The problem with politicians in a democracy is that they are constantly in conflict with their sense of ethics and self-preservation. Do you take a certain decision based on what the right thing to do is? Or, do you base it on something that will help you stay in power? The latter seems like the easier option for many leaders, though that comes at an obvious cost to citizens. Their well-being is compromised. Democracy is weakened. And the dispensation at the top continues to play with a nation's future like a puppeteer at a show for children.

What needs to be done in such a scenario is for voters to engage more deeply with the whole political process. Read the news and party manifestos. Get inside the mind of a politician. Understand what makes them tick. And then make them more accountable, reaping the fruits of a more robust democratic structure in the process. That's essentially what a brand new board game called Shasn — launched yesterday — sets out to do. Zain Memon and filmmaker Anand Gandhi, who co-founded new media studio Memesys Culture Lab, are the people behind it. And the idea is for ordinary citizens to get in the shoes of politicians, helping them draw that fine line between ethics and self-preservation.