We might puzzle to see, how the world is moving towards younger age rulers. Take a latest one. Yesterday, 44th President of US Mr.Obama swore in at age of 47. Imagine a leader in India swore in late forties! (or a leader of almost twice his age??)I think, after Rajiv Gandhi this is going to elude India more and more in coming years.

Existing political scene is very dismal. Our own PM, who might be undergoing Angioplasty, at age of 76, is very old by World’s standard. Then external affair Minister Mr.Pranab M, already in late 70's is not pushing issue across table that forcefully, as we had expected. Let's not talk about Arjun Singh, God Bless him, if he decides to stay on more and more. Antony and PC are relatively young, but hardly it matters.

Yes, Congress has some brightest young MPs waiting for their turn. They are brilliant one. Starting from Rahul, Sachin, Milind, Priya etc, one should expect if Congress comes to power in next LS election, some of them might be handling key portfolios. Hopefully!

The scene at Opposition party is poorer than ruling one. BJP, who used to project Pramod Mahajan as next PM occasionally, has lost the shine after his death. The next person waiting for his chance is LK, who at 81, keeping good health and of course head (Has written an excellent book recently) is not worth betting on. Why? The reason is simple; you just can't predict what will come India's way in coming years. And LK, almost at end of the journey doesn’t have enough time to put his vision in place and get something out of it.

And how can I forget Mr.Shekhawat, suddenly expressing(from nowhere) his desires to contest LS polls at age of 85. Imagine people contesting for top post in India are all 80+ and yes it is reality!

If AB Vajpayee decides to contest polls, at age of 84 then? Are you kidding? He barely manages to walk! But with due respect I think, he shouldn't do it again.

Should I talk about regional parties? Let's start from South, MK Karunanidhi in early 90’s (My God!!!) has recently given responsibility to his son Stalin to handle party funds after much deliberations. Prakash Singh Badal in his 80’s is following MK's step, declaring his son as deputy CM. Then CM of Kerala who is in late 70's lost his head recently when he had badmouthed about NSG commando's sacrifice. Can't keep your head Mr.Achuytanand? Sorry! It’s not your fault; it's your age a culprit. But who shall I punish? You or your age? Real dilemma! And thank God, Neither Mr.Basu or JB Patnaik is active in politics now! Otherwise, my blog would have added some 3-4 lines more in their praise (I hate this!) than surprise. Someday, I wouldn’t be surprise to see Mr. Basu’s wish to re-rule WB may bring him back on Dias! Imagine Basu is climbing stairs with help of 4-5 people or riding on escalator to climb a Dias.

One of the reasons of success of Ms.Mayawati recently, is her age. I may be wrong, but she has some vision for UP. It could lead nowhere, that is another issue to discuss but at least she has vision, a strong will and at young age she holds the key to execute some of them into practice in coming years.

Same is true for dear ModiBhai(And for Mr.Chauhan of MP) who is relatively young, has vision, a will and courage to execute vision into practice(I wish APJ had this ability).Recetly he was projected as next PM by industrialists like Tata & Birla. It's really good to see that Indian Industry stalwarts are finding time to get them involved into political campaign, rather in cajole manner. But has it come from real concern of the nation's dying political will to act upon or after ripening benefits of Vibrant Gujarat, is a real question. Let's keep finger crossed!

When Obama will cycle down the roads of Whitehouse, our political leaders will cherish in sitting at home watching him cycle and glorifying the old days by munching food on table with artificial teeth. Nostalgia is bad thing and when our ageing leaders will remember how they used to cycle Purani Delhi in pre-independanace era, much faster than Obama could, they might try to prove that in India it is the experience(in other words Age) that matters. But Alas! It’s not past but present matters my dear friends. Can anyone tell me, someone active in pre 1947 in UK during young age is still active now on political front? I doubt anyone!. It was really sad to see the octogenarian PM of the youngest nation of world, failed to match walking speed of Mr. Bush, last year. Who said India is country of young people? View any new channel and you could hardly spot any difference in last 2 decades.

I always wondered how, other countries might be producing more and more young leaders at helm? To cite few are Putin, Medvedev, Markel, Sakozy, Brown, Hu, Obama and many more. Even our neighbors are having relatively very young people at helm. Then why can’t India? Why can't we?

At end, the "Will" does matter. A political one. It is said that, your political careers is only fulfilled if you reach at top post, but there could be exceptions as well. There seems to be ceiling to your progress as a political leader, at least true for top post, when you realize there are many more in queue ahead of you. And by the time your turn comes, you will be either of their age or nowhere in position to stand at all. It would be frustrating to see personal desires of people haunts the crying needs of nation who is dying to set it’s vision straight and clear across highly competitive global age with desparation. Let's not forget, we could either stick to this or we will go other way. There is no middle path. We shouldn’t expect any sudden change on this front! If we are expecting this after watching live telecast of Obama swearing, we are fooling ourselves.

To be a leader, you need a vision and strong will to bring it to reality. I must add something to this famous proverb. To be a leader, beside a vision and a will, you also need time to put vision into practice. Indian leaders lack vision and will! Should I say anything about last one? You know better!

Good Night!