Likening any complex or unsolvable problem used to be expressed metaphorically as the Gordian Knot by writers in English during the days gone by. The legend on dismantling an ‘impossible’ knot dates back to the times of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). The phrase Cutting the Gordian Knot has come to assume the proverb form to denote that an intractable problem can be solved only by bold action. In this context, one is prompted to get fascinated by pondering over the problems being faced by the nation’s diaspora even as old ones remain unsolved and new ones are cropping up day after day. The set of problems beyond human capability to prevent their happening and those created by the land’s people themselves are different kettles of fish. The boundless ingenuity of citizens of the country to pose problems burdening the government doesn’t see them or the nation in good light.

Every successive government glorifying the many measures taken during its years at the helm as unquestionably pro-people and the respective opposition berating the government with no holds barred is the name of the game. Two such measures namely, demonetisation (done on Nov. 8, 2016) and introduction of the GST (introduced as a unified tax system on July 1, 2017) are right now engaging the incumbent government at the Centre and Opposition both in the nation’s Parliament and many States, including Karnataka.

Interestingly, two phenomenons enveloping the country’s public space have emerged as Gordian Knots (note the plural form of the noun as different from its place in the legend of several centuries vintage). It may well be superfluous to remind ourselves that a) Pollution (in its multiple avatars) and b) Corruption (a term that has ceased to disturb anybody’s mental poise, given its demonic proportions). Needless to portray these as the nation’s worst curses in all centuries past of the country’s long history. Agencies such as the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment are keeping track of the extent and steadily rising pace of pollution of air, water and soil, publishing figures relating to these without leading to even marginal change in the public ethos about pollution. Talking about corruption, alongside pollution, with none other than the nation’s people, barring exceptions, as sole authors.

Quoting Napoleon’s famous line “The word impossible is only in the dictionary of fools,” it is unacceptable that untying the aforementioned Gordian Knots is impossible. To say that bold action is the only way to expedite the task is saying the obvious. To expect any regime in the country’s government to resort to bold action amounts to asking for the moon.