We have an economist-politician who ventured into uncharted territory to accomplish what he believed in. We saw the aplomb of an achiever; the dignity with which he savoured his accomplishment. We saw at the Olympics what rural India could do.

Olympics came, sprang a few radiant faces and blew over to make way for another game where our diplomat-players were left gasping, trying to wrestle their way into the Nuclear Club. This time China relinquished its role of a dutiful host and played a perfect adversary. Displaying its adroitness at the game of duplicity, not only did China present a perfect picture of bonhomie but also of a fashion show where her clothing revealed rather than covered more of her. At the time of writing, its finance minister was busy trying to convince us that the wardrobe malfunction was an optical illusion. He doesn’t seem to know that we really lived in illusions, saw pictures in vacuum and did unimaginable things like declining a United Nations Security Council seat; but thanks are due to his country for waking us out of this illusion in its own inimitable way. We can’t afford another illusion.


The electronic media is again telling us about betrayal by China. Were our diplomats so naïve as not to expect even an ambiguous nod, much less, support from China? I don’t think so. To betray somebody one needs to be a friend or trustworthy. So we can pretty much rest assured that China can never betray us; nor can Pakistan. That gives rise to the question: who betrayed us then - petty politics, anachronistic thinking or something which is even more venomous than these two. Yes, it is the me-first-the -nation-later (MFNL) attitude of those who are at the helm; whose comportment influences the nation and hence us. Petty politics is played in every country in one form or the other at one level or the other so we are not alone. Anachronistic thinking is mend-able. If an idea is sold well this too can be met to our satisfaction. But it is this MFNL disease that poses a real threat to any nation. If this disease spreads once, especially among those who command any level and any degree of authority, no doctor on earth, even with the help of any medical devise or medication can save the afflicted nation. We need go no further; most of our neighbours are serious patients of this disease.

The recalcitrant and illogical attitude of the BJP and the Left towards the nuclear deal (and I am sorry to say this) points somewhat to their being afflicted with the deadly MFNL. Even if we try to analyze from the sidelines, we get to see China, the Left and the BJP on the same side, doing the same thing: attempting to block the nuclear deal. Could we have ever foreseen such a thing even in our wildest imagination? China may have her reasons but what justification would BJP, a national party, furnish to oppose the nuclear deal when even L. K. Advani had approved of it? A Karan Thapar article testifies to this. Can we sympathise with a party that never tired of calling Manmohan Singh the weakest Prime Minister India has ever had? So much so that even his patriotic credentials were questioned? And we all are sure the epidemic is not confined to BJP or the Left. But it becomes fatal when the patient becomes unwary of the consequences. Now close on the heels of the NSG’s clean waiver what do we say about this soft-spoken economist who was catapulted to prime-minister-ship by a strange quirk of fate? Today (irrespective of the fact that millions are still sleeping on pavements to be run over and are defecating in the open) we can see an India milking the cow of liberalization. Now we will see an India using nuclear energy (after the US Congress approves) for civilian purposes, the urgent need of the day. The legacy of Manmohan Singh will have a bearing on the India of tomorrow. Inflation, insurgency, riots, penury and a million other problems still plague the nation but somewhere, every sane person will agree that at the heart of the solution lies literacy and economic development and that is what this Sardar has tried to provide; but still a lot remains to be done.


Coming back to the simultaneous euphoria and lament over our gold medal which was also accompanied by two silvers, one thing that comes to my mind is the state of rural India. Despite being a nation of villages, villages have always been given a step-motherly treatment by successive governments, both Central and State. I have had enough occasions to travel to remote villages and towns, especially in Haryana. With utter disgust I say that water and electricity, the primary needs, have become the sort of things villagers either rejoice over whenever they have them or are sceptical about whenever they are provided briefly. This happens even in those villages which seem well-heeled on surface, for whatever reason. I have just come back from my ancestral village. I am ill at ease to describe those hilarious-first-painful-later schemes, jugads and the methodology followed to collect water from taps and that too with minimal results. Considering that Haryana is better off than most other States, no prize for imagining the plight of the rest of rural India.


Will the nuclear deal bring some relief to the rural population of India in any which way? Maybe or maybe not. If only MFNL becomes curable! The fact that out of three medals that we won at the Olympics two came from rural India is a reminder of the rural power that is waiting to be tapped right in its own backyard. Sport has served only as an attention-grabber and suggests that rural human resource which is direction-less and hence sometimes causes many ignominious acts, needs to be urgently addressed. State governments can begin by overhauling the primary schools which have been synonymous with indolent teachers and desolate buildings for years now. The two most profound impressions on impressionable minds, i.e., parents and teachers, are often found wanting and this paves the way for a wayward youth. And then a sound beginning can be followed by a solid back-up.


We have an economist-politician who ventured into uncharted territory to accomplish what he believed in. We saw the aplomb of an urban achiever and the respect and dignity with which he savoured his accomplishment. We also witnessed how rural youth could emerge triumphant provided direction, motivation and the required help are made available. If only in the days to come we get to see more of these, then we will also see an end to the famous talk about two or three Indias within our one India. Then there will be only one formidable India.