Power of Attorney

Every time I hear someone addressing the members of parliament or legislative assemblies as 'honourable' this 'honourable' that, I sit up and take note. They are there in the parliament or in the legislative assemblies because we sent them there to do our bidding, to carry forward our wishes, to execute our dreams and policies. In short, they are there in a representative capacity. Just as we delegate powers to our subordinates or employees or deputies and issue them power of attorney, so do we do it with our MPs and MLAs. Then how is it that while they become 'honourable' and we who delegate powers to them remain rank ordinary people, aam aadmi or mango people as some have chosen to call us? By deriving powers from us, they become our masters and we the real masters become hangers-on! Why is that so? Does a holder of power of attorney become more powerful than the one who gave this power? Obviously not. Then why these people instead of acting as our PA holder start behaving like our masters and how come we allow them to get away with that? A PA holder is always subservient to us and should act as our subordinates entrusted with a specific task of representing us for a specific period, not as VIPs or VVIPs as they keep doing. Why do they call themselves 'honourable' when that honorific expression is for us, the common people, the aam aadmi or the mango people? It's time we gave it a serious thought and asked our PA holders to behave and desist from using these honorific expressions. Likewise, most of the institutions of the country are mere institutions, but some of our writ courts call themselves as 'Honourable High Court and Honourable Supreme Court' blatantly using capital first letter. Where do they derive these powers from? Why should they and the judges working there think that they are honourable and others are not? Who bequeathed this knowledge to them? And what is so  honourable about what they do? If some of the recent judicial pronouncements are anything to go by, they are anything but honourable. And about some of the MPs and MLAs the less said the better.

It's really time that we did away with all honorific expressions except the ones we use for our own elders and seniors or for teachers and scholarly people who impart every thing they have for our betterment and do not like our MPs and MLAs and high-perched officials including judges give to themselves all that they can lay their hands on. It's time we stopped with all force and power that we command. We must instruct our power of attorney holders that they hold this power only so long as we are pleased to allow them. If they chose to override the powers given to them, we the power givers can always snatch it away from them and hand it over to those who will carry out our wishes more meekly and without taking what did not belong to them.
NC Sinha
16.05.2015