Echoes wrote: ""I'll take the playing ground away, but you must still continue to play and become perfect if you want to get the playing ground back." What kind of logic is that? It's a perfectly valid logic -- turning a weakness into a strength. Mandela did that in South Africa, when he did NOT have any access to the playing ground. Gandhi did that in India, when he too did not have any access to the playing ground. My point is simple: The parties in their present avatars are spent forces -- morally, intellectually, logistically and inspirationally. Sure, they may gather a few hundred people here and there. But that's about it. They are like senile boxers, unable to inspire any confidence even when they punch. The palace knows them inside out to predict their moves far ahead in advance and to keep them reactive to the palace's dictates. I, for one, am tired of Girija et al. Let them retire; and let there be fresh faces in their places. Let the country have a new deal, with a fresh sets of cards. Unless that happens, sorry, the cause of democacy is simply NOT served by these netas. oohi ashu