FREEDOM AT AFTERNOON

A REPRISE ITEM

Exactly nine years ago I retired from service. I wrote this post celebrating that event .

Freedom at Afternoon

The question that is being asked of me by many of my well wishers, friends and admirers is how do I feel, now that I have retired. Well, to be honest serving for close to four decades in one of the most coveted services of the country has many disadvantages. You tend to forget the use of your limbs. There is someone connecting and picking up the phone for you, you are driven around, your engagements, your tour, and your other quotidian worries- from filing tax return to paying your utility bills- are someone else’s concern. In higher echelons of the government someone even thinks your thought for you. You just have to be! After you retire all that elaborate support system, all those rites of pride and protocol disappear. It is like someone who does not how to swim , is thrown into the sea without a lifebelt. Or you are left to navigate in a totally unfamiliar city. Many of us tend to show unmistakable withdrawal symptoms. Jostling for paying electricity bills, or booking a railway ticket (if you are not into net transaction) doing things as others not so spoilt do, can make you maladjusted for a while. I was warned – not that I could not see it for myself –but I had some more worries.

To add to the standard quota of uncertainties of a retiring officer, I have been trying to renovate my house to make it livable. It was empty for quite some time. It is no point trying to explain the hazards and the frustration of such an activity to someone who has not undertaken such an expedition himself. There are so many liars, thugs and swindlers in this line of business that it can easily turn you into a misanthrope. All in all, my prospect in the near future looked like a perfectly scripted plot for a black, neurotic drama! Anticlimactically, it is my date of retirement that kept me buoyed up, gave me hope and sustenance. And when it actually came it was such a relief! All the uncertainties did stare me in the face as it does any one of us. The prospect of my house becoming livable had receded a few more weeks into the future. But hell is a relative habitation. The comfort zone that I seem to have left behind was no comfort for me given that so many knives were out for me and danger seemed to be lurking at every corner.

So much has happened in the dying years of my service, so many distressing things-vilification, show cause, disciplinary proceeding, supersession, a criminal case and much more- that they remind me of Lenin’s famous remark about politics, “There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen." It was only God’s infinite grace that I survived several attempts to frame me up in order to harm me in my career and ruin my reputation. I have never considered the denial of opportunities, postings, medals, etc as acts of disfavour because the government giveth and the government taketh away. (For the record, I was overlooked for the post of DGP on four occasions and I have retired in a lower grade of pay than officers four years my junior. I never even made a grievance of it.) But my reputation is not a matter of an executive fiat, or a government notification; it has been hard earned and paid for in hard currency of an unwavering faith in the values of probity in public life. The worst thing is that on every occasion personal malice was dressed up as considered government decision. Since an officer cannot challenge every order in a court of law, the government can play havoc with his life and career. I felt like the French philosopher who spoke during disturbingly unsettled times in France, “If today I were to be accused of having stolen the Church of Notre Dame I would have no option but to run away from France.”

Now that I am past the hump , all these precious years of my life which vaguely leaked away in worries and anxieties seem but like a transient twitch. I am in a celebratory mood reveling in my migration from the ranks of Helots – Helots were a class of people halfway between slaves and citizens in ancient Sparta-to that of an independent citizen. This freedom is worth years of the lives of any number of tongue tied, terrorized and fear stricken civil servants. Like any liberated serf I am going to exploit to the utmost my freedom to speak my mind. Earlier on my conversations with the government were subject to conduct rules, elaborate courtesy, and the unbreakable code of never mentioning facts that could bring disrepute to the government however disreputable its conduct. Never to speak truth to power except in such a term that the unpalatable truth became an error of your own judgment. (I violated that rule on several occasions and paid the price for it. So we are quits!) In fact, when I was addressing the Home guards who had lined up for inspection on the eve of my farewell parade on the 30th of June at Bihta I kept concentrating hard so that I did not shout from the podium itself : azadi , azadi azadi. Decades of conditioning, however, was a surer guarantee and my uniformed self behaved exactly as it was supposed to.

MODEST PRPOSALS 8

Shoring up the national economy

On being constantly egged by Facebook "What is on your mind, " sometime back I made a capital suggestion- Beheading the Heads-about improving the quality of our political leaders. Upfront I must admit, I am deeply moved by such solicitations, especially if it comes from owners of capital like Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, who make their pile out of our collective mind dumps, but I do not remember having ever paid the traffic signal beggar a single rupee. Curse me, if you will, but I am not going to explain to you today why I do what I do because there are more urgent things on my mind. National interest!!!!

There was a time when I regularly wrote Proposals in a news paper – they are on my blog - to help the nation chart a path to prosperity etc. Modest as I am , I could not but call them Modest Proposals. I never knew my unmindful act , or sloth or laziness in ceasing to write this column would lead nation to the precipice of disaster. I woke up to this fact, thanks to the blog of a friend , who has diligently quoted data signaling economic distress. Facebook is for me what his bathtub was for Archimedes, so I sit fully clothed. Ideas in their breathtaking originality and atrociousness present themselves to me, all that I must do is catch them as they float past my mind. And once I am in the throes of this kind of thinking in national interest, I have dreams, hallucinations, reveries. In my Edward Kekule moment – Edward Kekule discovered the ring shape of the benzene molecule after having a reverie or day-dream of a snake swallowing its own tail -I found the solution to boost the sagging economy. Before you question my locus standi, let me tell you straight away, there are only two other economists in this country who share my unimpeachable credentials. Their talents have been recognised : one of them has become the finance minister of the country , the other one is now the governor of Reserve Bank of India. The performance of the economy has established it as an undeniable fact that those who have never studied economics are best suited to handle finance . I know my time will come to help pull the economy by its bootstraps because I know no economics . But in the meanwhile as a patriot I offer my proposal without expectation of rewards .

My heart leaps up to behold everything, just about everything available for a price in accordance with the dharmic rule of supply and demand . From mercenaries to fight your wars to media men to sing in your praise , from spies to siphon off enemy secrets to saints to offer you regular benediction, influencers , idiots, intellectuals , imbeciles politicians , pimps are sold and bought on a daily basis. The utopia of the globalised market has arrived ! If a poor man buys bread for subsistence he is taxed, if someone travels for pleasure or in pain to get better medical treatment he is taxed, if he buys something as essential as house he is taxed but when a politician is bought or sold-it is called horse trading – when a media man goes under the hammer, even idiots,imbeciles , and other bird brained creatures are paid to tweet why are these transaction kept outside the tax net. When politicians are sold like goods , traded in like commodities, if mergers and acquisitions of political parties – six MPs, a whole party was recently acquired -take place to maximise electoral advantage , why should this transaction take place outside the net of GST ? Soldiering thought Balzac is chiefly a financial undertaking. You need gold to do battle, and you need to do battle to get gold. For coming to power instead of soldiering now you do politics: you need gold to do politics and you need to do politics to get gold. What could be a more convincing definition of politics as a commercial activity?

