Thank heavens, the juvenile public posturing of our politicians is over for the time being. Parliament has been adjourned and we, the citizens, can feel marginally relieved and less embarrassed at not having to witness the ridiculous daily nautankis and tamashas being played out in this democracy by many of our senior leaders. George Fernandes recently led the pack, followed closely by the former prime minister. Seeing Mr Vajpayee on our small screens, delivering pompous platitudes, attempting to “lecture” the prime minister on how he should conduct himself, was ludicrous. Manmohan Singh is the epitome of graciousness and perfect manners. It is a character trait that singles him out. He has never been any different — something that cannot be said about most of our public figures.

Since the government has changed, it has been a relief not to have a daily dose of the words and wisdom of a PM. The last one had enveloped us with non-stop jargon and it had become tiresome because it was old hat — nothing new, exciting or energetic. The rhetoric was old-fashioned, nationalist jargon, that smacked of political and intellectual insecurity. The present PM is different. He appears to be a hands-on, working prime minister, doing his job and not breathing down our backs pontificating on all manner of irrelevant things every day. Neither is he reciting poetry. It is a welcome respite. Sadly, the press, so used to craftily packaged government handouts over the last five years, cannot seem to find any interesting material to replace that space in the papers, and, as a result, it takes seven minutes to scan the news. The only constant comment being doled out is that Manmohan Singh has no power and that all power rests with Sonia Gandhi. Little do these men and women know…they have not even bothered to investigate what is happening around them. They continue to take the handouts, this time from disgruntled Congressmen. A candid commentary on what happens when carefully manipulated hype overwhelms lazy brains.

Slim and skimpy

In fact, the press has become as embarrassing as the politician. The dumbing down has been so substantial that in any international competition where the worst is celebrated, we would win without doubt. The intellectual level of our political, economic and social commentary is slim and rather skimpy. You can count the thinking commentators with something new to say on the fingers of two hands. There was a time when many journalists, not just social scientists, were respected, nationally and internationally, as serious social and political commentators. No longer. Most reporters are unable to put a story in any kind of historical or social perspective. Research and empirical backup seem like a distant mirage.

In comparison, stories about India in the Financial Times of London, over the last year-and-a-half, be they on water and the impending crisis, or on Laloo Prasad Yadav, or Vajpayee, or on the last elections, had more facts, information and informed comment than anything in an Indian newspaper. These interesting stories, even for Indians, are researched and followed by non-Indian journalists who meet a vast variety of people from varying disciplines and with differing opinions. They have been trained to reject the handout culture, have therefore scored far better than us. We have much to learn. Where is that great, insightful story on sharing river waters, on Vajpayee or/and Advani, Manmohan Singh, George Fernandes and all the others who claim national status? There is an adult generation which does not know what the Baroda Dynamite Case was all about, where our previous defence minister, in the mid-Seventies, was allegedly involved in blowing up national property by using dynamite — railway lines. Tainted? Or not?