Bubbles fascinate babies. Their romance with bubbles seems to get more romantic with every bubble they blow, some bulging more than others, disappearing into thin air, but not before bursting. This column, featuring bubbles other than the virtual monopoly of the tiny-tots, may not interest them, but the seemingly fragile, perfectly spherical globules that constitute adult business opens a vista that should make citizens, read aam janata, sit up and ponder, without having to wonder. First, let us take the case of the IT bubble. In the aftermath of the now-familiar-to-all Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution, that brought dream-like dividends such as a) new employment opportunities to the otherwise beleaguered graduates, b) enviable pay packets to the players in the sector, c) voluminous revenue in forex, d) glorifying Bengaluru as the Silicon Valley of the East, e) hoisting India as the global IT hub and f) scores of fallout of these dividends, some sections of the land’s intelligentsia were heard prattling that the IT bubble would burst sooner than later. Mercifully or otherwise that has not happened.

Before proceeding to take up the third and more interesting bubble, let us take the case of a second bubble, namely tainted wealth commanded by you-know-who, after which the present administrative machinery of the incumbent Union government has set its eyes, unfazed by far less success in grabbing that wealth. This bubble, a euphemism, considering its amazing holding power enabling to dodge bursting even as it is bulging to a volume that mocks at the gigantic hot air balloon.

For fear of running out of column-space devoted to bubbles, one is compelled to take the case of the third bubble, characterised by a staying power leaving the aforementioned second bubble far behind. Readers of this column should have no difficulty whatsoever in guessing which bubble is in contention, given the report under a three-column caption that reads: Among public services, Police most corrupt, says survey. One has to hasten to be aware of the harsh conditions that the contemporary society has created for the Police force to function under choking situations. It is unfair, therefore, to cast aspersions on the law-keeping wing of the government, which has its own share of honest and competent officers and ranks among the staff.

The Delhi-based agency whose survey report denigrating the Police force as a bribe-grabbing flock has only seen one side of the matter, like the glowing face of the moon. The agency, as reported in the media, has not said a word about the giving-side of bribe, our third bubble. Suffice to say, like the Bard of Stratford upon Avon has said, it is blessed twice; it, like mercy, blesseth him that gives and also him that takes. This bubble bypasses bursting like no other bubble.