The government is ever ready to augment its revenue but has not even looked at this huge opportunity . So here is my proposal : politicians ( I am restricting myself to politics as pilot project)who want to change their allegiance must register their intention with the Election Commission . The lack of secrecy around his intent give the owner the chance to arrive at a deal with those who intend to sell themselves. He can put himself under the hammer and the highest auctioneer will claim him . The buyer, the seller , and the party which acquires shall be liable to pay a standard tax of 33.33 percent . Thus the government will get a tax equal to the actual sale / purchase price. There should be a time limit – say , if the thing sold wants to be sold again within a stipulated period , say the very next day , a week or fortnight – I would favour fortnight in the interest of political stability - the parties to the transaction will have to pay double the amount of tax. Thus those who want to cause political instability by too frequent transfers will have to indemnify the people by means of the punitive tax.

My radical proposal to allow capitalists to bid for governments wholesale instead of the cumbersome business of their cronies and proxies being hammered, er going down under the hammer so frequently .But I think Indians prefer gradualism rather than revolutionary solutions , so I will watch with interest the outcome of this bit of reform.

दारुण दुविधा में एक देश

दारुण दुविधा में एक देश

'आओ बच्चों आज मैं तुम्हे दूर देश की एक कहानी सुनाता हूँ." "बहुत दूर की ? " "हाँ बहुत दूर की , लेकिन लगेगी तुम्हे बड़ी जानी पहचानी सी. " "आपने भी तो किसी से सुनी होगी , अंकल - ज़बानी ? या शायद किताबों में रही होगी यह कहानी. " बिलकुल यही कहानी तो नहीं लेकिन हाँ इस का प्रेरणा स्रोत है कोई इतालवी। जानोगे नाम उसका - इटालो कल्वीनो। पर छोड़ो इन बातों को , ये बातें हैं बिलकुल बेमानी. ध्यान से सुनो और मन ही मन इन प्रश्नों का मनन करो - क्या एक अकेला चना भाँड़ फोड़ सकता है ?" क्या एक सड़ा सेव पूरी टोकरी के सेवों को सड़ा सकता है ? क्या दोनों प्रश्नों के उत्तर हाँ हो सकते हैं ? आराम से बैठो , कोई कोना पकड़ लो , अगर कुर्सी पर हो तब तो कुर्सी मत छोड़ो। पर कोई भी जगह मिले तो कोशिश करके पसर जाओ.

" एक देश था। उस देश में सभी चोर थे। सब कुछ बड़े सुचारु रूप से चलता था। गाड़ियां चलती थी , नाव चलते थे , बड़े बड़े जहाज चलते थे। कभी कभार लात जूते भी चल जाते थे लेकिन अमूमन लोग अपने धंधे में लिप्त मिलजुलकर बड़े सुख और संतोष से रहते थे। रात होते ही सभी हाँथ में टॉर्च और बड़ा सा झोला लेकर निकल पड़ते थे अपने काम पर- चोरी करने। हर चोर अपने पडोसी के घर चोरी करता और सबेरे घर आ जाता। अंतिम घर वाला पहले घर वाले के घर चोरी कर लेता था। सरकार जनता के घरों से चोरी कर लेती थी। जनता अपनी बुद्धि एवं हिकमत के अनुसार सरकार से भी चोरी कर लेती थी. मिथ्या आचरण या मूर्ख बनाकर ठग लेना भी व्यापार का अभिन्न अंग था। ठगी ,धोखाधड़ी जैसे शब्द उनके शब्दकोष में नहीं थे इसलिए ये सब साधारण व्यवहार ,भ्रष्टाचार और सदाचार में कोई फर्क नहीं था । सबकुछ ठीक ठाक चल रहा था। बहस का कोई मुद्दा नहीं था इसलिए लोगों में बैर भी नहीं था.

"एक दिन उस देश में कहीं से एक आदमी आया , आदमी इसलिए कि वह देखने में बिलकुल आदमी की तरह लगता था : दो हाँथ , दो पैर , दो आँखे। बिलकुल आदमी की तरह.पैर में पतलून , धड़े में कमीज जैसे आम आदमी पहनते हैं. " अब आगे भी बढ़ो न अंकल , क्या आदमी देख कर हम नहीं पहचान सकते। आदमी की परिभाषा बता रहे हो.?" " अरे जाहिलों मैं तुम्हारी कहानी नहीं कह रहा हूँ न , मैं उस दूर देश की कहानी कह रहा हूँ. लेकिन देश वासियों को जल्दी ही पता चलगया कि वह आदमी बड़ा अजीब है । सबेरे से शाम तक तो वह गायब रहता लेकिन शाम में घर आ जाता और खा पीकर किताबें पढ़ता , संगीत सुनता और जब नींद आ जाती तो सो जाता। अन्य लोगों की तरह वह रात में टॉर्च ओर झोला लेकर काम पर नहीं निकलता. लिहाज़ा अब इस श्रृंखला में उसके घर में रात में चोरी करने का जिसका अधिकार बनता था इस अवसर से वंचित हो गया. जिसने चोरी नहीं की वह समय से पहले घर लौट आता जिससे उसके घर चोरी नहीं हो सकती थी । इसका एक डोमिनो इफ़ेक्ट यह हुआ कि चोरी पर स्थापित व्यवस्था में देश के सारे कार्य कलाप ठप्प हो गये। लोगों ने सोचा नया आया है , सीख जाएगा। लेकिंन जब एक सप्ताह हो गया और बिना किसे के किसी के घर चोरी किये तो देश की अर्थ व्यवस्था डगमगाने लगी ।

