Parliament or a fish market !!!

The 15th Lok sabha session has come and gone and what a shame it was for democracy. This session would be more remembered for all the wrong reasons. Pepper spray, Black-out in TV relay when the Telengana bill was passed in the Lower House, Shouting in the well of the house and snatching of mikes and shredding of documents... One wonders whether they are the same people elected by the citizens of this country. They behaved like hooligans, goondas , thugs and criminals (which some people might well be).

The productivity was 61% and was the lowest in the last 50 years . Only 177 bills out of the 326 put forward were passed and it was a brazen show of wastage of tax payers' and public money. But do they really care? They have made the public look like fools which in a way we are.

 Has this set a bad precedent for the future? It well might be. This might well be the standard operating procedure of the Parliament in the years to come. The Opposition will not allow the smooth passage of Bills nor the efficient conduct of the House. However, what was very disturbing in the 15th Lok sabha session was the coalition members of the UPA and the Congress party MP's themselves were creating ruckus inside the House. The ruling party had absolutely no control over their members and it was a sorry state of affairs. Amidst all this din and furore , our PM was virtually sleeping through with eyes open. This has become a Brand Manmohan style of inefficiency to the hilt.

We as voters have also a role to play in this fiasco. All said and done it is we who elect these rowdies to the House and then see these kind of "tamaashaas" happening in the House. The next election is due in April/May 2014. Will we be wise enough to elect quality people as our representatives who will maintain the decency and decorum of the House. We reap what we sow. So let's be careful in the choice of our candidates instead of allowing them to make our Country a laughing stock in the eyes of the World.

Indians- Do we lack the killer instinct?

Are Indians basically soft by nature and is that an impediment to achieving our goals?
The ongoing second cricket  test match between India and New Zealand is just a case in point. We had a commanding 246 runs lead after the first innings. Then brought N.Z to the knees with 94 for 5. Just when people were talking about the post match ceremony, India took the foot off the gas pedal. Not taking away any credit from Brendon Mcullum and Watling but in their 352 runs partnership, one could see a listless Indian team with a pedestrian approach and negative bowling line.. Brendon Mcullum went on to score 302 runs and N.Z declared with a lead of 434 runs. India, playing under tremendous pressure became 10 for 2 and should have been 31 for 3 had the Umpire not goofed in Giving Kohli not out. It could well have been curtains for India had it not been for what turned out to be a brilliant unbeaten century by Kohli. What should have been an easy win for us turned out as India trying to save the match with their backs to the wall.


Is it that our culture and tradition is coming in the way to annihilate the opposition? This takes me back down the memory lane to 1974 U.S Open Tennis. Vijay Amrithraj was to play Ken Rosewall in the quarter finals. Before the match, Vijay was interviewed and was asked what he feels about the prospects of the match. His reply was " It is an honour and privilege  to play against the great Rosewall and that's all am thinking about now". It is nice to feel like that but the attitude was a give-away. Sure enough, Vijay lost the match. When Rosewall met Jimmy Conners in the finals of the same U.S Open, to the same question to Conners, he replied " anyone standing on the other side of the net is my enemy and i shall finish him off ". So he did. Conners thrashed Rosewall 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. This essentially sums up the attitude of us and the others.

In the other cricket series going on now between Australia and South Africa, one can see how Mitchell Johnson and Australia literally pulverized the Springboks. They wait for the door to open an inch and then drive the wedge and push it ajar. That requires an attitude and self belief which we sadly seem to lack. The present lot of Indian cricketers like Kohli, Jadeja, Dhawan, Raina etc... may be lot better in being brash compared to the earlier generation of cricketers but we just don't have that little something extra to finish off the opposition when they are virtually down and out.

It is this attitude and the will to win against all odds that will make a Team a Champion. We are quite some way off from achieving that slot. One only hopes that this younger generation of cricketers will find their mojo and take us to the top.