Reaching the top means that one has to shoulder a responsibility that is meant to improve the condition of the people on the ground
I sit on top of Karachi quite literally, ‘on the highest room of the tallest tower’ where my occupation has led me to move. Our office has shifted to the tallest building in Pakistan on the I.I.Chundrigar Road and I am getting accustomed to heights. Peering out, I get a bird’s-eye view of Karachi. I see the same things differently. It is a whole new perspective. Miniature world sprawling before me. Aside wonder, I assimilate little else initially. My eyes slowly come out of awe to send meaningful messages to the brain. This is my view from the top.
When reaching the top, humans’ first instinctive reaction is to ‘look down upon’ everything on the ground to get the measure of the dizzying heights they have attained. Smaller the object, greater the sensation. Hence Einstein’s relatively is embedded in our minds like an electronic chip. But it does not end there. Higher the position we attain relative to the other, stronger becomes ours sense of pomposity. At our high position, everything down there appears small, negligible and irrelevant.
However at the moment, I only feel thrilled. I try to set my eyes on the policeman standing in the middle of a crossing. He appears minuscule, the size of my index finger, perhaps even smaller, a toy soldier doing his bidding. This is no coincidence that my eyes fell on him. ‘It is lonely at the top’ and I want to know there at still humans below in the world that I have temporarily fled. My toy soldier is marshalling the vehicles which themselves give the visual impression of ants moving about in tow of each other. But he is making them move in an organized manner. He appears skillful, almost mechanical. I cannot see his frown, his seat or his slovenliness, which he definitely possesses. He appears much more efficient than he actually is. In fact the whole traffic flow appears orderly.
Distances blur reality and give a false perception of order and smoothness. No small surprise then that most rulers fall prey to this deception and are duped into believing that everything is fine. They have no idea of disorder and the seething anger beneath apparent tranquillity. After all, due to enormity of distance we can never tell what hell is breaking loose on the Sun due to the impact of millions of nuclear reactions taking place simultaneously.
My colleague diverts my attention from the traffic below to a bridge falling into the sea of vehicles on the Chundrigar Road in front of Habib Bank Plaza. He muses how easily it can be extended to connect into Mai Kolachi, which will be a major breakthrough in solving traffic woes of the area.
His comments show that being on top provides unparalleled opportunities as well. Distance gives us vision and allows us to be far-sighted, to take decisions which can have far reaching impact and can benefit a maximum number of people. Free from daily entanglements of life, it also allows us to think objectively and straight. Being on top puts heavy responsibility on leaders since they are at a vantage position to observe things that the others cannot. The leader’s responsibility is towards people at large and not towards certain people or groups. Being on top helps eliminate this narrow-mindedness. It surprises how often leaders fail to capitalize on this opportunity that top rung of the ladder provides to be visionary rulers and engrave their name forever in history. Instead, they spend their time relishing the view from the top. No wonder they are caught unawares when storm created out of turmoil blow gulps them. Our Mughals remains the most enduring example of such failure, but people who have ruled Pakistan have taken this art to ‘new heights’.
I finally concentrate on the view in front and beyond. I see several buildings on Karachi’s wall street, tightly packed. A closer look reveals that they are dirty, dilapidated and need repair. I did not notice their condition when I was on the ground. Routine makes a person blind. We have become blind to filth, pollution, corruption and depravation in our society because we are part of that system. These problems seem to have no affect on us. It is only when we leave the system and go to other countries that we realize in what mess we dwell. Similarly, crumbling buildings are also invisible to us. It does not bother us to improve their shape and quality, just like it is of no interest to improve ourselves. Once we improve, others inanimate things will improve automatically. Who will provide this motivation to improve? Maybe some visionary who first of all notices this malaise and uses his vantage position to resolve the problems.
My experience is clearing my mind. The responsibility to improve the country and its people falls foremost on the leaders and people who are privileged enough to be on the top. The leaders can bring about a change because their elevated position not only helps them to see problems in their proper perspective at the macro level but also allows them to work out solutions. But the leaders also need to come down often to check ground reality. Aloofness from public is ruler’s poison. It is all very well to have vision but the people and their problems are down there. The change has to occur there. So ‘emperor needs to roam the street’ to know whether his rule from the top is having any bearing on the betterment of the people.
Looking beyond, I see a new horizon. I can see the Arabian sea and tiny ships which I never knew I could see from here. It is a bit hazy out there yet enough to make out. It is beautiful and it surprises me that without an elevated position, how ignorant we are about things that lie ahead. All leaders have this opportunity to see things ahead, see the future for their people and work towards achieving glory.
It is amazing what uniformity of thoughts and mindset exists between someone who is physically at a height and a person who is on top due to his social status. With all this talk of elevated position, there is one point that is also becoming clearer. No matter how many opportunities there are for someone on top, a myopic person will never see beyond his nose. Our system (or lack of it) throws up mortals who become leaders and no amount of elevation broadens their horizon. Height and vantage point helps only when perched positions are earned by people on merit, that is, a proven record to serve people with honestly and vision albeit on a smaller scale. A visionary has the eyes to see the bigger picture and when pushed to the top by people takes his people to new heights. Top has the aerial view and a wealth of opportunities but a blind person will see nothing.
My last view sums it all up for me. On my right are congested streets, flats and scores of tiny houses of the poor, a sea of people living on top of each other in a polluted unclean environment, perhaps breathing carbon dioxide and exhaling oxygen. I can turn my eyes away from this unpleasant scene which offers no aesthetics, but then I never knew things were this bad. Whatever I choose to focus on this unpleasant view or shy away from it will tell whether I am a true leader or a demagogue.
Reaching the top means that one has to shoulder a responsibility that is meant to improve the condition of the people on the ground 
