HUM 'AAP' KE HAIN KAUN?

 

Digitally adapted from the original Black ink and Pen Cartoon 

by Ashutosh Kaul; April  2026.

 

Politics is never short of drama and chaos at any time. Some politicians however are masters of playing politics with politics. So before I tell you the main story I am going to recount my experience with such a thing! It is a bad boss story! Can't help it since I am in my sunset years and stories are all that is left to me!  Just a word of advice; never; never; under any circumstance criticize your boss or your old company while interviewing for a new job. No exceptions ! Zero ! Nada! Zilch!

 

Anyway I had a boss who specialized in shifting blame for all the mess that he created. Let us  call him "Da". Da was not formally  educated.  He did attend a basic technical program  but liked to pretend that he has graduated from IIT Chennai. He came from a privileged background and could talk a talk ! He would project himself as a technical wizard or a creative giant depending on whatever suited the occasion. He got found out from time to time as he would  screw up the tech or design.  Both at times.  My internal name for him was "foontru" and I always had a plan B for projects I was not even designing, since Da was always playing by the cuff and would influence junior designers into presenting plans to clients that we were hard put to fabricate and execute on site due to tech, budget, regulatory or contractor limitations ! Lot of times I had to fire fight!

 

Have you met someone that has gotten promoted way over their abilities? Anyway he had reached the position of an AVP and he had a team.  I was hired to be his second in command. Office needed to fire someone from the job , he would push the task on ... to me! I hated it so much. If a client was getting difficult; the project would fall in my lap if it was very complex and to other designers on the team if comparatively simpler. Any accolades that came our way were simply never properly acknowledged and stopped at his desk. Self serving politics was evident for all international projects. To be fair I got a lions share of them; but only because he wanted to be free to have a good time with  a staff he was intimate with;  without worrying about  the project.  He never forgot to attend the opening of the site and collect thanks from the clients. At times with his trophy girl friend in tow. I minded a little but it was an opportunity for me to excel, elevate and work freely!

 

Before I forget ; he was the best person to be with if you wanted a fun night. The fellow had expert knowledge of all the best watering holes and of entertainment and red light districts; in most of the world cities! In Delhi most evenings he could be found at the bar in press club which possibly he still frequents. Drank like a fish too! 

He did show up for me once. I was on a Hero Honda site getting the pavilion constructed on a very tight deadline. It was my design and we  had suffered a lot of niggles from the client's DGM. This guy was very brash and wanted to replace the GM. In their internal tussle he would pin prick every project  that could show the GM as inefficient in the eyes of the owner; Munjals. He came on site and wanted this and that changed. I humoured him a little bit but then he asked for whole sale changes; not in the plan; as ' it is not looking good'.  We had gone through the entire painstaking design approval process and even shown the client the entire full scale mock up off site. We had approvals at every stage and  yet this insolent twit had the temerity to tell me "it is not looking good" 30 hrs. before I have to handover the project.  I lost it and told him to 'F' off my site! He was stunned to say the least! To cut a long story short, my boss came in took him for a drink and explained to him that I had said ' buzz off'! I certainly had not! Listen; don't do what I did! Do not abuse your client! It is a good way of loosing your job!

 

 Unfortunately whenever shit hit the fan; as it did once in a while; our boss would put a team member on the chopping block and save his own neck. By the time I  joined apparently three teams had already been shown the door in a very short period of time. Two different individuals that held my position before I came on the scene, had to leave in quick succession. I was not expected to last either. Since a failed project was given to me to be lost on my responsibility; second day on the job. A couple of junior most people left in the studio from previous groups clung to me as some saviour that will protect their jobs! I turned their fear into a  creative gale force to recon with. Together with my team I did manage to put structure and accountability in that office . I  increased average rate of return from projects three times by designing smartly; using my contractors pool judiciously; according to their strengths and by exercising tight control over the entire process ; from  design concept development to the final delivery of the project on site to our clients. Clients insisted for me by name to handle their projects. I survived seven years; two promotions and several big complex project; both  in India and  international ones; but really in the end had to make an exit; largely in disgust ; partly for other financially lucrative opportunities and foreign shores. 