देशवसियों का एक शिष्ट मंडल उस परदेसी के घर घर पहुंचा और उससे उसके इस विचित्र व्यवहार का कारण पूछा . 'भैय्ये , आप तो बिलकुल हम लोगों की तरह ही दीखते हो , सब कुछ तो वैसा ही है , फिर क्यों हमलोगों के ज़िन्दगी में ज़हर घोल रहे हो। न चोरी करते हो , न चोरी करने देते हो।" उस अजनबी को पहले तो कुछ समझ में नहीं आया क्योंकि विशुद्ध चोरी पर स्थापित इस साम्यवादी व्यवस्था को वह समझ नहीं पा रहा था। पर जब उसे यह बात समझ में आई तो उसने फ़ौरन अपनी रातें बाहर बिताने का वादा किया जिससे देश के लोगों के काम काज में दखल न पड़े । लेकिन उसने स्वयं चोरी करने से साफ़ मना कर दिया क्योंकि वह ईमानदार था . लोग आपस में फुसफुसाने लगे " मैं न कहता था कहीं कुछ गड़बड़ है. " उसने बहुत समझाने की कोशिश की कि ईमानदारी क्या होती है लेकिन जहाँ बेईमानी और धोखाधड़ी शब्द ही न हो वहां ईमानदारी का मतलब समझाना कठिन हो जाता है. बहरहाल देश की व्यवस्था बहाल करने की गरज से वह अब नियमित रूप से रात में बहार जाने लगा। वह किसी और के घर चोरी करके अपना घर नहीं भर रहा था उत्तरोत्तर उसकी आर्थिक स्थिति बिगड़ने लगी और उसपर आश्रित चोर एक दिन बिलकुल खाली हाँथ लौटा क्यों कि वह अब निपट निर्धन और विपन्न हो चुका था। परन्तु जिस के घर उसे चोरी करने जाना था उसके पास एक बड़ी पूँजी का मालिक बन बैठा . धीरे धीरे एक खुशहाल देश जिसकी अर्थव्यवस्था की मिसाल दी जाती थी , लड़खड़ाने लगी. लोगों में श्रम के प्रति जो सम्मान का भाव था वह समाप्त होने लगा , कोई गरीब , कोई अमीर होने लगा. रात में में पूरी निष्ठा और सौहार्द्र के साथ सब काम पर जाते थे और सबकी आय सुनिश्चित थी परन्तु अब अनिश्चितता का माहौल हो गया। राज्य में बेरोज़गारी,काहिलपन तथा घोर असंतोष का माहौल हो गया. सरकारी ख़ज़ाने की स्थिति भी नाज़ुक हो गयी।

सरकार ने फौरन जांच समिति बैठाई। समिति को इस कुव्यवस्था का मूल जाननें में बिलकुल समय नहीं लगा. आम राय बनी कि वही अजनबी इस सब के लिए जिम्मेवार है। समिति के सदस्य जब उसके घर पहुंचे तो वह अंतिम सांसे गिन रहा था। लगातार भूख और कुपोषण से उसके शरीर का ढांचा अस्थि पंजर बनकर रह गया था फिर भी उसने समिति के साथ यथा संभव सहयोग किया। समिति की जांच चल ही रही थी की यह अफ़वाह चल पड़ी कि देश की अर्थव्यस्था चौपट कर अराजकता फैलाकर राजा को अपदस्थ करने की साजिश का भंडाफोड़ हो गया है। लोग धीरे धीरे उसके घर में जुटने लगे। आरोपित का बयान चल रहा था। उस की काया तो सूखकर कांटा हो चुकी थी परन्तु उसकी आवाज़ में एक खनक थी जो इस देशवासियों को कुछ को विचित्र ढंग से उत्प्रेरित, और कुछ को भयाकुल करने लगी। उसकी बात में कुछ ऐसा वजन था कि लोग चोरी से इतर किसी व्यवस्था पर सोचने के लिए विवश होने लगे। बात हवा की तरह फैलने लगी. राजे के कारिंदे और कारकूनों ने उसे फ़ौरन आतंकवादी करार दिया। फायरिंग स्क्वाड ने उसे तत्काल गोली से उड़ा दिया। जनता को सही सन्देश देने की नीयत से जहाँ देश के अन्य महापुरुषों की मूर्ती लगी थी, वहीँ उसकी भी , चेहरा काला कर , एक मूर्ती लगा दी गयी। मीडिया ने देश की जनता को आसन्न खतरे के तहत और सावधानी बरतने की अपील क्योंकि ईमानदार आतंकवादी देखने में आम आदमी की तरह ही लगता था सिर्फ उसके इरादे देश काल के हित में नहीं थे।

पुरानी व्यवस्था फिर से बहाल हो गयी. खस्ताहाल जनता पुनः मालमाल हो गयी। सब कुछ पहले से भी ज्यादा सुचारू रूप से चलने लगे । फटे पुराने नोट, बंद पड़े बिजली के पंखे,सरकारी मिल,हृदयघात से मरीज़ों के लगभग निष्क्रिय हो चुके दिल सब अनायास चलने लगे। कुछ समय तक तो सबकुछ ठीक ठाक चलता रहा। देश में बड़ी बड़ी मूंछों वाले रोबीले महापुरुषों की मूर्तियों पर दक्षता दिवस के दिन माल्यार्पण का चलन था. एक कोने में काला मुँह वाला कृशकाय ईमानदार पुतला भी खड़ा था. कुछ अधिक उत्साही लोग उसे एक आध जूते भी लगा देते। धीरे धीरे एक नयी पीढ़ी परवान चढ़ी जिसे इस काले मुंह वाले पुतले के बारे में कुछ भी मालूम न था। महापुरुषों के जीवन चरित्र एवं उनकी चोरी चकारी के लोमहर्षक किस्से तो पाठ्यपुस्तकों का हिस्सा थे लेकिन यह काले मुंह वाले पुतला कौन था ? एक अत्यंत बूढ़े नागरिक ने उन्हें इस काले पुतले की कहानी सुनाई। अब सब नवयुवकों ने उसे घेर लिया। उनके इस प्रश्न का कि 'क्या चोरी पर आधारित व्ययवस्था का कोई विकल्प भी है ' उसके पास कोई उत्तर न था. तब तक कुछ अन्य शहरी भी आ गए और उन्होंने उस बूढ़े को तो कस कर डांट लगायी ही युवकों को भी सलाह दी कि फिज़ूल की बातों में पड़ कर अपना समय न बर्बाद करें।

लेकिन खुराफात तो हो चुकी थी. बहुतों को यह बात कुरेदने लगी थी - क्या सचमुच? जो बातें आपस में कहीं कोने , किनारे में होती थी , धीरे धीरे खुले आम चर्चा की जाने लगी। लोग बहस करने लगे। युवा तो युवा कुछ प्रौढ़ , अनुभवी लोग भी ईमानदार, ईमानदारी , सदाचार भ्रष्टाचार जैसे निषिद्ध , विस्मृत शब्द का प्रयोग करने लगे . ज़िन्दगी फिर से बहाल तो हो गयी लेकिन जो कॉम पहले शुद्ध अंतःकरण से निःशंक होकर करते थे उसे ही करने में अब एक अजीब खटका लगा रहता है।पूरा का पूरा पहाड़, सारा का सारा जंगल, कई पीढ़ियों का भविष्य चुरा लेने वालों दिग्गजों का भी छोटी मोटी चोरियां करने में आत्मविश्वास डगमगाने लगा। अपने आप से डरे हुए लोग काम पर जाते। बहुत लोगों को महसूस होने लगा कि उनके अंदर कोई बैठा हुआ है । इस बीच किसी ने यह अफवाह उड़ा दी कि महापुरुषों की समाधी स्थल से काले पुतले की अट्टहास की भी आवाज़ आती है। सरकार ने उस मूर्ती को विखंडित कर रातोरात समुद्र में विसर्जित करा दिया।लेकिन बात कुछ बनी नहीं.

