The Hidden Agenda

Three things cannot be long hidden –
 the sun, the moon, and the truth. 
— Buddha

Few years back, I received an email saying that I have been selected for some prestigious award, and I will be receiving the same from some eminent person in a large gathering. I was intrigued and when I tried to find out more, they wanted me to financially sponsor a part of the event.

In another instance, a person from a monthly magazine, called me and asked for an interview. I was excited and when I took it little further, I realised that they wanted me to place an advertisement in their magazine.

Few days back, I was invited for a function as a Chief Guest, and during the meeting a number of donation appeals were placed, before me.

I am sure these sorts of incidents, must have happened to you too. This is what we call a hidden agenda.

A hidden agenda is the ulterior motive of doing something. It is not explicitly stated, but the intention is revealed only after some amount of time. The hidden agenda formula is not always bad. It is not pure manipulation. Sometimes, it is just like a sugar coating on a bitter pill, making it easy to swallow.

However, this approach has made people to become a little suspicious, about any new things coming up or being implemented.  So, when there is any new Govt policy, or any technological development, or when two political leaders meet or when any new foreign investment comes into a country, the first question we tend to ask is “What is the hidden agenda?”

Though this form of approach may sound sceptical, a little bit of caution, seems to be necessary today, in a world where it is easy to be manipulated. While we could ignore the small ones, like the one’s mentioned above, there could be a few things, which can have long term consequences.

When British started the East India Company, for the purpose of procurement and export of tea, we thought it was only a business, but never knew we will be enslaved with the British rule for almost 200 years.

Similarly, when China gave soft loans to countries like Sri Lanka, they did not know that soon they will occupy some territory and make it their own.

Online businesses are giving far better deals than local retailers, to grab the customers, only with the ultimate intention of killing local competition and then dominate the market.

Social media platforms are available for free, only for them to extract your valuable data and sell it to someone else.

So many things happening around us, seems to be in the good interest of people, but we have to be aware of the intentions of the person, company or country doing it.

One of my friends, Dr. Gifty often says this - “If something sound too good to be true, then it is probably not true.”

The greatest power available to humans, is the power to question. This can bring to light the truth This can help us to take some precaution and proactive steps, before something gets too late, to be amended.  

Probably, you have heard of a few secret societies such as the Illuminati, who decide how things should move forward in the world. They have some vested interest, which they want to protect or enforce, for which they may use dubious means. So, wherever there are questions which are suppressed, ignored, or have controversial viewpoints, we can sense that there could be a hidden agenda.

However, we needn’t go to the extent of sounding like a paranoid. When we tend to suspect everything, we might end up blocking all progressive measures, happening around us. It is not good too.

Let us just exercise some caution, so that we don't become pawns in the hands of someone.

   D. Senthil Kannan,

   CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

   Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

   Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com