You will probably be reading this
piece while lazing on Christmas Day, or as you and
the family are winding down during the last week of
the year. This is no time for criticism or
negativity. As 2013 beckons, it should be a time for
wishes and hopes. Here, then, are mine for 2013.
Can the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs at least show
the courtesy of attending the Parliament when it is
in session? It is dreadful to see this great
democratic institution being routinely dishonoured
by terrible attendance. Most days, especially in the
afternoons, it has the look of two very large
university classrooms suffering from mass bunks. The
MPs have been elected by the people to raise
national issues and debate these in the lower house;
and to pass or send back legislation only after
sufficiently educated discussions. Can we hope to
see a bit more of it in 2013, with both houses
looking relatively full?
Can Manish Tiwari, now a young minister of state, do
us — and himself —the courtesy of not grimacing from
here to eternity? I am not asking the young man to
always smile in public places. That would require a
metamorphosis beyond belief. But he can at least
stop scowling, frowning and contorting his face with
sneers of varying kinds. It looks awful and so
needlessly belligerent. Sonia Madam, please do tell
him so. Surely he will listen to you.
Can Narendra Modi stop behaving as if the prime
minister-ship is his birthright and when it happens
he will goose-steppingly lead India to its zenith of
discipline and hard core purpose? Modi can be
predicted to win Gujarat yet again, after which he
will want to be anointed as the BJP’s prime
ministerial candidate. But it is a pipe dream to
expect him to show a softer, gentler, more
accommodating side. These are antithetical to his
being. So, expect him to goose-step on… and on.
Can we expect to open our major white papers for ten
days at a trot without the first page being entirely
devoted to an ad? Given the money-making opportunity
of leading newspapers in India, one shouldn’t expect
that to happen. But one can wish for it
nevertheless.
Can A.K. Antony, our scrupulously clean minister of
defence, focus a bit more on defence instead of
cleanliness at the cost of all else? Processes
matter and these must be adhered to. But not at the
cost of endlessly delaying the purchase of essential
defence equipment. Or ratifying critically important
manufacturing programmes, which capital intensive
and have long lead times. Shri Antony needs to ask
just one question: How well equipped are his armed
forces to immediately and effectively counter a
short, sharp Chinese incursion in Arunachal Pradesh?
If the answer is ten days or more, he had better
change is tack.
Can Rahul Gandhi be seen leading the Congress to win
an election for a change? Most will agree with me
that he is good chap; he means well; and would
certainly like a better India being served by a more
caring and effective government. But to do that,
Rahul needs to win elections. For which he needs to
choose the right candidates. And to create a
political platform that means something to voters of
different hues. Can he do it at all? Because the
fate of a secular, all-India political party depends
on his electoral calibre. And if he can’t, does the
first family have in it the calibre to name a worthy
set of successors and move on?
Can the telecom companies or the regulator or some
apps provider give us a simple device to effectively
block the ridiculous text messages that come at all
times of the from astrologers, builders, car
dealers, match makers, tutorial homes and what have
you? So that in a short while from now, each of us
can honestly say that a week passed without this
invasion? Surely this is technically possible.
Can the horn that goes “tee-tee-tee-tee” or some
such horrid shrill as cars reverse be banned by the
police in all cities and town? The indescribable
happiness that such a permanent prohibition can
create beggars belief.
Can air travellers be told that the boarding cards
carry seat numbers? Which can’t be taken by any
other? And, thus, there is no reason to madly break
queues as you jump from the bus and rush to the
steps of the plane? How many times will it need to
be told before we see a semblance of order and
sanity at the time of boarding?
Can we usher in 2013 without text messages that
specialise in awful poetry? This is my all time
favourite wish. Which, expectedly, is never granted.
Published: Business World, December
2012
