For the longest time, I thought Manmohan Singh was just another political joker from congress — the quiet, learned man who was nothing more than a puppet in Sonia Gandhi’s hands. I had seen the memes, the jokes, the ridicule. The caricatures painting him as weak, indecisive, a shadow with no real power. And yes, that’s true.
But then I watched The Accidental Prime Minister — and something shifted inside me.
That silence. That helplessness. The feeling of being present, fully aware, deeply capable, yet utterly powerless to change the course of things. I recognized that terrible ache — the desperate, exhausting desire to be heard, to be understood, to make a difference. Trying again and again, only to be ignored or dismissed. Believe me, it’s a feeling far worse than any joke or meme could ever capture.
It’s that sinking realization that sometimes, no matter how educated you are, no matter how right you feel, the system isn’t designed for you to lead. It’s designed to keep you in place, to keep you quiet. That helplessness is a heavy weight on the soul.
There’s a line from an Alia Bhatt movie (rocky aur rani) that stuck with me: “Ise reed ki haddi kehte hain jise use karna hota hai.”
I used to think it's easy when you have power— to be firm, to stand your ground
But watching the movie, and seeing that silence on screen, made me realize how hard it is to live by that truth. (anupam kher is awesome)
Manmohan Singh’s story, as shown in the movie, isn’t just about politics. It’s about what happens when you hold the title of power but are denied the freedom to exercise it. It’s about the loneliness of being the backbone that no one acknowledges.
And in that silence, in that invisible struggle, lies a truth we often overlook — that strength isn’t always loud or visible. Sometimes (i think always), strength is the quiet battle fought in shadows, the heavy burden carried without applause or acknowledgement. It’s the relentless ache of knowing you have the power to make a difference, but being denied the freedom to act on it.
We admire those who stand strong, who break the silence with force.
But what about those who bear the storm quietly? Who keep standing, keep showing up, even when every word they say falls on deaf ears? The ones who hold themselves together, not because they are unbreakable, but because breaking would mean losing everything they have left.
Watching that story unfold makes you realize how fragile dignity becomes when trapped beneath layers of control, expectation, and indifference.
It exposes a painful truth — that sometimes, the hardest battle isn’t losing the war, but the slow erosion of hope, voice, and spirit. When patience turns to numbness, and resilience becomes resignation.
Because the world may laugh at the puppet — but only the puppet knows the true cost of silence. Only the puppet feels the weight of words left unsaid.
p.s. I wish I could him bring him back