Politics

Has anybody been watching the hideous drama unfolding in the Indian parliament? Somebody tell me that this is a horrible nightmare and that we will all wake up soon to realise that the world is still alright. That no longer is the common person's name used in vain in the game of politics, and the country is not bought and sold, over and over again, in the name of national interest.

I don't for a moment believe that real politics is un-dirty anywhere in the world. But it takes on its ugliest colour and most uncivilised form in the Indian parliament. How could a huge bag full of currency notes be allowed inside the parliament? How can MPs decide to take matters in their own hands and reduce the floor of the house to a stage where they execute their tamasha without the permission of the speaker? Why do grown up adults behave worse than four-year-old school children? Kidnapping MPs? Bribing them to abstain from voting? Allegations more and more disgusting each time around. Does anybody else feel its getting worse by the day?

On another note, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry when an elected member of parliament asked what exactly is the connection between energy and poverty. Seriously now, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and for once I was thankful to the TV channel for repeating stuff over and over again - no I hadn't made a mistake, this MP who represented lakhs of people in the country was actually asking how energy related to poverty. For someone to not understand these fundamentals of economic and social development and to have the power to decide for the country - isn't something basically very very wrong here? Its quite obvious from the projections of the media and the politicians that the country believes it is all set to be a world power to be reckoned with. While that concept itself is debatable, is it at all possible for us to trust what is being described variously as the political class? Can we get anywhere at all with this dubious breed of professionals whose primary talents include wearing different hats and fabricating lies?