. or so they thought.

     Relatives, friends of relatives, near and dear, kept dropping by to advice on their moves, to help them overcome problems, to understand how Politics was played, to inspire, and in return, to be inspired. Ideas were welcome. All said and done, they were amateurs. Wise ideas, tactical approaches, knowledge on the laws were better understood by the elderly. Some of the people that approached, were good hearted, believed that a victory would change them for good.

 

     The problem was, only some were good hearted. Terror reigned in slowly. Few started pouring into the system, joined the team, half out of a need for power or to get more money. Soon, they formed part of the ambitious team. It moved onto night time discussions, which meant alcohol was a must. Some drank, the others didn’t. Alcohol separated the tempted from the resisted. Cunning ideas were poured into the drinking glasses and consumed with a ready heart. Brimming and overflowing with alcohol, the hunger for power was fed into individuals. Temporary mental imbalance was pregnant with vile ideas, and out of those were born a series of permanent grudges.

 

     Small tiffs, mild arguments, violent altercations, fist fights, death threats, and finally, the end of a unity within the group. Some gracefully moved out of the group, some left out of fear. The rest that stayed thought they knew, that they knew everything. A craving for fame, power and materiality grew on like an insatiable cancer. That killed it for the group. It had started to disintegrate, from within. Those that had fallen out early could see the reasons, could see it fall down like dominoes. They were now famous, but like they said, only the notorious got famous under media spotlight.

 

     Ego would live forever; within the superior group that once was, now lived a craving for power; outside the party, was a human race that couldn’t live without corruption. The nation could never be healed, until a chronic desire for corruption and power bred from within. The group of five people that fell out of the dead community vowed never for once to look back at Politics to make their ends meet. They would take alternative measures to counter corruption. Only, they just didn’t know how.