"Just a President"

It's disquieting how often I've heard that phrase in the last few weeks.

I'm told (and not entirely wrongly) that in India the President is no more than a ceremonial head. Therefore, goes the argument, if there be a loony woman who dabbles in scamming people through a cooperative bank at one time, and harbouring a murdering relative some other time, and not surprisingly is a politician all along this time, and now believes that one day she shall be President coz (thank you God!) after all, the spirit of a dead man inside the body of a live woman told her and divinely blessed her so, and then this loony woman does in fact end up as President Pratibha Patil indeed , ummm, no Big Deal!!! All she has to do is live in Rashtrapati Bhavan and sign some bills, and maybe meet George Bush one day over lunch, and given that even a newly-launched Microsoft software can manage the first and loons would excel at the latter, what's the worry?

What's the worry??!!!!

I know we've survived loony prime ministers who thought that killing the poor would kill poverty (I'm talking about the Forced Sterilization Brigade), and others who think that the suicide of poor is boring, avoidable news (I'm talking about the farmer suicide epidemic currently mostly ignored by the MSM), but these have been rather poor quality of survivals.

And it is indeed a matter of worry that though up until now our choice of presidents was nothing to hide-behind-statistics about, not something we had to get defensive about, not someone we glossed over by talking about our GDP and nuclear prowess and other dubiously chest-thumping claims - that instead of people who had the heads and galls to critique government bills, we now have to suffer a yes-woman.


The Somehow Nation
We Indians often boast of this; how despite obstacles we march ahead and how amazing it proves us to be. Somehow, without adequate infrastructure, our GDP is rising, our corporations are expanding, and we've even managed to acquire a future-superpower halo. Somehow, without focus on education policies and with a pitiful public schooling system, our country continues to produce exceptional scientists and thinkers and a student-force large enough to create an outsourcing base for the US.

It is amazing, yes. But worth boasting about? No.


Quite a few mouthfuls:


Good one: Celebrating Pratibha Patil - Amit Varma in Livemint