आमलोग अब सरकार की शिकायत करने लगे - उस अजनबी को ज़रुरत क्या थी मारने की , चुचाप रात के अँधेरे में उसे देश से, अपनी ज़िन्दगी से ,अपनी भाषा से निर्वासित कर देते. वह तो अब हमारी भाषा में समा कर हमारे दिमागों में घुसपैठ कर रहा है। ओझा, गुनी बैद्य सब ने हार मान ली लेकिन कही गहरे बैठे हुए उस - वह जो भी था-को निकल नहीं पाए. लोग चोरियां तो अब भी करते थे , लेकिन बुझे बुझे दिल से , बेमन से, ज़ेहनी तौर से हारे हुए . बड़े बूढ़े उस अभागे के आने से पहले के दिनों के किस्से बड़े चाव से सुनाया करते थे। वो भी क्या दिन थे. ?

Do We Need The IAS and other all India Services ?

The British colonial administration in India bequeathed to its successors, along with their independence , a fully fitted out colonial state with an administrative machinery, the ‘steel frame’, which had curbed India’s striving for independence with iron hands. In an inexplicable state of mind for which later generations found a name , ‘Stockholm syndrome’, the founding fathers fell in love with this apparatus of control, domination and subjugation and retained it lock ,stock and barrel. The new term of endearment for the fabled service , created in the very image of the mythical ICS, was IAS . It was expected to perform the feat that it’s precursors, the ICS, had been done for their colonial masters : hold the new country , with its wide diversity, together. They were supposed to advise their political masters at the centre and in the states, and help them steer the ship of the state. Sardar Patel believed that “You will not have a united India if you do not have a good All-India Service which has independence to speak out its mind”. To ensure that they were not lightly trifled with, Article 311, a politically self-denying provision was introduced to inure them from arbitrary punishments . The then government of India shared the belief of their colonial predecessors that deliverance could only be had at the hands of the District Magistrate and Collector. PM, CM and DM were the three forms of loco parentis in which the mai baap sarkar of our democratic polity manifested itself.

The fears of the founding fathers about the threat to federalism seems to be coming true, but their faith in the service as the defenders of the idea has come undone. The unseemly incident in which the CM of West Bengal walked away with her Chief Secretary in tow , from a meeting convened by the Prime Minister to assess disaster caused by cyclone, has created some sort of an impasse. It was a situation no civil servant would like to be in : an IAS officer is bound in obedience to both the CM and the PM , but for a situation in which he has to choose to obey one and show wilful disrespect to the other, there are no precedents . Anyone else would have agonised but the CS, WB found it easy, because there is a general belief that all India Service officers in West Bengal ,and many other states, are long used to behaving like party apparatchiks. What followed was even worse: the decision of the central government to recall an officer who had been granted an extension , a few days back, was churlishness of unthinkable proportions. As Stalin famously said , they are both worse. Instead of steering the ship of state away from choppy waters of state- centre confrontation together they have charted a collision course.

The Indian Administrative Service, consciously modelled itself after its more illustrious predecessors, the ICS, whom Philip Woodruff described as, “a ruling class, a class apart. They were hard working in a debilitating climate, incorruptible in a society riddled with bribery, celibate until middle age in a subcontinent which married at puberty. Above all they were intellectuals.” Being an intellectual brought in its wake the responsibility to speak "truth to power", in the famous phrase of Julian Benda. It is a clear case where the IAS on both sides of the fence failed to speak truth to powers they were serving ,the independence to speak out their minds notwithstanding. The threat to federal structure, as always, seems to have been subordinated to personal career interests.(On this point those interested can see my The Rusted Steel Frame)

Ironically, at this very juncture the other article of the faith of our founding fathers , deliverance at the hands of the District Magistrate , has also been tested and found to be totally misplaced. After the Bengal Deewani the East India Company began to fancy itself as a state. To make its unconscionable plundering look like a respectable vocation , Warren Hastings was tasked to produce a piece of machinery that English officials could operate and English opinion tolerate. Collector , the emblematic figure of British imperialism, the king pin in Hastings’ plan for the better administration of Bengal, was the answer . This instrumentality of collector was such a roaring success in fulfilling the objectives of the company, while satisfying easily satisfiable British opinion , it was consistent with British “ideas of justice and the proper discipline, forms of deference, and demeanour that should mark the relations between rulers and ruled, “that it was replicated in Southwest Pacific as well (Bernard Cohen.) Collector was the man on the spot who knew “the natives,” who was to represent the forces of “law and order.” “Law and order” became the magic mantra and the Superintendent of Police became the magic wand – that he could wield. After the creation of the ICS the office of the District Magistrate was manned by the members of the service.

The successors to the British administration , Congress men in a hurry, quietly supplanted themselves in the place of the rulers. The office of the collector, created solely for legitimizing exploitative profits of the Company Bahadur ,remained the king pin of the administration which was now supposedly centred around people. It was thought that what was sauce for the colonial goose would be sauce even for colonial gander .

The DM , heads the disaster management authority created by the National Disaster Management Act of India, 2005, at the district level, while the national and state level authorities are headed by the PM, CM and DM respectively. The DM as the head of the authority at local level enjoys unlimited financial powers , and huge immunity. Of course he cannot command the elements, he cannot ask the storm to stop raging or sea waves from lashing the shore, everything else he can. On pain of punishment he can mobilize every resource and seek almost everyone’s cooperation. NDMA, SDMA, also have retired IAS officers, some representation form retired military officers and a retired IPS officer as well.

