Our Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has undergone another Extremely Complicated Very Dangerous Brain Surgery on the Knee and the media, including rediff.com, are full of its tiniest details. He is reported to be "cheerful" after his operation. But I am not. I am violently sick of the whole thing. First, his left knee was operated upon. Now it is his right knee (also referred to as the 'other knee' in the media). Both the times we had the same brouhaha for days on end. Good thing God gave humans only two legs. Imagine what it would have been if there were two more knees to be repaired. He is coming... he has arrived... the doctor has arrived... click-click-click (the photographers)... he waves... the doctor waves... click-click-click... he is being operated... he has been operated... he is well (the spokesman)... scribble-scribble-scribble ( the reporters)... blah-blah-blah (the whole media)... groan-moan-growl (me).... Like I said, no respite at all. There were children outside the hospital with photographs of the PM, praying for his health. They gave me the impression that the PM had departed from this world. Pujas are being performed "all over the city by concerned citizens", report television channels. Really? Then how come I do not see any such? They must all be in their puja rooms, I guess. The people I meet all seem focussed on their own daily life -- of boarding a fast local train, planning their weekend, buying vegetables etc. As far as I can see nobody is "concerned" about the recuperating prime minister. And why should they be? They have to go to office, work, bear with their unbearable boss, neighbour or girlfriend/boyfriend. They have to pay their bills, buy grocery and fight to get into the train. They are the janta, not the neta whose knee gets operated upon by a specialist surgeon all the way from New York. They have time to think of the PM only when they see the extra police personnel on the roads and the hoardings that praise Vajpayee: Jo sabke saath, sabbko saath lekar chale [The one who is with his people, who takes everyone along]. I wonder if the small-time leaders who put up that screamer were sincere in their appreciation. Or were they taking a dig at their strong leader's weak knee? I think the PM too is sick of the whole drama. That's why, as the media reported, he watched Lagaan before his operation. Jyoti Shukla pledges not to read another report on Vajpayee's knee as long as she lives! Mail us your comments Be part of an exciting venture! Would you like to write a diary?
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