RANDOM CARTOONS NO 20

EAVESDROPPER
Jan 6, 2021
4 min read

Here we are, in a hopefully happy, prosperous, peaceful and above all healthy 2021. The earlier we forget 2020 the better! So many bad memories we all would like to forget and move on. But also cannot ignore the fact that 2020 taught us all few valuable life lessons, which would do us all a world of good if taken positively: It taught the value of public behavior and personal hygiene. Where have the public spitting habit disappeared! Hardly any pan stain marks at staircase corners and passage ways! Well, the positives aren’t too insignificant. However, return to normalcy could be painfully slow and better be prepared for a long haul!

My last satire turned out to be prophetic! Rahul Gandhi did disappear from Delhi the next day but instead of Caribbean islands, he landed in Italy ostensibly to visit his grandma! No one grudges anyone the right to visit his/her grandma or grandpa whenever desired. But Rahul Gandhi’s problem is timing! Also, prioritization is not his forte. That explains the fate of the Congress party after he took over as President and quit the post in a hurry. It’s today like a ship adrift at mid-sea, abandoned by its captain leaving it in the hands of an ailing retired captain to manage. The retired one’s health permits just about to keep it afloat-nothing more. The directionless drift continues and we can see many life-boats big and small leaving the ship intermittently mostly heading towards a saffron flag visible on the horizon. Nothing much is known about the happenings inside the ship except that a private aircraft takes off for foreign shores from its helipad with increased frequency indicating perhaps the captain who abandoned ship has returned – to abandon it again …and again!

Heading an organization which presided over shaping the destiny of the country since Independence is not an easy job! It needs dedication, hard work and lot more. A person who disappears in the midst of an existential crisis is not suited for the job despite the DNA he may possess! It needs not only dedication but commitment to a cause and clear focus. Sadly, going by his demeanor, he simply lacks all these attributes which makes a leader who can lead from the front. (He appears making half-hearted efforts for the sake of others- who keep pushing him as some of them feel the party cannot survive without the Gandhi-glue to hold it together.) This is not the kind of leader Cong needs today- unless its death-wish prevails!

In short, it’s rather high time to think out of the box and groom a non-Gandhi for the top job rather than flogging a disinterested lazy horse till eternity! Going by the recent performance of Cong in elections, one wonders if it is alive at all – the entire Opposition for that matter! Either the ‘High Command ‘ is perched too high up as not to be able to see the ground realities or it’s in deep slumber a la ‘Kumbhkarn’! More than abdication of responsibility, sheer lethargy or whatever you call it, I will term it as ‘dereliction of duty’ and hold the entire Opposition including Cong for failing to play it’s legitimate role to strengthen Democracy. Not only Cong is failing the country but the entire Opposition is failing it. (The Farmers agitation is the result of a weak Opposition which allowed the bills to be rushed through Parliament without debate or discussions!)

Where have all the lionesses and tigresses in the Opposition gone?! Forget the roars-not even a whimper is heard! Their self-interest driven disunity has emboldened the ruling dispensation to reduce the entire Opposition to mere spectators even as the mighty Parliament is being made irrelevant right under the nose of those many opposition parties with as many PM candidates! No Opposition in the history of India has made things so easy for the ruling dispensation due to its inability to act/sheer lethargy! No use blaming Modi for everything when you are yourself abdicating responsibility due to vested interests – not the wellbeing of the nation!

Without a strong opposition which will position itself in the eyes of the people as an alternative, the ruling regime is bound to have its way. That the Opposition has not been able to convince people or regain its trust is reflected in the fact people keep voting for the ruling dispensation despite its many flaws as claimed by the fragmented Opposition. These will remain mere cries in wilderness unless Opposition led by Cong first puts its respective houses in order and work to a plan to contain the Modi Juggernaut which will continue to roll –whether they like it or not!

Hope 2021 will be an year which will repair the damaged social fabric and our Democracy will be strengthened to make a stronger India which will belong to all Indians irrespective of the differences. ‘Unity in diversity’ is the essence of India and let’s hope and pray it prevails and no forces on earth/vested interests can destroy it!

Hope everyone remembers :’Sabka saath –Sabka Vikaas’! Bye for now. Jai hind!

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