The management of Covid 19 by the DMA’s , the unplanned migration of workers and the management of the second wave, especially the supply of oxygen and other lifesaving materials , has led to untold misery , an unmitigated disaster. It tested the premise of IAS officers acting in their capacity as DM to deliver, and they failed miserably. As a counter factual it may be noted that a doctor acting in his capacity as district magistrate in a remote district of Maharashtra managed the crisis so well that it became a national success story . There were some others too, I name Rahul Kumar DM of Purnea , in Bihar about whom I heard good things , who acquitted themselves well, which point to the doability of the task . But impersonality and indifference, the defining characteristics of bureaucracy have overshadowed every requirement and trait, in their handling of this crisis . A District Magistrate quipped in face of the shattering image of a child riding a suit case which his mother was dragging on her long haul back home, that he also similarly rode his father’s suit case. An audio tape that went viral has a doctor on 24/7 duty in a Covid ward pleading with the health secretary, for some arrangements to be made for his accommodation so that he is not forced to go home and endanger , his wife , his children and his parents. The health secretary asked him to resign and threatened to send him to jail for arguing with him . But the image of rampaging Agartala DM , who bet up the bridegroom , humiliated the guests under the garb of enforcing Covid curfew , will for a long tie represent the public perception of a DM . The production of moral indifference in its handling of Covid was an absolute visual

I have been a member of the UPSC interview board for civil services for a couple of years . Year after year, the procession of candidates would begin by spelling out their vision of how they would serve the people when they became the collector . No one saw himself as an officer of any other service, no one envisaged any other role for an IAS officer other than that of a collector . I loved to rile them by putting across that they would be lucky if they got into the IAS , lucky if they became Collectors for more than a term of a year or two , they would have certainly thought about the remaining thirty odd years of their service . They obviously had not. The civil service examination which has been identified with the IAS, and the IAS with the office of the collector fuels - and provides the outlet for -the private little feudalistic fantasies of every eligible candidate alike , even highly qualified professionals earning phenomenal sums of money. Hasting’s gift to the nation has the potential of turning ,has in fact turned - many administrations on the model of East India Company. They are run on the lines of profit making corporations for their political masters and many of these officers have enriched themselves to become “the King of nabobs”.

PS The nearest example that I could find to such a situation as evidenced in West Bengal is the one narrated by Krishan in his book Sardar Patel .” “In a democratic set-up, cabinet sanction was essential for Police Action(against Hyderabad.) Patel faced a formidable task in overcoming Nehru’s reluctance. At one of the meetings of the defence committee, of which Nehru was the chairman, “there was so much bitterness that Sardar Patel walked out. Seeing his seat vacant,” V. P. Menon told a Rotary meeting in Bombay, “I too walked out five minutes later.” This seemed to have shaken Nehru out of his complacent mood, and mellowed his opposition. Later, at a meeting attended by the governor-general (Rajagopalachari), the prime minister, the home minister (Patel), and secretary to the states ministry (Menon), “it was decided to order troops into Hyderabad”. B. Krishna. “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel”.

MUSINGS

I am here at Delhi, the epicenter of biggest man-made calamity in the shape of covid crisis; right here, at the capital and power centre of a mighty nation of powerless citizens; witness to desperate calls people are making to any person who they think can be of   help. Cries of distress,  SOS on twitter, addressed to no one in particular. Every resource is scarce. Oxygen. Beds in hospital . Ventilators. Tocilizumab. Remdesivir. Not  in  any  particular order. It is pointless to forage the black market either, the only open channel of distribution which functions flawlessly  during times of crisis. But such is the nature of unpreparedness and scarcity  that   nothing can be had either  for love or for money. The  demand has swamped  even this source  of supply .  Appeals to our good sense, or neighborliness, our sense of community, our compassion  gradually deadens all these qualities, simply because of our inability to make even a bit of a difference. It fills us with an erumpent rage, a sense of powerlessness, a sordid  cynicism.

   These resources are in the domain of power hungry, control freaks, delusional leaders of governments. All governments, without exception , work through their  bureaucracy,   and how dead and deadening the exposure to bureaucracy can be  , is too well known. In Jose Saramago’s chillingly contemporary novel , Blindness, a doctor calls a minor bureaucrat in the ministry of health who ridicules and rebuffs him. “This is the stuff we are made of, half indifference, half malice,’’ he  muses to himself.

 

For the medical industry , whose   profitability is rooted in human misery, it is a vultures’ feast, you can hear the feathered creatures  singing  in all  their  glory.  After all  it is once in a lifetime opportunity. How can they let it go?  According to an informed estimate the two-serum manufacturer are looking at a combined profit of 1.10 lakh crores. After having appeased their respective   governments with crumbs, they can go  about the business of excoriating ordinary people. But I do not grudge them their profit considering that  one of the above gentlemen is paying an extortionate rent of 5 million rupees per week for a flat in London. Chartered private jets don’t come in cheap either.  In the meanwhile in the 2021 edition of quit India movement led by the super-rich, eight plane loads of them landed in their private jets at London to beat the ban against flights from India . Wonder why did  we ask  them to quit in the first place! The exodus, however, is not limited to London , our people have peppered the pleasure joints of Europe or wherever Covid no longer raises its ugly head. Dubai is also a favoured new destination for the Indian uber rich .

Private hospitals, I have heard, are charging one lac rupees per day for a room. Remdisivir was, reportedly selling, if at well it was available, for  four times the normal price.  In the final stages of consumerism everything has an exact commodific value. For those  who haven’t learnt their  lessons  while they were  alive, the Dom raja now asks his price for cremation. People who can afford are paying 20 -2 5 thousand for a priority berth . Up there, some of them  should  be able to  tell God, all is well with India and his grand mansion is likely to be commissioned on schedule  .

Written about a fortnight ago.

कोरोना का कहर और गिद्धों का महाभोज

डेढ़ वर्ष से लगातार कोरोना जनित विपत्तियों का दंश झेलते झेलते मन बिलकुल रुग्ण सा हो गया है. मुझे अनिद्रा की बीमारी है। कोरोना के डर से कर्फ्यू, कर्फ्यू से स्तब्ध, भयभीत , शिशुवत निद्रा में सोया हुआ शहर, मेरे नींद से वंचित होने के अहसास को और गहरा देती है. लगता है कोरोना का डर कहीं बहुत गहरे पैठ गया है। लॉक डाउन कुत्तों के लिए तो नहीं था परन्तु उन्होंने भी इस पर स्वेच्छा से अमल करना शुरू कर दिया। कहीं दूर दूर तक किसी सम्भ्रान्त या आवारा कुत्ते के भौंकने की आवाज़ भी नहीं आती। इस अभिशप्त शहर में रात्रि के तीन बजे , कदाचित मैं अकेला ,निद्रा अनिद्रा के बीच की स्थिति में अपनी किताबें ,उलट पुलट रहा हूँ। कभी ट्विटर , तो कभी यूट्यूब खंगाल रहा हूँ, शायद विचलित, चिंतित ,चंचल, मन को कोई ठाँव मिले। पर जहाज से उड़े पंछी को कोई आश्रय नहीं मिलता। 'दिल्ली में कर्फ्यू है ' से अचानक याद आया गजानन माधव मुक्तिबोध ने गगन में कर्फ्यू में ही यह खोज की थी कि “चांद का है टेढ़ा मुँह!!भयानक स्याह सन तिरपन का चांद वह !!गगन में करफ़्यू है. " सोचा चलकर देखूं तो सही धरती पर गाहे बगाहे कर्फ्यू ने चाँद का मुँह कही सीधा तो नहीं कर दिया। चाँद भी कही छिपकर बैठा था , मास्क से छनकर मद्धिम सी रोशनी गवाह थी कि चाँद अभी डूबा नहीं है.

