62 years of bhashan-baji

On the morning of 15th August, I did not even wake up till 8:00 AM since the gym was closed. My son also slept beatifically. My wife did not switch on the television as she made a quiet cup of tea for herself. We essentially missed the bhashan given by the Prime Minister at the Red Fort. When I woke up, I felt sorry for the old man who had to get up so early in the morning, reach Red Fort and give a speech who almost no one wants to listen. The group of people and dressed up children were there only because of an official dictat.

At about 9:00 AM, the breaking news was that SRK was detained at Newark's airport because he has a Muslim surname. In fact, on CNN-IBN, the order of headlines was (1) SRK's detention, (2) Bombing in Kabul and at a distant 3rd place - the PM's speech. Even the TV channels had other important things to show.

Which brings us to an important question - why do we keep up with these age old practices and unnecessary rituals in name of democracy? If the PM really wants to address the nation, he can surely use 15 mins of his time each week and talk to people on radio and television. What kind of status update can he provide to us once a year from 15th August? In our country where food prices go up every week, does just once a year of communication make sense? If it does not, lets put an end to this bhashan-baji. It will save us from a ritual and save 100s of crores of tax payers' money in organizing such events. Every year, what do we get by displaying the military hardware? Is it meant for us or for China and Pakistan? It looks ridiculous when we put the display against the backdrop of delays in defence equipment procurement, CAG rapping the whole Gorshkov deal and frequency of aircraft crashes.

PS: I think SRK created this whole drama and episode at Newark Airport just to get publicity for his next film - "My name is Khan"... Sorry Shahrukh Bhai, I really don't trust you. I think you are very much capable of such stunts :-)