Sitting in the first row of the Special Gallery I told Shraddha and Radhika strictly not to talk or fidget. Shraddha demurely crossed her legs, and an officer promptly reprimanded her as her soles might be visible from the House. When the proceedings reconvened, the girls were flabbergasted and asked me, “If we have to follow rules and can be removed if we don’t, why don’t the MPs also have to follow the rules? And why don’t the MPs follow the rules that they themselves make? How can they break their own rules...?” How indeed?

After the electronic voting, while all the votes were being counted, we did some celebrity spotting. As I pointed out several illustrious and some not so illustrious leaders and personalities, I found it very hard to explain how someone who has been convicted by the Court for murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment, could be allowed to be in Parliament and voting.

And then came the mother of all questions — “Mom, suppose President Bush were to phone the man in the comfortable chair and tell him that the nuclear deal is off. Right now. Then what? Would they still vote?” It got me thinking — what indeed if the deal was suddenly called off at America’s instance, before the vote, and this was conveyed to India? What would be the relevance of the trust vote, and therefore, was one democracy marching to the tune of another?

As we reflected on the day’s events over dinner, I asked Shraddha and Radhika what they thought of their experience. Radhika said, “You know, we saw so many good people. All the security people did their job so well. We can learn from them.” Shraddha, a generally blasé teenager, thrilled me with her reply: “You can never imagine how majestic it is to be in Parliament till you are there.” Their final take, however, was — it did not make me feel proud.

... contd.