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Where There's A Bill, There's A Wait
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 New Delhi, April 1, 2025 - The honourable Speaker of Lok Sabha, the house of the people, had clearly given up. The situation was beyond his control and the decibel level reached a new level, according to 'old' parliamentary hacks.Doordarshan, the official television, had been switched off as soon as the camera covers had been removed. However the camerapersons (a few women had been recruited to 'man' the cameras a few years ago) dutifully remained standing till the official closing time of the question hour at noon. Official reporters of the proceedings also remained sitting though there was nothing for them to do in the din. A few honourable MPs remained at the well of the house, gesticulating wildly while a few others were seen copying their colleagues in the well while standing in their seats or as usual in the aisles. Press reporters in the gallery above were patiently waiting for their relievers while the viewers in the separate spectators' galleries thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle in the house. The Speaker threw a spanner in their continued enjoyment; suddenly his aide with the flowing, starched turban, bent to whisper something in his ears and lo! The Speaker adjourned the House for the next day. A cub reporter could not contain himself and he asked the Speaker outside whether the Speaker had equalled or bettered the record of the former Speaker GMC Balayogi in adjourning the august House for the same reason and agenda. The Speaker merely smiled a weary smile and slithered away. The cub reporter then went to the central hall (the rules had been relaxed and even a cub could enter the hall without trepidation) and buttonholed an MP from Uttar Pradesh or whatever remained of the mammoth and asked him why the bill could not even be taken up for introduction even in 2025. The venerable member shook his mane and murmured, the Government has not yet been able to achieve a consensus on the women's reservation bill. The cub asked but even Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said in January of the beginning of the new year, century and the millennium that the Government will strive to achieve a breakthrough. The honourable member looked pityingly at the new hack and told him you just wait and wait and wait. The cub tired of the senior member and searched for a woman member. He spotted one with difficulty since that person resembled a man more than a woman what with 'cut hair', etc. He asked her when in her opinion the bill could be enacted into law. She glowered at him for daring to ask such a hopeless question and said 'we revere late Bhikaji Cama for hoisting the Indian tricolour but refuse to honour her memory by enacting this simple but stupid bill even now. She said it is strange the present leaders of the venerable Congress, BJP, various communists, et al, are still afraid of the present leadership of the Samajwadi Party. After having benefited from these scintillating encounters with different shades of opinion, the cub reporter sought the help of an old hack to do a comprehensive story. The senior guffawed and bellowed, "Don't waste your time and my time. Go and look into the library volumes of your, or better, my paper and copy the story with appropriate change in the names and dates and the story will remain fresh for another fifty years. Now go away since I have to go the press club for my today's watering. RECENTLY ON JAAL: DotComs, By The Numbers GoI-ing After Veerappan The Bore-Gush Race Hack Attack! Eee! Governance! Justice Unbound Small States, Large Stakes Con Banega Crorepati Salesman No. 1 Cat And Meows 25 Years After Paswan Goes DOTty Child's Play Toilet Paper Drought And About Boer Boar The Joke's On You The Coming Of Bill SEND US YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS ARTICLE: ?
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