Page 82 - EW March 2025

Postscript

Prohibition Republic ing thoroughly exposed the opulent Sheesh Mahal (ornate
palace) into which Kejriwal transformed his official chief
LTHOUGH INDIA RECENTLY CELEBRATED the minister’s bungalow in Delhi at a reported cost of Rs.33
Golden Jubilee of its elaborately drafted Constitu- crore to the public exchequer.
Ation which confers enviable fundamental rights Among the amenities installed by the former chief
upon all its citizens, it’s a moot point whether in reality minister: kitchen equipment valued at Rs.39 lakh; TV
this sovereign, socialist, secular and holier-than-thou console Rs.20.34 lakh; treadmill and gym equipment
republic, is a free country. Rs.18.52 lakh. Any individual with an iota of common
This awareness impacted your editor with magnum sense would have known that masons and carpenters
force during a Sunday morning en famille picnic in working on this project would tip-off opposition parties
Bangalore’s shrinking, but well-preserved 300-acre Cub- and/or media. Evidently, this didn’t occur to this prize
bon Park. At the guarded gate of the park, the Sunday duffer, an IIT-Kharagpur grad.
picnic balloon was pricked by an armed guard who took Nor is the unlamented Kejriwal an exception among
objection to a well-packed picnic basket. “Food items are stupid politicians bleeding the country dry. In Telan-
prohibited” because they attract “rats and snakes”. Ditto gana, former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was
snagging a lemonade — or God have Mercy! — a pint of trounced in the assembly election of 2023 for the very
beer. Completely out of the question. same reason. And in Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan
Also strictly prohibited are “public displays of affec- Reddy in 2024. Such political epicureanism in a country
tion” even towards the missus, and especially towards in which the average family of five resides in homes aver-
young female companions because in the words of Horti- aging 100 sq. ft and in which according to Census 2011, 13
culture Department Deputy Director Kusuma G, “couples million homes are not fit for human habitation.
sit in some corner areas of the park and do all sorts of
things which offends the public”. Moreover, children can’t
run about in the park — forget about an impromptu game Unread writing
of cricket or even chucking a frisbee. Because players may
“trample the grass and damage plants”. And if a group of HE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF SHASHI
visitors indulge in a game of Secret Santa or a grave aca- Tharoor, Congress party MP from Kerala, high-
demic debate, they become liable for a fine of Rs.20,000. Tlight how the brightest and best are an endangered
Evidently, Deputy Director Kusuma G. believes the species in the grand ‘ole party hogged by dynasts and
park is being maintained by taxpayers for her comfort swamped by a lumpen bourgeoisie hell-bent on getting to
and of dozens of supervisors, wardens and others employ- the top of the pile.
ees of Cubbon Park in which as a school boy I enjoyed Academically highly qualified, the author of 25 well-re-
all these now prohibited activities, including canoodling searched history, politics and culture books, former Under
my girlfriend of the time. Yes, I wanted to celebrate the Secretary General of the United Nations and litterateur
Golden Jubilee of the Constitution. But the conundrum with a national reputation as an English language word-
was how in a country where everything is forbidden un- smith, had he been born in America, Tharoor — a com-
less permitted by special dispensation of our post-inde- mitted believer in the presidential system of democratic
pendence masters. governance — would most likely have served at least one
term as the President of the United States by now. Instead
in this Republic of Mediocrity, he is struggling to maintain
Prize duffer a foothold in the Congress party, dominated by Rahul
Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
RECENT ESSAY IN THE THE ECONOMIST The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has ruled over post-
(December 12, 2024) deliberated the proposition independence India for more than 50 years and reduced
A ‘Are People Becoming More Stupid?’ According to high-potential newly independent India to abject poverty
the normatively anonymous writer of this essay, a fifth of (annual per capita income: $2,600 cf. $86,600 in the
adults do no better in maths and reading than might be US and China’s $13,306). Despite this, Rahul Nehru-
expected of a primary school child. Gandhi, currently Leader of the Opposition in Parliament,
This is also true of India’s political class. The dramatic routinely vilifies private sector industry leaders (Adani-
fall from grace of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder- Ambani), and remains committed to distributing national
supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi legislative assembly wealth without first generating it.
election whose results were announced on February 8, is Meanwhile the English (and Hindi, Malayalam)-
proof enough. A former aide of anti-corruption crusader articulate Tharoor, a clear favourite of India’s educated
Anna Hazare, Kejriwal stunned the nation with massive middle class, is reportedly chafing at the bit. Now he has
back-to-back Delhi legislative assembly election victories his sights set on presidency of the Kerala Congress to lead
in 2014 and 2019 despite the Narendra Modi-led BJP the party to contest the state assembly elections sched-
having swept the General Election in those very years. But uled for 2026. This proposal has reportedly been rejected
in the recently concluded legislative election, Kejriwal not by the Nehru-Gandhi scion who should acknowledge that
only lost his two-term chief ministership but also his seat following his record of losing three General Elections to
in the assembly, with AAP ceding its overwhelming 62 the BJP and several in the states, Tharoor is the best man
majority in the 70-strong assembly to BJP which bagged to lead the Congress out of the wilderness. But the ill-
48 seats against AAP’s 22. educated Nehru-Gandhi scion still can’t read the writing
Kejriwal’s fall from grace is the outcome of media hav- on the wall.

82 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2025