फिर सोचा इस कोरोना की चिंता में बौराए मन का होम्योपैथिक इलाज करता हूँ। महामारी में महामारी पर लिखी किताबें पढता हूँ। मेरे पास लम्बी फेहरिस्त हैं ऐसी किताबों की, लेकिन कागज़ पर नहीं। मेरी किताबों का ज़खीरा मेरे घर पटना में है , निपट अकेला उन से दूर मैं दिल्ली में , इसलिए डिजिटल अवतार में ही उनका मनन करता हूँ. किताब हो तो कागज़ पर वर्ना नहीं। पर ऐसे समय में डिजिटल अवतार में Decameron by Boccaccio, The Journal of Plague Years by Daniel Defoe , Love In Times Of Cholera Marquez, Pale Horse ,Pale Rider Katherine Anne Porter, Plague by Albert Camus and Blindness by Jose Saramago उपलब्ध हैं . इन सभी किताबों को मैंने पढ़ा हुआ था, कुछ को तो कई बार फिर भी उन को देखा और Blindness को पुनः आद्योपांत पढ़ डाला। इसकी चर्चा अंग्रेजी के पोस्ट में। पर मन ने तो जैसे ठान लिया था, नो सोऊंगा न सोने दूंगा.

ट्विटर की जिस गली से मैं निकला वहां पर भयंकर सांप्रदायिक तनाव का माहौल था. मोदी जी के उपासकों और उनकी आदतन भर्त्स्ना करने वालों -दोनों सम्प्रदायों - के बीच कोरोना महामारी को रोकने के लिए सरकारी उपायों पर गरमा गरम बहस छिड़ी थी. मुक्तिबोध फिर याद आये 'जोरदार जिरह कि कितना समय लगेगा/सुबह होगी कब और/मुश्किल होगी दूर कब.' कुछ देर ठहरकर मैंने बिलकुल निर्विकार भाव से जायज़ा लिया और आगे बढ़ लिया। अनाहूत राजकमल चौधरी की कुछ पंक्तिय याद आगयी। उनका इस सन्दर्भ में क्या औचित्य था मैं नहीं कह सकता , लेकिन बहस का बहाव कुछ इसी तरह का था। मुलाहिज़ा फरमाइए :

" तुम्हारी मृत्यु के अपराध में, क़ैद हूँ । क़ैदख़ाने में

दरवाज़ा नहीं है;

दरवाज़ा इस ग्लोब में कभी नहीं था ।

आओ, पहले हम बहस करें कि क्यों नहीं था दरवाज़ा

पहले हम तय करें कि यह क़ैदख़ाना किसने बनाया

फ़ैसला करें कि दरवाज़े क्या होते हैं

इतनी ईंटें कहाँ से आईं

लोहे की सलाख़ें कौन ले आया

दीवारें धीरे-धीरे ऊपर उठती गई किस तरह ?

आवश्यक है तर्क-वितर्क

फिर, यह कि वाक्य-व्यवस्था हो, विषय हो

सिद्धान्त बनें, अपवाद गढ़े जाएँ, व्याख्याएँ, भाष्य,

फिर, निर्णय हो

कि पहले क्यों नहीं थे दरवाज़े

और, अब क्यों नहीं हैं ?"

पूरा देश आजकल बहस कर रहा है. ट्विटर पर, फेसबुक पर , सड़क, चौराहों पर। बहस प्रजातंत्र की प्राण वायु है। मैंने नहीं कार्ल पापर ने ऐसा कहा था. क्रिटिकल डिबेट यानि सुविचरित बहस। इन बहसों में विचार का पुट कितना है मैं नहीं कह सकता पर उनकी प्रति बद्धता एवं उस पर सब कुछ उत्सर्ग कर देने की भावना बस देखते ही बनती है. ट्विटर पर यदि खडग का प्रयोग हो सकता तो ट्विटर के राण बाँकुरों के उष्ण रक्त से आज देश से विलुप्त होती हुई गंगा सिंचित हो जाती।ट्विटर और विशेष कर फेसबुक पर मैं कुछ कहने से बचता हूँ. वैसे मेरी कोई राजनैतिक प्रतिबद्धता नहीं है। व्यक्तियों की पूजा मैंने कभी नहीं की.नीचे भारत का संविधान और ऊपर मेरा भगवान। इसके अतरिक्त किसी प्राधिकार में मेरी आस्था नहीं है. किसी विवाद में पड़ने की मेरी प्रवृत्ति नहीं है लेकिन न जाने क्यों दुष्यंत कुमार की तरह मेरी भी

