Ten days is a long time. And seems even longer when you are Down Under with no internet and no intention to check news channels on TV.

So, in last 10 days while I was busy exploring rainforests, coral reefs, pristine beaches and blue waters around Queensland, lot of water flew through Ganges.

We got a new president – someone whose name I never heard till a month back and since I have heard her name, it has more to do with one controversy or another.

I understand we would also be getting a new vice president soon, someone equally obscure and whose main qualification is that he is a muslim, important consideration given ruling coalition opposed APJ for another presidential term.

Sensex not only crossed 15K rather almost kissed 16K – on Monday it was 15,732 and my returns on investment were making me look like some stock market expert though we all know any body would have made money in such a bull market.

Sachin Tendulkar scored a 171 against some English side in a first class game, long time since one would have seen such a mammoth score against little master’s name. Though what happened in test match subsequently is for all to see.

But of all this, bits that are hard to digest are that Pratibha Patil ( Who?) is President of Republic of India and Hameed Ansari ( Who ? What? Why? ) would mostly probably be our next vice president.

If my memory serves me right, first president of India that I got to know of was Giani Jail Singh, He was the president when I first started keeping track of Who’s who. Then came R Venkatraman, Shankar Dayal Sharma, K R Narayan and finally APJ Abdul Kalam. And now someone who answers to the call of Pratibha Patil and next one could be Hameed Ansari.

I wonder why, highest position of our country can’t be taken by someone who is deserving of that honour. APJ was at least a known name, someone most of us respected and held in esteem. Given, President of India is no more a rubber stamp so I would agree that ambitious politicians would not be interested, and for distinguished citizens we have Bharat Ratna and they need not be made president, but while some political sense and a forward looking outlook should be required, I would seriously believe that President of India should be a man or woman whom people can respect.

Let’s see whom would I like to be installed as next president. Narayan Murthy’s name was discussed widely in media and though I would prefer to see him in active politics but frankly he would have made a president I like. Then, there is Atal Bihari Vajpayee… a politician everyone respected, he is too old for active politics but I guess he would have made a good president too. APJ Abdul Kalam, well I was all for another term for him. Atleast with his vision he could have contributed to education and other areas while continuing in President’s office. T N Seshan, well that’s another man who could have been brought back from oblivion, but politicians would find it too uncomfortable to have him around.

Among seasoned politicians, Jyoti Basu is too leftist for my comfort so I would give him a pass. S M Krishna could be an interesting choice, he might not have been able to achieve much in Karnataka but I think he tried and then he was a congressman and not completely obscure.

And why just politicians, we could have chosen an ex chief of armed forces or someone very active in social upliftment space, a mature academician or any other visionary who could use the office of President to contribute to society and lend some kind of grace to the office.

Alas, that is not to be. So we have Mrs. Pratibha Patil as President of India and Hameed Ansari as potential Vice-president of India. And my frustration with Indian political scene strengthens further.