Why we don't listen to our President's address

In America and many other countries, a Presidential Speech is nothing less than a mini festival. People listen to their leaders in apt attention, live, and those who get the glimspes on television too remain glued in.

I don't know how many of us listen to our Presidents, when they speak on eve of joyous occasions like today, the Republic Day. I don't remember when I last heard a President. I think many others share the same feeling.

And I am not too happy about it, for I want to. I want to listen to what the President has to say, hear ideals and ideas on issues; on what the government wishes to achieve next, what it has achieved recently; what are the national priorities; her views on ills plaguing the Indian society and so on. I am sure if I had heard her speech, I would have been wiser by so many ideas, but I did not.

One of the reasons for this is the silly convention which has dictated that the Presidents read out a speech sitting in front of cameras of state-run broadcaster Doordarshan. The backdrop has remained the same more or less for ages, and so has the format. Who dares challenge a convention?

I don't know if this is a fanciful idea but how about the President travelling to different regions of the country on the eves of Independence Day and Republic Day, and addressing a live audience. The same must also be televised for the national audience. It would be such a great moment for those who get to see the Presidents live, and meet them. Why confine a President to the hallowed walls of the President House at New Delhi alone. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam successfully eased the institution of the President and took himself amid all strata of society and the trend must continue.

In this age of media proliferation and dynamism, when people's ideas are rapidly changing, sticking to an age-old idea like this seems out of sync. President Secretariat should mull over this.