Entertainment from a new source

Gone are those days when television was considered the forte of entertainment. People toiled hard in the day time and squatted themselves in front of the television at night for some doses of laughter, which televisions alone provided.

Now times have changed, our political leaders have taken upon themselves the task of providing us amusement or enjoyment early in the morning. It all started with Digvijay Singh paying his respects to Osama by calling him ``Osama ji.’’ The news appeared in all papers and people made instinctive expressions of being entertained. Strange enough, in our own country, where political parties are known to snub each other at every instance or hurl furniture at each other in the Legislature, Diggy went one step further in addressing an international terrorist with all due respect.

But, we Indians are known to be competent and possess the necessary ability and skill to step on others’ shoes to move ahead. Our political leaders proved themselves to be no different from us. So, followed him, was a holder of a public office who tickled our funny bones by suggesting that one can have food for Rs. 12. Then followed other humorous remarks that it is possible to fill our stomachs for Rs. 5 and just Re. 1, respectively.

Thanks to the RBI for doing away with the 50 paisa coins from the market, otherwise, who knows we may have been bombarded with news of getting meal at a cost of 50 paisa only.

Putting to rest all these news, there is one thing that struck us alike. None of the politicians gave us the address of the dhaba or the hotel where food is made available at such cheap rates. Bad enough, these seekers of major public offices fear that we Indians may all queue up in front of that food joint for cheap food allowing them no space to enjoy the advantage of what they had discovered. Our political leaders are surely selfish geniuses who do not want to share the names of the places, where they could get meals at such low rates.

But, these leaders have entertained us for sure. We did laugh heartily on their comments except the cynical ones, who still expect our leaders to take care of bigger problems like poverty, corruption, and security.