Politics = Poly(various) + Ticks(parasites)

What does Wikipedia say 'Politics’ is? “Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power and refers to the regulation of a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.”
What do I think? My train of thought would be: fame-status-unthinkable power-money-corruption-crime.... keeps getting from bad to worse. It's a real marvel that our nation manages to progress economically, socially (barring a few blips here 'n there) and to a certain extent internationally, with the bunch of politicians we have today taking charge.

Politicians pocketing bribe has become common place. You could air a never ending hit TV series, with all the sting operations. But look at this: The average assets of Bengaluru’s MLA’s are Rs.14 Crore. Seems to be getting out of control, doesn't it? In fact, it has… a long ago. And with corruption, there comes crime. Number of politicians charge sheeted or involved in some criminal case or other - I've lost count.

Politics has become more of a blame game these days, every other issue is politicized. Sushma Swaraj says the Ahmedabad blasts were "conspired" by the govt. to shift the focus from the ‘cash for vote’ scam. One might think she's mentally retarded. You don't go around killing scores of civilians just to shift the focus. The trend continues with the 26/11 carnage, conspiracy theories bubbling up here 'n there (But bothersome as they are, what’s more bothering is that they might be true)
And talking 'bout the blame game, a politician’s favorite sport, the rules are simple –
Round 1: You blame him;
Round 2: He blames you;
Round 3: You verbally abuse him;
Round 4: He does the same;
And the finale: Everyone stages a 'walkout'.
I listen to the parliamentary sessions on AIR quiet often. And i must admit they're more amusing than the average Saans-Bhahu serial. I'm not making this up, if you listen carefully, you can make pick out the MP's swearing at each other. Funny, cause if that’s what an MP needs to do, I’m more than qualified for the profession.

Also the relevance of the candidate competing for a post is becoming thinner & thinner. After all how much, if at all, do you think Hema Malini or Navjot Singh Sidhu would know about the NREGA? Or would Govinda care ‘bout some gas pipeline project more than his choice of toothpaste? The mantra is quite simple, either be a famous person with a huge fan base or some powerful industrialist (Anil Ambani is a case in point) to get a party ticket. Else you've gotta have a good surname - Gandhi seems to work fine. Sadly we’re in a state where flahy smiles, autographs ‘n photographs are fetching more votes than hardcore issues. Though luck to all the proper seasoned campaigners with all their brains & experience but no fame or background or beauty.

And at last here’s my favorite topic – age of our politicians. Most cabinet ministers are older than a mid-aged turtle. It’s like all of them would suddenly go into comatose in the parliament someday. Some of them are so old, you can’t figure out what they say. But seriously, people in their 70’s have to rest more than they can work. Old men aren’t physically fit to cope up with a hectic schedule of meeting delegates, reviewing bills, holding talks (or private clashes of overgrown egos), signing agreements, sanctioning projects, etc. (probably all in a single day). Agreed, our neta’s aren’t like just any other ordinary (old) man. They’re smart, brilliant, charismatic (and often cunning too) and what not. But if old men (no offence meant) can work with such grit and extraordinary will power, I think we can find Kryptonites among the younger blood. I’m not asking for the nation to be ruled by all hot-blooded teens, we need a blend of youth with their energy and enthusiasm and the old with the oceans of wisdom they’ve got.
Lets take a look at the power houses of the globe:
Gordon Brown (PM of Great Britain) - 58
Kevin Rudd (PM of Australia) – 51
Barack Obama (President of U.S.A) – 47
Dmitry Medvedev (President of Russia) – 43
And I don’t even want to talk ‘bout our leaders.

But apart from all these, the situation is not as bad as it seems. There’s always the hope that some heroes come along, try to do something good (whether they succeed or not is secondary) and then fade away into oblivion. We’ve got a young and lively junior MP Jyotiraditya Scindia posing with his guitar. And then we’ve got K.R.Suresh Reddy, the speaker of the AP Legislative Assembly, saying that he can’t wait to get his hands on a hot burger during breaks in the sessions while most of his peers don’t know what a burger is! At the age of 32 years and eight months, Mr Hussain became the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in the history of independent India. If these instances are some thing to go by, things are surely changing ‘n definitely
for the good.