Some day I will write about how and why I became an Exhibition Designer but listen  that office was a great platform to work from and I had an amazing team willing to jump off a cliff on my word! I really miss it sorely !  Trust me you are as good as your team! You can be the greatest designer on earth; just be thankful to your team that enables that design to see the light of the day! If things were a little different I can easily see myself still working in that office. In my opinion it was the best in business but got asphyxiated slowly for a boss that could not keep it in the pants and  got greedy & ambitious way beyond his capabilities. Doesn't  the word  ambitious remind you of someone -  Arvind Kejriwal; Yes! No ?

 

So a humiliated Raghav Chadda left AAP and joined BJP! Who would have thought?  Politics they say is the art of possibilities. In the corporate HR world they have a saying," employees do not quit a job, they quit a bad boss"💔! According to a survey 90% of all resignations are due to a non compatible toxic manager. I think it is largely correct! I know it kind of feels like a targeted attack considering I have written about this individual so many times! The fact is this is a hypocrite  and a blatant liar that rubs me the wrong way. Right from the days when he used to publicly wave  300 pages of proof of Shiela Dixit's corruption ; I have kejriwal pegged as a charlatan and a con man. Incidentally nothing came of those proofs! This fraudster did not even prosecute Shiela DIxit , and he had become Chief Minister  of Delhi. Obviously those proofs were either a smear campaign or he got reached!

 

Reportedly This very same Raghav Chadda was aap's rising star. He was inked by kejriwal to marry his daughter; move to Chandigarh and be a super CM over Bhagwant Mann! That would keep all power in the family! 

Well we know that marriage did not happen and neither did the rest of that agreement. Again it is hearsay but reportedly Chadda was supposed to collect graft funds and bribes from the transfer and posting of officials in Punjab. This Chadda either did not do or the collection was not up to the mark or Chadda took the money and parked it in London!  Whatever - but Kejriwal did not get his hands on the money and he  fired chadda from his leadership role in the Rajya Sabha! Chadda's popularity had risen after he married an actress and his media presence got a larger footprint after he started talking about the joint income tax for both husband and wife ; as well as the price of samosa at an airport! Middle class India was lapping it up. Insecure; pygmy minded; narcissist, Kejriwal saw all of this as a challenge to his leadership. Chadda sadly for kejriwal, is younger; educated abroad ; speaks and looks better on TV. All thorny barbs that worry kejriwal and make his heart sink. Six more people have left with him. Among them Sandeep Pathak; AAP party's election strategist. Huge blow indeed; if this narcissist pygmy Kejriwal could see beyond his nose!

Sadly it was not the first time that he has felt a sense of envy and danger from his own party colleagues. First person he stabbed in the back was his Guru in public life; Anna! Anna's agitation for probity in public life gave kejriwal his public profile and soon as he gained some traction, Anna was junked. Everything Anna said and Kejriwal agreed to was consigned to the dustbin. Then came Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. They were high profile founding members of the party and kejriwal expelled them as soon as they pointed out the "one man culture" in the AAP party!

 

Kumar Vishwas is a poet; a professor  with quite a popular public persona. He was also  a "family Friend" since forever. Kejriwal's ambition however got challenged as he sensed a danger to his numero uno status. Kumar Vishwas was humiliated ; his position was eliminated and a Rajya Sabha seat was denied. He left the party activities around 2018. Legally speaking he never resigned ; he was never thrown out as far as I know.

 

Shazia Ilmi was a founding member too. She came from media: a well known TV personality. Well spoken and balanced women that she was ; naturally has an opinion.  She was made to leave and is in BJP since 2015. You probably remember Swati Maliwal and how she was physically man handled inside Kejriwal's Delhi house by an underling; who was rewarded with an advisor's position and removed from scene to punjab.

 

Ashutosh; another media person and Ashish Khetan were also cut to size and had to leave. Anjali Damania, Mayank Gandhi, Anand Kumar, Ajit Jha, and Madhu Bhaduri are some other names that have had to leave because  whatever qualities this boss has being a boss is not one of them. Kejriwal has given himself the title of the National Coordinator. Apparently all he seems to be coordinating is the departure of all brilliant team members into other parties. He should change his designation to "Admissions Coordinator"! 

 

A boss is definitely horrible as a boss when every talented team member sings;  " AAP jab hamare hain he nahi, fir Hum 'AAP" ke hain Kaun ? ( When you are not mine; no way in hell, am I yours!!) Arvind Kejriwal .... man ; he is a narcissistic disaster wrapped in hypocrisy! Needs to be put away for good!