Madam President

Ok, now we have our first woman president. This is a powerful statement on women empowerment, let's all applaud this defining moment of our post-independence history and please stop nitpicking about how this means squat for the common woman on the street.

But then I digress, coming back to the presidency, the elections for the president is more of a display of political maneuvering by the ruling party than any honest attempt at finding the best person for the job. So invariably, the person most amenable to the ruling party gets elected as in the case of our new president.

When it comes to power, the post of the president of India has limited upside but a pretty ugly downside which can lead to unmitigated disaster. This was amply demonstrated by Fakruddin Ahmed directly responsible for the shame that was the emergency.

So I care a lot less whether the new president has the abilities to bring value to her presidency than I do about her not making a mockery of the president's role.

So Ms.Patil, I congratulate you on your achievement and while it may be difficult for you to get into the list of great presidents, all of us will hope that you will exercise enough intellect to stay away from the list that has Giani Zail Singh and Fakruddin Ali Ahmed.

In the order of priority, the constitution of India stands way above any party affiliations. Hope you shall keep that in mind the next five years....

Enjoy your stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan...

A lesson in humility

I approach another intersection and the signal turns red. The vehicles behind me continue to honk urging me to jump the signal. After a while, they give up. I look around and see an autorickshaw to my right, the driver is revving up the engine in anticipation of the green. Behind me is a bus that is packed with people who are jostling for space. A couple of two wheelers squeeze in between me and the auto. The Indian streets are always busy. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere.

For me, driving through this mess called the traffic causes enough frustration and anguish but surprisingly in a strange way, it allows me to relax and at times even put things in perspective. Among other things, the Indian streets teach a lesson in humility.

Unlike many other countries where strict rules ensure that everybody complies with the discipline needed to maintain smooth traffic flow, Indian traffic is mostly a self adjusting organism that offers unparalleled flexibility at the cost of unbridled chaos and inefficiency (We don’t have traffic rules only suggestions).

In this motley mix of vehicles and drivers, it does not matter who the individual is because once a driver hits the streets, he becomes a part of the traffic organism merging into the whims and fancies of the entity. So irrespective of his social standing or his intellectual accomplishments, he is ‘normalized’ into the system.

A professor holding a PhD or a businessman driving a Mercedes or a movie star will still have to sway to the diktats of say an auto driver cutting across the streets or a dilapidated truck in the middle of the road that just does not seem to move uphill holding up everyone behind it.

How so important a person might be, the traffic organism ensures that he is brought down to the minimum workable levels on the streets. The traffic IQ is determined by the operational IQ of the least aware individuals comprising it and thus ensuring that the rest are browbeaten to those levels of operation.

Ironically this is a lesson in humility. In a strange way, the Indian traffic lets you know that on the streets you are but an ordinary person shorn of all individuality.

The signal turns green and honking begins from behind. I shift into gear and move ahead as I maneuver through the chaos ahead…

Presidency

"I talk to dead people". No, this is not a line from a Shyamalan movie. But this is what possibly our future president is believed to have told (atleast the gist of it) in a public forum. I don't know much about Pratibha Patil but what I do know is that she will have to get a lot smarter at what comes out of her mouth if she has to pull off the presidency of India. She is being touted as the first woman president if and when she gets into Rashtrapathi Bhavan, though this is purely an outcome of political compromises between the coalition parties rather than a concerted effort towards finding a woman for the president's job.

Not withstanding the spate of allegations and the skeletons in the cupboard that have started spilling out, if she does get elected, the onus will be on her to decide what kind of president she wants to be. Does she want us to be proud of our first woman president or cringe in embarrassment ?. Ms.Patil, we hope you realize that whatever your personal beliefs might be on realm of the supernatural, it would still not behoove a president who represents the Union of India to be taking such flights of fancy in public.

Remember, your predecessor was a scientist of excellent repute. A man well liked by middle class India which saw in Dr.Kalam a brilliant,hardworking and committed fellow middle class Indian who achieved the highest office of the land.

Do you really want history to record that India's presidency moved from a rocket scientist to someone who thinks dead people speak to her ?. Please cleanup your act Ms.Patil and in the meantime get yourself some good speech writers...Good luck