Whatever is said in order to express one’s opinion on others, based either on experience or understanding or even misunderstanding (which happens more often), seems to benefit or suffer in importance depending on who says so. One has to just do a bit of speed reading of the printed matter in the columns of dailies or lend ear to the telecasts by some well-marked television channels in order to be sumptuously served with episodes of the land’s persons in public life passing their views on their counterparts, often resulting in a chain reaction levelling mutual charges of misdemeanour, much to the amusement of the avid readers of newspapers. The nation’s rapidly rising stock of politicos are currently hogging space of the columns in rags of all hues and prime time of television channels by their pastime of pulling down each other hoping to gain some brownie points to be en-cashed on occasions such as elections to the various legislative bodies and thereafter. Even as these self-declared netas are busy 24×7 playing their game disdainfully, the land’s aam janata are left high and dry.

Long before we tasted democracy, defined as rule by, of and for the land’s diaspora, generations of bygone years have witnessed rule of aristocracy by both philosopher kings such as in the erstwhile Princely State of Mysore and also other kinds of kings about whom the pages of history are replete. While public statements of adoration were rewarded by the rulers, open criticism used to be frowned upon and even invited punitive measures.

Seven decades of self-rule of the nation by successive democratically elected governments under the ongoing multi-party system has thrown up into public domain a virtual army of politicos writing or talking about whose profile can be highly fascinating. The leading lights among them who took charge of governing the land and its people during the initial years of democratic rule earned kudos in glorious terms despite serious differences and disagreements among them in their ideologies and style of functioning. Both these sides of the political class seem to have gone for a spin over the next six decades until this day.

A glaring miss in the exercise on scripting the nation’s Constitution appears to be not stating explicitly of what stuff the wannabe ruling class should be made. The fallout of that Himalayan miss as it were is there for all to experience. One such view has come from a seasoned bureaucrat of Madhya Pradesh saying “Politics is an art of fooling people.” More is not required to be said about both politicos and the land’s masses.