Compare and contrast

A few days ago, as I was flipping through the channels I landed on NDTV and there was a “debate” going on about Sachin Tendulkar’s nomination to Rajya Sabha, on the Prime Minister’s quota (pardon the mild sense of derision in this sentence; he came in on the sportsman quota, not explicitly sanctioned by the constitution, after all). People, obviously cued in on by the host, were debating what Tendulkar had done, how is he appropriate for this post, why not Sourav Ganguly or Sunil Gavaskar and other such truly weighty matters.

So, it was a comparative debate and the normative questions – how does Tendulkar qualify at all, or the more generic, how would any sportsperson qualify – were never asked. Apparently, the constitution lists only four categories– literature, science, art and social service – as the basis for nomination. And Tendulkar may sneak in only through social service. How, you ask? He has peddled so many different consumer products and has helped the Indian economy grow. That is truly social service.

As I am in no mood to screen all the past nominations where such untenable and extended justifications may have been given, I am taking it upon myself only to compare and contrast Tendulkar’s with those of Rekha and ‘Anu’ Aga, the other nominees in this group. This too is going to be a comparative exercise.

Rekha. Oh, that lady of the bright red lipstick fame! I have seen many movies featuring her, including the eminently forgettable Khiladiyon ka Khiladi. She did have a hold on a segment (front benchers, and I am one of them) of the movie going public and whether you like it or not, she was held up as a fashion icon (Yuk!). She is a non-controversial nomination, even if only for the reason that her profession comes under art, a valid category under the Indian constitution. Tendulkar loses to Rekha.

But, not so fast. Both Rekha and Sachin have entertained people, the latter perhaps more. And, art is entertainment. Therefore, there are still some points of debates to choose between Rekha and Sachin. I will leave you to do that, as homework.

Till she got nominated for the Rajya Sabha I did not know who ‘Anu’ Aga was. Only subsequently, upon googling did I find out some details about her, the third in this set. She is Arnawaz ‘Anu’ Aga. And, she headed a large energy and environmental engineering company Thermax. She is, to put it mildly, excessively rich, but I am sure she would not admit to that, pointing fingers at richer Indians (this is the game rich people play; do the poor envy poorer people?). She is, as per a news release on the occasion of her being nominated for Rajya Sabha, on the social work ticket. But, curiously, she embarked on being a social worker “after retiring from Thermax” as its Chairman, in 2004, a full eight years of social service to get a Rajya Sabha nomination.

Now, Aga is not so obviously superior to Tendulkar in her claims to the “honor” of being a Rajya Sabha MP. (That claim, in a commentary piece made me chuckle. How can opening oneself to the possibility of footwear/mikes etc. being hurled at be an “honor”?) Tendulkar has not retired. And, as I mentioned above, he has boosted the Indian economy. Moreover, he had vowed that he would never endorse alcohol – such a goody-two-shoes!

So, it is a toss-up between Sachin and Anu.

I believe the debaters on TV would have done better had they done a comparative exercise similar to the one I have done above. Their debate would have been more interesting and caught more eyeballs.

Raghuram Ekambaram