Friday, August 26, 2011

That roar in Parliament

They say Rahul Gandhi roared in parliament today. A few news channels reported it as a ROAR. Asking TNOW, CNNIBN, & NDTV - 'Did Rahul ROAR in LS & sent oppn scurrying for cover?' That 'roar' was probably straight out of Animal Crackers! let me go further to say that if that was a ROAR, then Rahul should be the crown prince of Madagascar!

This brings us to the way things happen in parliament.

Yes, I did watch a part of the proceedings in both the LS and the RS... and was aghast to see the way it functions. LS in action has more of Meira Kumar whining: 'baith jayiye' 'why are u standing?' 'Go back to your seat'.. until she adjourns it. Is the parliament a circus where hand flailing, jumping up and down, and shouting boo-boo & hoo hoo are a normal way of functioning?

Sometimes I feel if parliamentarians are asked to 'stand on the bench' by Meira Kumar, they would - & love it! Do we take them seriously?

A friend on FB remarked: 'YOu do not need to--as they ahve already been taken seriosuly by couple of lakhs of people when they got elected...'

I replied: 'Yes, and it is these people who need 'Anna ki pathshala'... the awareness needs to spread all over India. It is because the parliamentarian disregards the seriousness of an electorate that the public now clamours for reforms.'

He persisted: 'Which public are you speaking about the the urban lumpen middle class who do not even vote...'

I insisted: 'Statistics of the past two elections speak otherwise... yes, they were quite the 'urban lumpen middle class' as you call them, but this profile has already undergone a serious intent make-over. Whatever is left will be completed by movements like the one we are witnessing. By the way, it wasn't just the 'urban lumpen middle class' but also the 'limpid squiggly upper class' and the 'sallow shallow professionals' who formed the non-vote squads. This phase is now over. Just wait and watch. :)'

Our debate may subside, but the TV channels insist that Rahul roared in parliament today... I believe that the roar was less significant than the uproar that followed.

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