Politics is a hypocritical business, says V P Singh

Politics, says former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, is like a ''rocket ''that burns out once it peaks."

In a freewheeling interview to Home TV, a satellite television channel telecast on Monday night, Singh spoke candidly about his ''loss of human sensitivity'' after taking to politics, his kidney and bone marrow illness "which was like a snake egg waiting to hatch," and his approach to life, death and religion.

Notwithstanding his renown for managing contradictions in politics, he described the business of politics as hypocritical. 'Hypocrisy in the sense that what one really feels inside, one has to suppress and instead go by the system, the party, or by electoral compulsions,'' he said.

Singh felt he was a better person as a young man.''I am trying to recapture what I was before I came to politics. Politics is like a rocket, when it reaches its peak, internally it is burnt out. So, it is a question of undoing this burning up, and salvaging what little bit was left. What I mean about being burnt out is your human sensitivities for the smaller things,'' he added.

Rajasaab -- as Singh is widely known -- summed up his profession as being a ''highly egocentric process'' with no satisfaction . ''I think the focus in the country on politics is very skewed. The focus should be on artists, scientists, and other people,'' he said.

On a grimmer note, he spoke about having somehow reconciled to his medical problems; acceptance, he felt, gives a lot of strength. "One thing was very certain: my kidneys have failed. I have to be on dialysis every alternate day for four hours and that is for my lifetime unless I get a transplant,'' he said.

The other ailment was what was technically known as ''chlonol-chemopathy'' of the bone marrow which could trigger several problems. ''But this disease is not as clear-cut as kidney failure. It has stages and is like having a snake egg in your hand. It is not a snake, but who knows when the egg will break and it will bite you.''

The 66-year-old leader said he was not afraid of death and had accepted it as a part of life. But he was most apprehensive about what would happen to his wife Sitadevi.

''When I was told I had this bone marrow problem, my wife was there and she took it very bravely. Of course, I was sad ... We were sad, but not broken. Once you accept it, you don't break up. What is necessary, apart from our physical health, is your mental health."

Rajasaab said he had adopted the ''gambler's point of view'' in that he did not know how much time he had but was happy, ''with what god has given me. I feel very contented and fulfilled.''

Interestingly, Singh revealed that he was religious, not in the conventional, ritualistic sense, ''but in the sense that there is something deep inside, which in my particular case communicates with nature. Not as a superpower but as a friend you can communicate with.''

In his opinion, communion is more important than praise for the almighty. ''I don't give it (my belief) any name but there are things bigger and greater than yourself like beauty, truth, nature, your inner voice,'' he said.

After all these years of association with an entire galaxy of politicians, the former prime minister's 'inner voice' had come to the fore and he preferred the world of creativity.

''A politician looks for applause. On the other hand, creative activity is approval from within yourself. If you enjoy it, there is a world of difference between politics and creative activity.''

Drawing a parallel between the two, he said at the people's level, politics was ''like poetry.'' However, at what he described as the ''colleagues level,'' the political firmament was dotted with backbiting, leg-pulling, and the like. ''You have to seek approval downwards and upwards, fight your colleagues and fight other parties.

''Today, my sense of understanding people at the personal level and sharing with them has been deadened,'' he quipped.