Wit Wisdom and Whoop

I had in my previous post spoken about some problems that were easily correctable but not done. Expanding upon the repeated crisis faced in the last few years I share further evidence of how we have self inflicted most problems. As I mentioned in my previous post, a problem is not a problem unless it is in your control to resolve. If there are heavy rains, you can do nothing to stop it, so it’s not a problem. But if you have flooding in your road every monsoon, it’s a problem since it is in your control to solve it. That there were issues pertaining to corruption was well known. That there were repeated statements that corruption was unacceptable is also well known. Now one aspect is how sincere is the govt about  fighting corruption and the other how demonstrative are they in showing that opinion.  It is eminently possible for a govt to continue to be corrupt but ensure that they are shown as fighting corruption and ensuring that corruption is better managed. This gov...

The Economic Times on 28th August 2013 ran a editorial where it asked a question on why we are where we are. This is my response to that editorial as invited by  ET. Part 2 is my further thoughts on the issue and will follow. Mistakes occur either due to insufficient information,  risk taking,  bad judgement or  due to extraneous reasons beyond our control. Except in the last case every government has the option of making midcourse corrections.  This is exactly where this government has failed miserably  due to arrogance and blind ego apart from lacking in statesmanship. Let us list some correctable goof ups. UPA was a coalition govt and it was crucial to have a single driver lead it no matter who the driver reported  to. Instead by having a dual power centre between Sonia and Manmohan disaster was guaranteed from day 1. Manmohan was a brilliant economist & bureaucrat but a cipher as a politician. A lamb living amidst lions for decades ...