कुंठा

रेशम के कीड़ों सी

ताने-बाने बुनती

तड़प-तड़पकर

बाहर आने को सिर धुनती,

स्वर से

शब्दों से

भावों से 'निकलने को बिलबिलाने लगी।

राष्ट्रकवि दिनकर ने महाभारत युद्ध में संभावित रक्तपात के मद्देनज़र लिखा था , " सौभागय मनुज के फूटेंगे, बायस शृगाल सुख लूटेंगे। " कोरोना मानव मात्र लिए दुर्भाग्य का सन्देश है लेकिन हमलोग रोज़ चीन की उत्तरोत्तर समृद्धि के समाचार पढ़ते हैं। देश के नामचीन उद्योगपतियों, पूंजीपतियों की संपत्ति में खरबों रुपये का इज़ाफ़ा हो गया. इस अकाल बेला में जमाखोरी और रेमडीसीवीर जैसे प्राणरक्षक दवाओं तथा ऑक्सीजन सिलिंडरो की जमाखोरी का धंधा खूब तेज़ी से चल रहा है. पटना में एक पति -शोक से विक्षिप्त पत्नी ने कोरोना संक्रमण से मृत पति की चिता पर रखे जाने से पहले कम से कम उसको चेहरा दिखने की गुजारिश की। हरिश्चंद्र ने इसी कर्तव्व्य के निर्वहन के क्रम में अपनी पत्नी को भी कोई रियायत नहीं बक्शी थी लिहाज़ा डोम राजा एक अनजान औरत के साथ क्यों ऐसा करें.?१०००० रुपये में मुँह दिखाई हुई। लाश दूसरे की निकली, पति पी एम सी एच के बेड पर था. कोरोना जांच में तो जिस स्तर का फर्जीवाड़ा चल रहा है वह अकल्पनीय है। दिनकर जी से क्षमा याचना करते हुए यह निवेदन करना चाहूँगा कि मनुष्यों को अपने शर्मानक कृत्यों को मानवोचित न कह सकने की मजबूरी कुत्तों और स्यारों पर अपनी भड़ास निकलने को मज़बूर करता है. मनुष्यों के सौभाग्य जब फूटते हैं तो मनुष्य ही खुलकर लूट करते हैं. कुत्ते तो बेचारे लॉक डाउन में मनुष्यों को नैतिक समर्थन देते हुए भूँकना बंद कर देते हैं. उस भेड़िए की कहानी तो सबने सुनी होगी जिसमें वह पानी जूठा करने के आरोप में उसे मार कर खा जाता है. अमरीका सरे आम इराक में घातक अस्त्रों जखीरा रखने के आरोप में तहस नहस कर डालता है, लाखो लोगों को मौत के घात उतार डालता है, असंख्य निर्दोष लोगों को आतंकवादी करार कर अकथनीय यातनाये देता है, लेकिन आज तक उन अस्त्रों का कोई प्रमाण नहीं मिला। लेकिन अमरीका तो अमरीका ठहरा . इस भेड़िये को भेड़िया न कहने का साहस ,तरह तरह के कशीदे गढ़ने को मज़बूर करता है जिससे इसकी दरिंदगी पर पर्दा डाला जा सके. लेकिन फिर मैं अपनी ही रौ में बह गया ,दर्द देशवासी दे रहे हैं मैं गाली विदेशियों को दे गया .

ट्विटर पर एक अन्य ह्रदय विदारक क्लिप : रो रो कर महिला बयान कर रही है , छह घण्टे से एक बेड की इंतज़ार में एम्बुलेंस में पति को लेकर हूँ. अम्बुलेंस का ऑक्सीजन खतम हो गया और पति ने दम तोड़ दिया। कट टू " अस्पतालों के आगे एम्बुलेंस की लम्बी कतारें , हर एम्बुलेंस में एक रुग्ण व्यक्ति, उसके साथ अधीर , व्यग्र परिजन ,एक बेड खाली होने की प्रतीक्षा में। किसे परवाह बेड कैसे खाली हुआ , पहले दाखिल रोगी जिया या मर गया , जब अपने जान पर बनती है तो दूसरे के जीने मरने की चिंता कहाँ सताती है? अनायास तिरने लगती है मानस पटल पर, भूख और बीमारी से पीड़ित, सुदूर अफ्रीका में एक मरणासन्न शिशु के निष्प्राण हो जाने की प्रतीक्षा में बैठा हुआ एकाग्र चित्त गिद्ध । यह फोटो पुरस्कृत हुआ, कुछ समय के लिये आत्मरत, आत्मकेंद्रित संपन्न समाज के कुछ संवेदनशील तबकों को तनिक उद्वेलित भी कर गया। मामला कुछ दिनों बहुत चर्चा में रहा। परन्तु फ़ोटो लेने के लिए साक्षी भाव से सब कुछ देखने के अपने पैशाचिक कृत्य की ग्लानि फोटोग्राफर ने आत्महत्या कर ली. उसकी आत्मा जीवित थी ,जाग्रत थी अतएव उसने उस ने शरीर के परित्याग में मुक्ति का मार्ग ढूँढा।

हर धर्म में एक परादैहिक तत्त्व की अवधारणा है,आत्मा,रूह ,सोल ,स्पिरिट जो हमें पशुओं से अलग करता है। डार्विन के सिद्धांतों से बहुत पहले हमारे पूर्वजों को इस बात का पूरा इल्म था कि हमलोग पशु हैं, मनुष्यत्त्व (यदि मैं इस शब्द को तात्कालिक प्रयोजन के लिए गढ़ सकता )का आवरण बहुत ही झीना है जो विषम परिस्थितियों में तार तार हो जा सकता है। धर्म का यह एक परम दायित्त्व है कि मनुष्य के स्वाभाविक पशुवत व्यवहार पर नियंत्रण रखने के लिए उसे एक स्वतःपूरित एवं तर्क संगत मिथक की आवश्यकता होती है. यह आवशयकता ईश्वर के अविष्कार की जननी होती है. ईश्वरों का उत्पादन हर युग में मनुष्य कीआवश्यकता है. प्राकृतिक तत्त्वों को व्यक्तिनिष्ठ करके पूजने से लेकर सम्प्रति इहलौकिक सत्ता में काबिज व्यक्ति पर ईश्वरत्त्व सौंपने के प्रवृत्ति जारी है. बहरहाल निकले थे कहाँ जाने के लिए निकलें हैं कहाँ मालूम नहीं. इस स्ट्रीम ऑफ़ कांशसनेस में कहाँ से कहाँ बहक गया ? क्रमशः

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS VI

In wake of the PM's remarks on the the versatility of the members of IAS in the Indian Parliament , I am posting an article ,that I wrote about 25 years ago in the Times Of India. It is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago. And perhaps shall remain so a hundred year later.

I have edited and made minor changes form the published version and instead of The Mighty Service , I have captioned it The Indian Almighty Service

THE INDIAN ALMIGHTY SERVICE

Mr. Fixer cautioned me before embarking on this mission to meet the members of the Service, that it would be only proper for me to apprise myself of the genesis and background of these Platonic guardians, lest I commit some blasphemous faux pas. It will be my endeavour to reproduce what he said as faithfully as my memory would allow me to. "The myth of the creation of the Almighty Service, this is how the group likes to describe itself, dates it to hoary antiquity - say about 150 years ago. An empire was seized by the urge to civilise the dark-skinned natives of Atlantis, offer them good governance. “If we can’t give them independence, let us at least give them good governance.” They happily termed this enterprise as the white man's burden and to this end, they especially raised a group of people who were imbued with a sense of destiny to advance the noble and self-effacing enterprise which some griping iconoclast has termed as ‘imperial’ and 'colonial'. But be that as it may, these people were great pioneers and in the manner of the Nordic heroes who raised dykes to save the Netherlands from being submerged into water, they built a strong wall-known as the ‘steel frame’ to protect the Empire and keep it going.

