Hello, Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister: Thank you for your call to me last week. It was heartening to hear you enumerate your achievements in making our countr...

Dear Prime Minister: Thank you for your call to me last week. It was heartening to hear you enumerate your achievements in making our country safe, stable and comfortable domestically, and influential, internationally. We may not have accomplished any of these achievements to the extent you claim but one thing we certainly still have that makes us a distinct and proud nation. And that is the freedom to dialogue even with the prime minister. Unfortunately, your recorded monologue did not give me that opportunity. Hence this letter.

Your monologue sounded like a cruel joke. I consider myself part of the privileged elite of the country; and even for me your words were completely out of sync with everyday reality. In a posh upper middle class colony, here is how my day begins: Every morning there is suspense over the water supply. There are days when there is not a drop of water and most days it is a trickle that keeps you scuttling around for about an hour checking taps and filling buckets. There are power failures galore making it absolutely impossible to plan your working day. The main roads that surround my colony are in a state of being dug up for the last year or so.

The telephone company has decided to print my bill intermittently. Nobody in their office can understand why. Which means that every other month I have to figure out the payment by visiting an unkempt office. Corruption is so completely institutionalised in the system that when I recently inquired about the registration and mutation fee for my apartment I was officially given an amount that included the fee of the concerned official.

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We are not disputing your claims of economic growth, GDP and international impact. We are talking here about the absolute lack of governmental attention to some of the most basic needs of a civilised society. Each time I go abroad it is so soothing to my nerves just not to have to worry about the basics. Ironically, I feel more protected abroad than I do in my own country. Of late corruption and communalism have so marked government functioning that the ordinary citizen feels vulnerable and insecure. But despite this I have refused offers of jobs abroad and have chosen to work in my country. It is my emotional bonding with my people and my society that pulls me back home.

Sadly your tenure has put a question mark even on this. It was the most painful day of my life when an immigration officer at the airport saw my name and tested my nationalism by asking me how I felt about the Indian cricket victory against Pakistan. As if my entry back home would be decided on my answer. I am not holding a brief here for or against any political party. But I am simply stating to you how middle to upper middle class life in a city is conducted on a daily basis. In this context your claims of a “shining India” seem hollow and meaningless. In fact they are salt to our wounds.

If you cannot do much to alleviate our daily ordeals, at least do not tease us, Mr Prime Minister, by these meaningless, one-way phone calls.

Day after PM Modi’s visit to the town, Manipur’s Churachandpur sees violent protest

India24 min ago

Protests in Manipur's Churachandpur turned violent as two men were arrested for damaging decorations for PM Modi's visit. The crowd demanded their release and attempted to storm the police station. The men were eventually released after a bail hearing. The incident occurred after a clash between locals and police on Thursday, but the situation had calmed down before Saturday's visit.

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