My father always harps upon the concept of responsibility. “Whatever you do, you must do it responsibly.” And I agree with him. Even when I have a pantless pizza party and F.R.I.E.N.D.S marathon at home letting the house smell like 3 day old milk and clothes strewn around because why not, I should do it RESPONSIBLY. But my father is the kind of person who, if I’m five minutes late from meeting my friends, will freak out and call the armed forces to come rescue me from the shackles of Burger King. So my being responsible is in the interest of my own self as well as our country’s armed forces. You’re welcome.
But the idea of being responsible doesn’t seem to appeal to our politicians. What does it say about a country, when 2 out of its 3 most popular politicians are subjects of national ridicule? Like Sreesanth or Bobby Deol, Rahul Gandhi has been beyond redemption for a while now. But what happened to Arvind Kejriwal? Did IITs inject their former students with some serum that kicks in two decades later? First Chetan Bhagat. Now Yo Yo Kejru Singh. Arvind Kejriwal seems to have taken upon himself to be Modi’s mother in law – criticizing him no matter what (which is really sad, because the only reason a man tolerates his mother in law is because he’s got a lovely wife. Poor Modi can’t even do that. Unless you count Amit Shah as his wife). From an Aam Aadmi from whom the nation had high hopes, Kejriwal has descended to petty politics and name calling, thus finally establishing himself as a seasoned Indian politician. All of the country’s state leaders seem to have national ambitions and thus voice their opinion on every issue in the country to increase their visibility. But they don’t seem to realize that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The problem is that once upon a time, you need eyes, ears and a brain to have an opinion on something. Now all you need is a Facebook or Twitter account.
None of the major leaders of our states are ready to take responsibility for their states or their actions and are quite happy to blame opposition parties, neighboring states, the Prime Minister and the tooth fairy for all their problems. Then there is the face of our oldest national party, the Indian National Corruption, er I mean Congress – Rahul Gandhi. I know actual comedians who are taken more seriously than he is. The Congress is making no effort to reform itself, to be taken seriously or pose a challenge to anyone anytime soon. Also, here is an interesting fact. Karnataka is the most corrupt state in India right now. It is also the only major Congress ruled state. That’s a really fishy coincidence. The Congress was supposed to be that robber who robs you at night but lives a normal life during the day. Now there isn’t even any pretence – they rob you in broad daylight, much like Starbucks.
If I come across as a BJP fan, that’s because I’m not a fan, but I do happen to like parties that don’t loot my country. It’s just a personal choice. I’m not a FAN of any party or politician because I happen to know the difference between cricketers and movie stars & elected representatives of the country.
Maybe our politicians need my father to lecture them on responsibility, because if you can get me to do something as boring as being responsible, Kejriwal and the rest should be a cakewalk. Or my father could spam them with phone calls and texts. (That works on me too.)
