Part-II: Applying the Prisoner's Dilemna to real life...

So, lets talk about Mrs. Pratibha Patil's ascendancy to the Presidentship of the world's largest democracy and its applicability to a Prisoner's dilemna-like scenario. I wish her all the best but have no reason to believe she will do a good job. Lets hope she proves me wrong.

While the President's position in India is considered largely ceremonial, she does enjoy certain crucial powers. She is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces; she appoints key positions such as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Election Commissioner, the Attorney General, State governors, etc. She has the power to declare a National emergencey and indeed, can even also dissolve the Lok Sabha (lower house of the federal government comprising elected representatives).

There are checks & balances to each of these of course. Nonetheless, a peek into how she was appointed is warranted. Lets look at all the parties concerned.

Mrs. Patil, of course, ran for reasons best known to her. Lets give her the benefit of the doubt...perhaps she feels truly capable of carrying out the task. The primary protagonist of the story, the Indian National Congress (INC), virtually denied her a potential Prime Ministerial Post a few years ago. They treat this as more than sufficient compensation. And hey, the first woman president of India...nominated and even championed by the INC makes for great press, as most of our forgettable TV channels went on to prove. The rabid Shiv Sena doesn't even pretend to care about the larger issue: Patil is a Marathi woman. Thats it...what more dare anyone ask for? JAI MAHARASHTRA...and oh yeah, Jai India too.

Enough of the politics. Lets look at achievements objectively. During the run-up to her nomination, having never heard of the lady before, I listended hard to pick up on what her past was all about. It struck me as odd that in elaborating on Patil's past achievements, a laundry list of her prior posts was all her promulgators could come up with. Thats right. Maharashta Assembly member for over 2 decades: great achievemnt. Governor of Rajasthan: yet another feather in the cap! Perhaps this is just a reflection of out political ethos: making a post is an achievemnt in itself.

On a serious note though, we have a right to expect our president to have at least one achievement that indicates demonstated qualities of leadership, diligence, execution and team-play. Perhaps this exists, but if noone could articulate this, then it effectively doesn't. And that to me, makes Patil's designation to the Presidentship of India Pareto SUB-optimal. Sub-optimal period.