What in hell’s name was it all about ?

I watched with increasing amount of cringing the spectacle that has been unravelling in the Parliament for nearly 2 days now. The build up to this mega event was beyond doubt – gathering of forces, trading of charges, wild swings of opinion and of course the spectacular display of unbridled opportunism. A long long time back, a friend had commented that in a democracy we get the rascals we deserve. In more ways than one, it proved itself today. The final score isn’t what it is about. Nor is it about rhetoric. To me it is about the fact that on national television elected leaders made jackasses of themselves in more ways than one. And that is unpardonable.

It could be about idli, sambar and chutney. It may be about the negotiations with IAEA. But when one observes oodles of taxpayer monies being wasted in just tokenism, there’s nothing more humiliating. Inflation is touching ~12%, industrial growth is all over the park, the central bank seems to be getting it all wrong in its fiscal policy and yet for two days the nation is compelled to be glued to a single channel watching with unabashed glee the way their elected leaders make a mockery of the system of Parliament. Not a single shred of discipline or deceny permeated the debate.

And we take pride in calling ourselves the largest democracy. Kakistocracy is what it resembles most today.