Lulu, my parrot was in a reflective mood.
“Hello” he called up. Those who make friends with parrot instinctively
understand when the members of the Psittacidae family are in a
reflective mood. It is very instinctive, like Sachin recognising a googly.
“Hello, Sanju baba is going to
jail. Did you hear that?” Everybody knew it. Lulu obviously knew it. On ‘GK’ as
the youngsters say or ‘general knowledge’ as people of my generation would call
it,
“Yes, and I feel very bad about
it. I think they should not send him to jail.” I responded to Lulu’s question. “Justice
Mr Katju says that Sanju baba’s punishment should be waived by the Government. I
find myself in complete agreement. What say you?” That was the right question
to begin a conversation. This was the question after all to which media and the
intelligentsia was trying to find an answer.
“Nah!” was the response. Very predictable.
Lulu and I rarely agree on any issue. But dismissing somebody’s considered
opinion with a terse ‘Nah’ is not the correct way to express disagreement. It
is rude. It sounds like the Italian Minister dismissing our appeal to hand over
the mariners.
“Sanjay Dutt must go to jail. The problem with you is that
everything is decided by guiding oneself by emotions. Sanjay Dutt was held
guilty, he must go to jail. That is how a law operates.”
“You do not agree with Justice
Katju?”
“Nope, I do not see how we can reconcile
our positions.”
“Surely he knows law better than
you and me. He retired as a Supreme Court Judge.” I protested.
“There is certainly something weird
about people retiring from high positions. They continue to make comments that
would keep them in the lime light.” Parrots indeed have a bird’s eye view of
the situation. Lulu continued, “Look at what VK Singh. He says ‘I would commend Gen Musharraf for coming 11 km
(inside Indian Territory) to stay with his troops for a night.’ Phew! Sure to draw
attention of one and all.”
“You mean age is taking the toll?” I asked.
“Yeah!”
“Are you suggesting we need younger men at the helm of affairs?”
“Yeah!” said Lulu as he chewed chillies. “And that stands true for many
positions, if you know what I mean.”
Vivek