Phony cacophony

So, the new President of India means business from day 1 - talking about poverty alleviation and tackling terror. How about that! Some hell of an inspiration coming from the highest office of the country.

Hey! Wait a minute. Unless I missed the memo, here is a list of powers of the President of India, that I remember from my History and Civics lessons -

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5.  

News flash: The President of India is a just the symbolic head of the state. No powers whatsoever. No decision is his to take. He can at best be the mouthpiece that voices the opinion of the cabinet ministers.

But, why would a veteran of half a century of politics make such a statement? Unless of course he meant what HE should have done as the Finance Minister and the Defense Minister of the country. Well, you see here is a list of things that Pranab could have done as the Finance Minister of India -

1. Every goddamn thing you did not do - to keep the economy growing, keep prices in check, alleviate poverty, among numerous others.

And here is a list of things that Pranab could have done as the Defense Minister of India (with the Home Minister) -

1. Every goddamn thing you did not do - to instill a sense of security among the people, to strengthen the defense forces, to work towards the betterment of the soldiers protecting you, to tackle terror, among numerous others.

Or perhaps he is just dropping subtle hints to the present incumbents (Mr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. A.K. Antony) to finish what he never started. Could very well be the case; we know him to be good in dropping subtle hints. Here is him trying to tell the entire world - "I am too good for my job, give me a better one already." High command says - "MMS is doing hell of a job, warming up the seat for Rahul baba. Go be the President".

And so it began. Well, congratulations Mr. President. Enjoy the spoils of your political shrewdness. Your predecessor had a hell of a ride, you have a good one too.

[Image courtesy Satish Acharya's cartoon page]

How many deaths, will it take?

As crops rot, millions go hungry in India, screams one among many of today's gloomy headlines. This scream is heard far too often, questions are raised but, as with any matter of development of the country, the UPA government puts up a political gimmickry - forming another panel, laying out another plan, and the cycle continues. Next, more people will die, more grains would rot.

Any sane person (most politicos do not qualify) would say: "Wouldn't the situation go towards being better, if you'd have spent some time and money on developing infrastructure of the country - building half decent food storage facilities, building roads, building ports? I mean, spend perhaps a fraction of your time that you spend in defending those corrupt scumbags of your ministry. Hey, the last decent major infrastructure project I remember was more than 10 years ago during NDA reign, when you scumbags were cooling your heels in the opposition."

Government of India says: "No can do. You see, 5 years is too short a time to be even planning and managing to get the next term. We hardly manage to sneak in. And that's what we'd spend our time on - we'd launch (and not work on) populist projects just prior to re-election, we'd dole out goodies to the poor and buy their support."

The same person: "And what do you do during the rest of your tenure, ignoble Sir?"

Government of India says: "As you rightly said, we spend time defending our corrupt compatriots in arm. The Rajas, the Pawars, the Karunanidhis, the Mayawatis, the Laloos, the Reddys of the world needs to be protected from the vulgars - you. Only then would they get my back (read pelf) during re-elections. What? 3000 children are dying daily. They don't vote."

The vulgar: "But what about your promises? About development, about roads, about electricity, about water, about food, about keeping prices in check?"

Government of India says: "Did we say that? I guess something needs to be done. What about making these trickle through to some disgruntled populace during our re-election bid? You see, it all boils down to staying in power and coming back to power. What if we have millions of hands to do it, why would we do it now when we are losing nothing with the status quo? You see, development will open people's mind. Development in transportation, development in telecommunication, development in education - these would all make people connected. The vulgars would start opining on matters - all and sundry. We don't want that. Hush now. You want that Internet of yours to remain connected or not?"

And, that, my friend, is the flip side of the growth story that India is.

"Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?" - Bob Dylan

~ MT

** Minor edits for brevity **