The 'P' factor..

I've never been very politically inclined, but a recent turn out of events have definitely made me to think otherwise. A lot of people, especially those in political circles would be setting up an eye on the next month's presidential elections.

After having considered names like Pranab Mukherji, Karan Singh and Sivraj Patil, the UPA eventually came up with its candidate's name - Pratibha Patil Shekhawat(ab ye kaun hai yaar..;)), the Rajasthan Governer (literally i didn't even know that) and it seems certain that she will be our first lady President. She seems to be getting support from a wide quarter. Her marathi roots has actually provoked Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray to begin drumming up support for her even in BJP. Strange, isnt it?

I'm a firm believer of the phrase "Equality of Sexes". For India to make a mark globally, liberisation of women(almost half of our population) is probably as important as any other issue and one can say that having a lady President is like having a step forward in the right direction. Things are definitely not as bad as they were a quarter of century ago. Indian women have taken considerable leaps in the course of time and things can only become better from here on. I also strongly believe a person should be given a fair run before coming to any conclusion on him. However, at this moment of time i'm certainly having these apprehensions on Mrs Patil being the first citizen of the nation.

Although, she seems to have the required experience - she has been on the Marathi political circuit for almost 4 decades now. But, as youths of this country, do we really want a President who we cannot even look up to and aspire. According to me, the President should be a person who has the credentials to inspire the nation, especially its youths. He should be an ambassador of the brand 'India' to the outer world, should be dynamic and most importantly a role model for the rest of the nation and at the moment it seems unlikely that Mrs Patil will be able inspire a nation where more than half the population is below the age of 40. For me, its like being a CEO of a company (although the Indian President does not have powers to run the country..I guess 'Chief Mentor' is right term ;)..yes,yes.. i know i have learnt this term in Infy..;)), where it is absolutely necessary for the company to have the best person at the top.

If we have a look at the last 4 Presidents that we have had(last 4 because i was not able to recall who the President was before that), i.e APJ Abdul Kalam, K.R.Narayan, Shankar Dayal Sharma and Venkataraman, apart from Abdul Kalam no one else seemed to have the persona to be the first citizen of the country. Ofcourse, no one can question their accomplishments in their respective fields but none of them had that 'Chief Mentor' quality that I talked about earlier. Kalam not only had the intellect, the credentials but he also ensured that he remained a people's President and spent a lot of time with school kids and the poor.

I might not be in a position to nominate the right person as the President in this post but as I said I would always like to see someone whom i can idolise. Unfortunately, at this moment, there is a big question mark on my mind as far as Pratibha Patil is concerned.