The Hindu Business Line : <I>Of sycophancy and sycophants </I>

The dictionary meaning of sycophancy is obsequious flattery and a sycophant a servile, self-serving flatterer. Interestingly, parasite is one of the synonyms of sycophant. Fawning, `buttering' and sucking up are the other words descriptive of the process.

Everyone pretends to hate sycophancy and sycophants, but sooner or later falls for their wiles. Sucking up is impossible to resist. The dog is the best example: Dog owners end up loving and caring for their dogs more than they love and care for their own spouses, parents or friends. Simply because the dog knows all the tricks of sucking up.

Sycophancy operates at different levels and takes many forms. The people of India are by now seasoned connoisseurs of sycophancy at the political level. Political sycophants pull all stops in buttering their bosses with hyperbolic, flowery phrases. The Nobel Prize for turning this into a fine art goes to the Tamil Nadu politicians.

Sycophants decorate the name of every politician — indeed, every prominent figure in public life — by attaching to it a bombastic title. They may be chagrined to hear, though, that their inventiveness in sucking up comes nowhere near what their African counterparts, walking on the razor's edge under a ruthless dictator, are capable of. Just consider this extravagant title given to, or taken by, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe: "Sese seko kuku ngbendu wa za banga' meaning "the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake'! Can you beat it?

Without resort to sycophancy no hanger-on or favour-seeker will survive or thrive in politics. Plum berths, tickets for elections, share in the spoils, paid holidays in luxurious gubernatorial mansions — all are theirs for the asking if only they swallow their pride and play the second fiddle with abandon. Conversely, if someone is honest and straight, and speaks his mind, he may have to write `finis' to his career and sometimes even to his life.

Workplaces

Why blame the politicians? Are workplaces any better? Of course, if you ask any boss at whatever level what his reactions to sycophancy are, he will throw up his hands in horror and claim that he never lets sycophants a kilometre near him. But, whether he knows it or not, he is as vulnerable to `buttering' as the third person.

On the first few occasions when someone tries to worm his way into his superior's favour, the latter might show embarrassment. Sycophants know they should not be put off by such initial coyness, and all they should do to win over their quarry is to keep persisting without giving up. They also know that bosses at every level are taken in by praise being laid on thick and shower their favours on those who unabashedly indulge in it.

For sycophancy to be successful and effective, it must build on some existing and manifest positive attributes in those on whom it is practised. Sycophants will become instantly suspect if they extravagantly laud something that even the person flattered knows is not there. The same principle applies here as in the case of advertising or public relations: There must be some little stuff somewhere for it to be puffed up credibly and acceptably. There are also subtle, indirect techniques such as working on the boss through his favourite godpersons or astrologers.

Whatever way sycophancy works, it has a demoralising effect on those outside the charmed circle, especially the ones adhering to principles and values and minding their business as best they might. Encouragement to sycophancy is invitation to disaster.

B. S. RAGHAVAN