The deaths of patients happening outside hospitals where they have not been able to gain entry, while Ministers have been taking stock of the situation in the very same hospitals and doctors attending to their visit, is a sad commentary on the state of emergency response we have created. This was happening at a time when the whole ecosystem, was provided more than a year to get ready for it. The Indian governance have never been extremely kind to the poor and the needy, not even the law, but today the macabre dance of death is playing in a manner unheard in modern human history. The gullible masses have always danced to every tune that has been played to them; political, religious, community related, small doles, of hopes and of aspiration. All have been meticulously packaged in the sweetest packing of all times; of sentiments and emotions.

You can only imagine what you know of and it seems neither the rulers not the ruled could even imagine this situation. Leave the ruled aside, the rulers had all the information and expertise at their disposal to safely predict a situation of this nature. Have trust, faith and loyalty been created in this country to be belied. Political class and governance in general have been paternalistic, emanating mostly from the countryside, they have been forging lifelong relationships with the masses. Are they not feeling duped today? Democracy has given them everything, way beyond what they deserve, as it is being proven. They have been enjoying power, stature and comfort which even they would not have imagined in their wildest dreams.

Does the favorable run at the ballot box give democratic power to play around with Right to Life is the question? In the electoral arithmetic of this country; mathematical precision, strategy, acumen, technology, effort, manpower, time and energy is on offer without anyone asking for it. Every voter can be tracked. Every polling booth is manned by our political parties. He is kept in good humor and is ferried around till he casts his vote. Is he duped into voting? Is his only job is to provide democratic legality to the winner and party. The fate of the same voter is on full public display on TV channel after channel. Can not the famed political machinery, which has the capability to deliver up to 416 seats stand for the succor and comfort of the masses. The tragedy is confounded when there is nobody to take care, the ones who are still promising from the pulpits.

Has not the ruling class forfeited the right to rule? Have we reached a stage where power without ownership, responsibility and accountability has become the norm? Are there no deliverables in democracy? A pandemic needs more than a human effort to even sail through it, can anyone in this country vouch for that effort or anywhere near it? Did we ever have a Blueprint to improve the health infrastructure of the nation? What we talk in this country and what the stark reality is, has always been an epitome of duplicity, high definition screens have taken it to a different level. Doomsday is already at our doorstep, still we have breaking news of stings, tapes, elections and akharas deciding on the fate of corona virus.

"YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD."
Mahatma Gandhi