I have always wondered where politicos derive their energy and motivation from. A well paying vocation that actually pours as you move up the slippery sleazy ladder probably accounts for that. If scandals and defeats and court cases do not deter them, surely the stakes are worthy enough and as a result, pockets have got deep enough to weather all those incidental experiences and expenses. The parallel thickening of the skin also acts as a failsafe insulation. Small wonder we see so many fossils defying normal evolutionary rules and survive in all glory.
Author: T R Jawahar
The euphoria is such that many pollsters and political punters are already predicting that the Broom Party shall top the sweepstakes at the national hustings in May. Suddenly, Aravind Kejriwal has been pitchforked as a possible PM, on par and in some ‘scientific surveys’ of about a 1000 odd people in a few chosen pockets, even ahead of the ‘other’ wannabe, Namo!
It is a small, tentative step up a slippery slope. Still it calls for some cautious elation. That the jinxed Lokpal which has been stranded in the streets, entangled in bureaucratic red tape, buried many a time in political quicksands and defied consensus even amidst its champions has ultimately crossed the legislative threshold is itself an achievement.
Let me take the easy and lazy way out this time by resorting to some cut and paste journalism. I shall reproduce below some sections from this column written during the run up to the formation of AAP. Despite the possible irritations that an ‘I told you so’ smirk evokes, I will still do this because the issues discussed are even more relevant now.
Some suspense always lingers during the time lag between voting and counting. Not so with the recent elections to five State assemblies. Sure, it is never a good idea to deem a future result as a foregone conclusion. But there is one strong reason why not just ‘scientific’ opinion/exit polls but even random guesses could turn out to be, er, approximately accurate: Congress! The disenchantment is so high that none bothered to survey Mizoram where the party might win!
A week of hectic judicial/legal activity has left a trail of victims, not all human. The Aarushi murder case crossed a threshold, the Sankararaman murder case came to a virtual closure and the Tehelka rape case attained critical mass. But acquittals, convictions or charge sheets apart, much collateral damage has been caused to certain other critical facets.
A rash of sex-scandals have turned out to be dicey diversions from the dour financial scams and the dreary poll din that dog our hours. Snoopgate – the alleged surveillance of a young woman by Gujarat authorities with the blessings of the rulers there – and a sexual harassment complaint by a lady lawyer against a Supreme Court judge were already raging
Nothing else really matters today, the 15th of November. There is no significance about the date. It might as well have been the 14th or 16th. All that counted was when Sachin would bat and that date would have automatically become an undeclared national holiday.
Intellect is intact and sanity safe only in physical loneliness. The moment one is in company or before an audience, both faculties exit quietly. Discretion deserts as the gallery gains control; crowd and common sense are mutually exclusive.