“STABILITY is overrated, said the sage

“STABILITY is overrated, said the sage.And so unfolds the story of a system that limps its way across the Rubicon again, and again, and again till it can limp no more. Then it heals itself, walks back only to turn and cross the Rubicon yet again so that it can go back to making the limp a natural state of its being.

For what else can be a by-product of perpetual fighting than a permanent limp? A new NAB chairman? Sure, let’s slug it out. Fresh electoral reforms? Wham! Let the punches roll. Appointments amid disappointments? Let the fireworks begin. The system is thriving just fine, thank you very much, as it lacerates its back to a bloody pulp. You win some. Then you lose all.

And in the process of seeing things go south, you realise with a sense of literally no surprise that the famed three-year itch is back with a bang. It appeared to have been banished these last few five-year cycles, but turns out it had not walked off the cliff — just gone for a leisurely stroll beyond Constitution Avenue. On its return, the three-year itch is reminding everyone who cares to listen — which was pretty much everyone on Friday — that turbulence is in fact our default mode. This may explain to those confused by the absence of stability why things just do not resolve themselves in a spirit of accommodation. Why must we fight? Well, because, how else does one navigate through the thicket of this convoluted system? How indeed.”