Look whoacirc;euro;trade;s talking

Thank goodness for little mercies, at least somebody is keeping count. Among the rash of challenges and dangers facing India in its 51st y...

Thank goodness for little mercies, at least somebody is keeping count. Among the rash of challenges and dangers facing India in its 51st year as a republic, the President of this great land has found a silver lining. In his Republic Day address to the nation, K.R. Narayanan, while working up indignation over attempts to tinker with the Constitution and invoking the horrifying figure of Pakistanacirc;euro;trade;s military dictator Ayub Khan to put an end to little debates, has found a ray of hope. He says Indian women, while pitifully awaiting the rosy benefits reservations in legislatures will shower, are nonetheless making huge strides. And look what they are achieving. They are actually winning acclaim at international beauty pageants.

Is this supposed to be some kind of a joke? When the head of state of a robust democracy like India takes to the pulpit and purports to play elder statesman, his people are entitled to at least a modicum of sincerity. When he in his infinite wisdom decides to nudge the legislatures in a particular direction into passing the womenacirc;euro;trade;s reservation Bill, for instance, with no acknowledgement of the pros and cons of the move he is expected to show a depth of vision. The Indian woman cannot have gained much confidence from such facile remedies for her plight. Glittering tiaras on three pretty heads and a contingent of bahu-betis in the assemblies are not going to impact her life. Certainly, the supreme commander of the armed forces, as he readied himself and the nation to sit wide-eyed as the footsoldiers of Indiaacirc;euro;trade;s defence establishment marched past, had a right to share his observations. It was a sharing the people looked forward to when they clustered around the little screen on the eve of the Republic Day. Allthey asked for in this entire exercise was some proof of empathy, not hypocrisy.

It was the latter that was on display as President Narayanan enlarged the ambit of his address and voiced concern that the current obsession with acirc;euro;tilde;acirc;euro;tilde;developmentacirc;euro;trade;acirc;euro;trade; was at the cost of the disprivileged. Pray, does the inhabitant of the ornate viceregal lodge of yore, the holder of the one office in this country that is a pure imperial relic, have any solutions other than development to the travails of the disprivileged? It is only accelerated development that will give succour to the millions made homeless and jobless overnight in Gujarat. Additionally, respect for the environment is a tenet our leaders have refused to follow in letter or spirit. Mr Narayanan is right to be worried, but this respect can hardly be fostered by flying off periodically with a reserve airplane in tow. Papa can preach, but then he should not ride his buggy, like the maharajahs long ago stripped of their exploitative titles, and indulge in the pompous fanfare associated with his office.