Confidence

With the vote of confidence looming that would change the political setup of the country and place India’s foreign policy on the back burner it made for a unique day. The coalition government headed by the Congress party faced a crisis as the left parties withdrew their support, resulting in Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh calling for a trust vote, or vote of confidence on July 22nd. A negative outcome could precipitate early elections with the end of the current regime. In addition I was also not feeling well, with the possible attribution to the corn-manchurian and hot chips I had the day before. Than again it could be all the cold showers from the lack of electricity. Sitting at breakfast, I could not eat and auntie insisted that I take the day off, an act that I could not bring myself to do. Following the old adage of converting a negative situation into one that is positive, I spoke some Hindi movie lines about the burden of duty and pushed myself out of the couch and headed straight for the door as auntie smirked.

At work I fought the headaches and lethargy of a burgeoning fever as I watched live internet streaming of the debate in the Lok Sabha or lower house in the Parliament on NDTV. The quality of the stream combined with the frequent power cuts did not make the situation easier. The day was full of great discussion as we all pondered what would happen. This like every crisis invariably produced an onrush of sound bytes that ranged from being studious to ultimately banal as the day dragged on. Thus as the power would go out I would go into interview mode with my fist forming a mike and asking everyone from the driver to the administrator. Overall it brought joy and various theories for discussion, with concern that there may be demonstrations that could become riots if tensions were too high.

As for the debate, the Lok Sabha members speech would spiral into an obsessive duel in which each person would try to show their point of view with constant interruptions. With various speakers that came and went the attention was on the railway minister, a colourful man named Laloo Prasad Yadav known for his rustic speaking style of both Bhojpuri and Hindi replete with bucolic examples. He was in his elements and had the house in splits throughout his 35-minute speech. One of his most enduring quotes was a few lines from a song "Char saal pehle humey tumsey pyaar tha, aaj bhi hai aur kal bhi rahega" (we were in love four years ago, and so we will be today and tomorrow) bringing back memories of popular Dev Anand-Asha Parekh starrer Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai. Mr Yadav modified the years in the song to signal that relations with the Left will remain cordial.

Coming home a little early to nurse myself, I took a combination of western medicine (tablets) and Indian faith (aarthi for nazar) followed by a nap that was quite uncomfortable as my body ached. Like the burgeoning tensions as the vote neared, my fever rose and went down in the evening. As I got up and attempted to straighten myself the news came in that the government had indeed survived the vote and would stay. It almost felt like my illness and the vote were linked. Probably a coincidence but my body and mind recovered as the day came to a conclusion.