Small wonder that this country of ours is stuck in eternal mire. The nationwide truckers? strike finally ended with the government giving in to all manner of ridiculous demands. Trucks should not pay the toll tax! Great…and at the same time we want to maintain and grow our highways.
Trucks should pay a hefty tax because they take a huge toll on the surface of the roads as well as on the lives of people. Ideally, they should be taken off the roads and bulk of transportation of goods should be through the rail network. Truck owners are rich and exploitative and need to be made to fall in line and adhere to new norms and procedures. This constant ?giving in? has only made us regress as a modern nation.
That was followed by another piece of distressing news, news of a vacillating Union cabinet on the question of foreign investment in the airline sector, amongst others. As usual we are unable to be service sector-friendly but expect travel and tourism to boom. It?s just plain foolish because we are losing out on so much more that is inextricably linked to such decisions.
We are so deeply insecure that we cannot bear competition that will compel us to raise our standards. We are content with smelly bathrooms, dirty aisles, grumpy attendants, rattling planes, delays, and filthy inefficient airports.
All this because those who sit in exalted positions in cabinet are never put through the horrors of air travel, endless queues that are constantly broken by VIPs, wrong information, and much else. It is the ?ivory tower? syndrome that is a death trap for India.
Amongst the few oases in Delhi is Lodhi Garden. Alas, this too has been usurped by the self-proclaimed VVIPs who stroll or strut through these beautiful gardens. Security men toting guns shoo away citizens who have been regulars for years, as they defend their indefensible sahibs. Another pristine space is being polluted with this nasty image and frightening reality. Maybe the government should order that all chaps with guards and flashing lights on their cars should go to the Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhavan and not intrude on the spaces that are for the citizens of India. The Presidential palace grounds should be their secure cage.
The tragedy is that despite the loud criticism of the behaviour of our leadership, the leaders are not embarrassed or ashamed of themselves. They carry on in the same manner, regardless. It is this arrogance that filters down and everyone feels they can get away with anything. Norms and rules are always flouted and it has reached a stage where no one is sure of any rule. This degradation has been fine-tuned by our leaders…they have diluted the standards and continue to do so. Remember the game ?Follow the leader?!
Prime Minister Vajpayee, why don?t you order your cabinet, as a start, to stand in queue at airports, get onto the flight like other paying human beings? That alone would be salutary! Lead your team from the front and force them to adhere to the rules of the game. Ensure your colleagues behave with impeccable correctness and drop those who falter. Politicians should not be despised like they are in this country but should be respected. One can disagree with them but one should not be repulsed by them.
NDTV has launched its channels that cannot be seen in most parts of Delhi because, once again, in typical fashion, the competitors are running scared and fiddling around with the cable wallahs behind the scenes. We have lost it. We are unable to play the game in a straight and normal manner. Everything in India is convoluted, complicated and an utter nuisance. Nothing happens like it should. Individuals are frenetically on the make and take, and Bharat moves backwards on the international arena. Much talk and zero action. Eureka!