View: Parliament, the latest parlour game

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

A thorough inspection was then made to see whether they would remain motionless. No funny jokes should elicit a smile. No gesture should shake anyone's stance.

All gigglers, twitchers and movers were eliminated. And so it went on, until one steady kid reached the finishing line, and the game started all over again. I was struck by the political spin this game has acquired as it is being played (out) in a different context and time: 'I-N-D-I-A, India!' Barely had this acronymous call been given out in the opposition parties' conclave in Bengaluru on July 18, a mad scramble started among both ruling dispensation and opposition coalition to anoint themselves with a new moniker.

So, the 'den' came, made sure that everyone stood firmly together (never mind the serious cracks that exist among them), while the ruling party tried to stand straight, straight-faced and immobile as the only 'BHARAT' party — as opposed to 'INDIA' crew — in town. The commentariat engaged for hours what this new acronym INDIA could mean, and how it could mark a new turn in the making of a serious Opposition. Meanwhile, Manipur — not MANIPUR — became a sideshow, coming as the disturbing news was from the 'periphery' anyway for most of India.

It has been appalling to see how social media now determines what our Parliament should — or shouldn't — deliberate upon. Searing accounts of the most brutal acts of violence in Manipur are read in one gulp, perhaps forwarded, and then forgotten, becoming only a 'subject for placards' and 'arsenal' against the government for Opposition MPs. When the very name of our country — or, at least, one of them — becomes a point of 'debate' (sic), when we no longer understand the differences between 'country' and 'nation',