The two parties on either side of the time-honoured-but-now-gone-out-of-favour photographic camera, namely the person(s) to be shot and the photographer happened to be the same, the device having the facility of timer allowing time for the latter party to join the former in a matter of a few seconds long before the phenomenon of selfie, armed with any model of smart phone came on the scene, but the now-all-too-familiar term was unheard of until not too long ago. More than 900 million people across the land are said to be in possession of the hand-held demon, a rapidly rising number among the masses changing over to its multi-function models, clinching selfies for momentary euphoria. If some day in future taking selfies of the country becomes a reality, the emerging picture is bound to be of great help in taking a leisurely but close look at its real image portraying the profiles of citizens, particularly the current public image of the self-declared netas, which doesn’t need elaboration in this column.  

Pictures of the land’s eminent citizens adorning the interiors of public buildings such as the nation’s Parliament and Offices of the Government Departments no longer seem to inspire anybody nowadays, not to speak of recollecting the thoughts and deeds of the galaxy of those luminaries of the land’s past.   

The column spaces of the dailies have run short in fully conveying to people the repercussions, without leaving any detail, in the run up to the Parliamentary poll announced by the Election Commission of India. The goal that the Commission has set to itself, namely voting by the eligible voters without fear to ensure free and fair election is both a slogan and a bottom line of action, guided by the model code that the contestants are required to comply with. The candidates taking their chances of scoring victory at the hustings to reach the Parliament as well as the candidates taking the public examination at SSLC and PUC levels to cross the bar seem to be sailing in the same boat of suspicion even as the Government has swung into action of forming Surveillance teams to take away tainted cash and stocks of liquor, the two weapons used extensively in the poll war. And Flying Squads to catch the latter candidates indulging in malpractice in the examination hall.  

The world may or may not be watching the goings on but many in the camp of elderly are sure to be aghast even as both vote-seeking candidates and examination-taking candidates, barring exceptions, are seen as thieves, but what is the public image of the functionaries in the teams set to catch the offenders. The idiom set a thief to catch a thief suggests itself.