They are a cut above the rest of humanity; absolutely unapproachable and above board but Fixers( I have explained the difference between Fixers and frauds, a very important difference, in a previous episode. ) have easy access to them. So the Fixer took me to the man who presided over the local district administration. We entered an imposing bungalow where a gentleman was sitting under a garden umbrella in the neatly manicured lawn, doing his files. The Fixer greeted him but he took no notice and continued with his precious labour. Intermittently he motioned in the direction of the sun. He was getting irritated when a man came running and adjusted the angle-poise umbrella in such a way that he no longer got the sun in his eyes. He grunted in satisfaction and returned to his files. The peon explained to us that the Sahib was getting the sun in his eye so he was motioning to the sun to get a move on so that he could carry on his momentous task! I looked puzzled but the Fixer remarked by way of explanation that there was a time when the sun was also in bondage, like the rest of Atlantis, and was forced to shine on some part or the other of the Empire. Some of the defenders of the Empire had perhaps not taken note of the fact that after the liquidation of the Empire the sun was, like the rest of us, free to do as he pleased. ( The Service still clung to the belief that it was in the nature of things that the sun should go round the earth because it was their abode.)

Spurned by the Sahib we tried to seek an appointment with another one of his tribe. His house was a veritable museum with bric-a-brac strewn all over. On the wall, there were several citations in laminated frame comparing him to the preserver and benevolent god. Many photographs showed him inaugurating this or that. But, what intrigued me most was that several contraptions that looked like shock absorbers were fixed at regular intervals on the floor, on the driveway, and all over the place. A bow and a quiver of arrows were neatly hung on the wall. The Sahib was in the office but the peon obviously read our minds. He said, "I am sure you are keen to know about the bows and arrows and of course these shock absorbers. Our Sahib thinks that he has entered this service by defeating other pretenders just as the mythical Lord Rama won his consort in the competition. This bow and arrow is a reminder to the Pretenders belonging to the intermediate services. As for the shock absorbers, the Sahib had a drop too much in the club sometime back and he has persuaded himself ever since that this drunken swagger was the result of the earth shaking under his footsteps. Out of compassion for Mother Earth he has had these shock absorbers fitted."! was bowled over lock stock and barrel but the Fixer explained that these people had often notions which were inconsistent with the common man’s point of view but they have good reasons for such beliefs." The Sahib, alas! Had left for his office.

“It is better to catch them in their office,” the Fixer said, “because what is a Sahib without the seat from where he exercises his authority.” We decided to meet the Provider of shelter to the government servants in his office. There could be no more appropriate activity to begin my education as the issue of allotment of government quarters was very much in the news. There was a large queue of favour seekers in front of his office. Mr. Fixer urged the Provider to enlighten us on the procedure to allocate the limited number of houses to a host of supplicants, er applicants. He said without looking up from his files, “it is simple, you see these houses here." A large number of houses in miniature were stacked in neat rows. A group of posh bungalows was set apart and hidden from view.

He explained to us the objective criteria for allotment and confidently said that they followed it religiously.

(I) Member of the Service.

(ii) An adequate number is reserved for the members of the Service who came on premature transfer.

(iii) A certain number is reserved for the lackeys, hangers-on and others who surrendering all their duties seek refuge in the Service alone.

(iv) Seniority list which is prepared in accordance with rules.

While he was thus describing the procedure there was a commotion outside. An agent of the Court entered and rapped the functionary on the knuckles, picked up a house, and gave it in to the petitioner. He wrote on top of the list "Be you ever so high the law is above you.” The functionary looked embarrassed and shame-faced. There was a mighty clang and his huge ego fell in heaps on the floor. We made a hurried and undignified exit leaving the presiding deity to collect the pieces.

Atlantis being a democracy the people are the real masters, the governments are made and unmade by the people. The governments try to propitiate their masters in the manner of Gods of ancient times by sacrifices known as developmental programs. And as in the manner prescribed in their religious texts the Service has cast itself in the role of Agni, the mediator who appropriates and apportions the sacrificial offering. Naturally, they occupy the highest position in the hierarchy of public service and are universally courted. The newspapers however were full of heretic stories about the misappropriation of the sacrificial offerings of cows and buffaloes for the tribal gods er people.

The Developer was sitting on a high hobbyhorse and was persuaded to come down only in order to stamp the heresy, once and forever. This is what he said: "When you offer sacrifices to the gods when you pour clarified butter, coconut and various fruits, etc in the fire, when you make an offering of gold to the various deities do you seek an account from the priest. Has anyone seen God eating the prasad or wearing the gold ornaments? You leave that to the priest. Were they to furnish accounts of every single offering the whole ritualistic routine will come to a standstill. It is blasphemy to even raise such questions about development funds, whether buffaloes were bought or goats were sold leave alone investigate. " The case was argued so well that one couldn't refute it one way or the other. For good measure, he lamented the fact that the subordinates¬ were so inefficient and corrupt that nothing got done really. He came forward with a litany of complaints of malfeasance of the other servants of the government of Atlantis-the lowborn subordinate services even the intermediate services who kept staking insane claims of parity. “Look at the absurdity of their claims-the doctors want to run the health care system, the dim-witted generals would like to decide which gun is best suited for their artillery. We have lost the Empire once by making silly concessions. Never shall the mistake be repeated. It strikes at the heart of the system of governance by ignorance we have perfected over the years. We have allowed them to carry water and hew wood but now they want to be in the decision-making positions.” He mounted his hobbyhorse again not even indicating that the interview was over. We imperceptibly faded out.

The Service members gather at regular intervals and debate serious issues as a cure for their collective flatulence and dyspepsia and let out a lot of gas. They sometimes play a game called Ali Baba in which, through secret ballot, they reveal to themselves the well-known fact as to which three of them are the most corrupt. Sometimes they meet just to flex their muscles. One such meeting began with their ritual prayer in which all the other hostile forces were soundly abused and “we are the masters of the Universe", was chanted in Chorus. Speaker after speaker occupied the high moral ground and thundered revenge against an alleged assault on one of their members by an elected representative of the people. They even threatened to withdraw their benign protection for a day by going on mass casual leave. The whole world shook to its foundations. But the tension dissipated itself as quickly as it had built up. The lion tamer twisted the tail of one of the leading members of the pack and they all fell in line. They relented and stayed at work and had a good laugh at the cost of the frightened populace. The Fixer appeared to be totally exhausted. I immediately offered him a glass of water, switched on the fan, and told him that it was enough instruction for a-day. If I feel like I'll see him next week.