Bernedita Rosinha Pinto

 

Our schools of politics so full of exuberance,
they are existing since last fifty years and over,
there are the Principals in our schools of politics
they are the Professors also known as Ministers;
these Ministers keep moving from one class to another
the class is the party, the students are the public
the opposition leaders are the supervisors.
these schools of politics have been so widespread
that our students know every professor by his name,
even the ex-students and their children can identify
these principals and these team of professors
anywhere, anytime as they never leave their field;
also so high is the familiarity and popularity
of our leaders as our Principals
that our ministers as the professors follow the rules
of the institution called Party School.
Now, let us begin by the subjects they teach and handle:
there is Mathematics of profits and surplus
there is multiplication of assets and gains  
there is addition of finance and corruption
there is subtraction of people’s money and taxes;
there is Science to every aspect of health and nutrition
there is supply of oxygen and medicines to the needy;
there is food and water scarcity in many homes
but there are also grants and agricultural loans.
There is History behind every hero to make him zero
there is theft and attempted robbery which is overlooked by law;
there is betrayal and deception as they change
from one classroom to another or from one party to another
yet they write and create their own chapters of history
irrespective of the shame and name they invite and profess;
there is also Geography in their curriculum
as in every village and every city they stand and speak loud
to win the elections
and they keep canvassing for votes and victories.
Our professors who are ministers are always
very cordial with their Principals called party leaders
that each one does what is told by them with dedication and commitment
only for their personal gains more than reducing people’s pains.
The students called the public keep passing their academic years of life
watching these Principals (Party leaders) and Professors (Ministers doing their jobs)
like swords with double edged intentions and ingenuity;
and as elections keep passing like sports events
even our children’s children know these leaders
as they have been seen by them before their eyes for many decades
that if they see a fat man they say – that is Winston Churchill;
if they see someone with dark glasses
they identify him as the one from Vasco da Gama.
Sometimes it gets too overbearing to keep on learning
but our politicians as our leaders don’t give up teaching
Goans the subject of politics with gusto,
they want all Goans to be sincere-to-them students
they want all Goans to follow the rules of faithfulness to them
when they themselves keep shifting from one party to another
like playing a game of rugby in the swimming pool.
Nowadays, the school of politics is the best institution for the future profession
because as a politician one stays in power
and he can hold on to this lucrative job for umpteen years
until he is rich and richer than all others in his locality
that he can even field his children in the future to be politicians
by luring people with illusory promises to get elected as minister
and finally forgetting the duty and devotion
to his own Report Card of conscience.