The Triumph of Democracy

Why would anybody blog? To express the inner thoughts many would say, some might find this a way to vent their anger. Others would have the smallest of reasons like attract the opposite gender (does that sound like a mating call!) and I might be one of them (not the mating part for now!). But the reason for this post is not remotely close to my sinister ambitions.

Can there anything bigger than the Indian general elections? Masqueraded as the largest democratic exercise in the world, a marathon exercise that spans multiple phases and after a month the next government is sworn in (a coalition of rainbow colours probably)! By far all the elections across the years (14 until now!) have had a plank on which the political parties, both nationwide and regional have based their manifestos, campaign and tirade against the other parties. But elections this time are a tad different that parties still haven’t been able to identify the single most important issue that the people want the next government to take up.

If it’s fighting terrorism at one political rally, corruption in another and personalised attacks the next day. The media both electronic and print haven’t helped things by an inch. When most of the parties where sunk in thoughts to engineer issues that they could capitalise on a certain ‘Gandhi’ sprang in action. He has been the most discussed person over the past few weeks by any measure. But the thing that was annoying much more than anything was the response of the other parties to the hate speech. They have now added the creation of a secular government as part of their manifestos. Duh! Isn’t that the obvious! A country with more than a billion people with a dozen different religions and equally divided caste system and parties surprise you with these absolutely hideous thoughts!

Next has to be stopping terrorism! On one front a set of people has been losing sleep that ‘Mohammed Afzal’ has not been hanged as yet! Now the other goes one step further by asking why the former released terrorists’ aeons ago when a bunch of lunatic men hijacked an IA aircraft. WTF?!?! According to one lady spokesman of the grand old party of the country, Afzal happens to be 23^rd on the list of people on the death row (The most likely to be killed list?)! We are in a recession, saving jobs and livelihoods of people has to be one of the pivotal things that the super literate statesman bunch should be talking about and the motley crew has steered the discussions into why, when and where should terrorists be hanged or saved. Now people do not get me wrong! I was one of you pained to see the carnage at Mumbai and felt helpless as things unfolded. Fighting terror has to be one of the principles of every political setup. But that’s like having a fool proof mechanism by which you and I can walk the roads and live our lives as we please.

When an estimated 300 million are living on less than Rs. 20 per day and a huge family to feed aren’t we supposed to change their lives? But accusations and counter-accusations have become the order of the day that expecting a government to do its duties has become too much of an ask! Getting their act right and prioritising issues at hand and seeing them to delivery is what we require! Not if a certain Gandhi’s goof-up graduates him to be booked under the NSA or a blatant comparison to find the most corrupt lot (the latest is the Coffin Scandal VS. Israeli defence Scandal). Though they bring some cheer to you at unusual times with their talk (Yesterday, a big mouthed spokesman of the RED brigade voiced his concerns that corruption a decade or two ago was in the tune of ten of crores involving an elder Gandhi but now the Israeli defence scandal was to the tune of hundreds of crores). Now, who was losing sleep working these figures out!?!?

But in all these disappointments and NAXAL attacks across the country, seeing people energetically going to vote hoping for a new dawn has to be the TRIUMPH OF DEMOCRACY over years of never ending failures. Even though the voting crowd in this country quite clearly understands that the whole political system needs a revamp and nothing close to that is visible in the horizon, their hopes and aspirations of seeing a better tomorrow will churn a revolution never seen before. And that ensures that this argument is never ending and I have something to rant about pretty so on.

So long Folks!