Every year, we have nature revealing its awesome might in many ways (floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes – you name it!)- talking to us, as if it were, and challenging man to learn, research, stretch his mind and progress. Just look at the Newspapers: This is the ‘coldest day in 20 years in January, ever recorded” coos one. ‘This is highest ever temperature recorded at 2.15pm on a “winter day”, shouts another. Much like the cricket commentators reeling out record a queer statistic every time a Sachin Tendulkar hits the ball – “this is the 5^th shot Sachin has struck with a 5HP force at an angle of 25 degrees from his bat, rising to a height of 3m and covering a distance of 50m, facing Muthiah Muralidharan for the  15^th time in the 6^th test between India and Sri Lanka only for the 2^nd time in Mumbai-and with this shot he crosses 50000 runs overall and 2000 runs against Sri Lanka and this is his 112^th fifty……..Ha!

Nature’s fury pushes man to the wall, forcing him to the designer/drawing boards, to rethink, and to analyze, every time he is challenged. Well, in the year 2010 Nature had manmade companionship in India – the mindboggling scams, so much so that we hardly noticed Nature’s presence! Or did we? With the ever booming Bofors Gun blast heralding 2011 and the secret Swiss Bank Accounts waiting to be ‘undressed’ we have exciting Victoria’s Secret shows ahead! The saree is probably the only copious garment capable of covering up all –provided you know how to wear it (I know one who does!) and you have someone around to watch over it being pulled-off (I know one who does!!).

With Republic Day approaching there is a sudden urge (rightfully so) to unfurl the National Flag and celebrate us Indians being one Republic – any better way? But ‘No’ says the Govt. This will disturb the peace in an otherwise very idyllic & peaceful Kashmir and will alarm our “separatist friends”. The Nobel Prize for Denial, if there is one, will unanimously go to the Govt. of India. The Prime Minister joins the chorus and puts forth the “economics of the situation”. Unbelievable! Should not the PM, lead from the front and ensure that every citizen is able to hoist the tricolor anywhere so long it is within the boundaries of India, no matter what? What is the purpose of a Republic Day? Where is leadership gone? What happens to the ‘under oath promise’ to respect the Republic and the Constitution? Is the PM in doubt about the ‘ownership’ of Kashmir? He remains forever silent and when he speaks – only the “world” of Barack Obama listens!

We have another seemingly erudite person who thinks there is no one capable of arguing or calculating like him – The ‘white celled’ Telecom Minister! A few days into the job and he declares that the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) has calculated wrongly in estimating the loss on the 2G scam – in fact there was not loss at all – and if at all there was any, it was because of the previous BJP Govt’s policies! Atrocious! Well, is not the present Govt responsible for putting mind-to-matter before release and did not the PM point-out the errors, make suggestions – and then mysteriously switch over to the silent mode? Or did the PM close shop and move over to the “3G” (We all know how this can be expanded)  spectrum? Finally if a Telecom Minister faults his own Govt’s Institutions, how can the others such as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) or the CBI be trusted? Perhaps, that’s why a why a JPC becomes a sine-qua-non to solve the current governance mess!