In the opinion of a thinker all that we see is not real (such as the mirror image of anyone who stands before the reflecting sheet of glass) and all that we hear is not true (maybe, such as reports in dailies, barring exceptions). From scholars we learn that Adi Shankara, the eighth century exponent of theology, propounded with his characteristic lucidity that everything in this world is unreal, read myth. While a section among those revelling in eloquence may toe the line of thinking attributed to the aforementioned unnamed thinker and Adi Shankara, lay people are sure to get confused between things real and things true. To digress from issues of real things of life and truth of what we hear, let us take a peek at voices in public domain oscillating between upholding the colonial rule over the country terminating in 1947 and berating the present self-rule over the past seven decades.

A national agency that goes by the name NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) is preoccupied in working on a blue print of sorts suggesting sets of action plan aimed at the Himalayan target of transforming the nation. The progress towards that target, happening in trickles, has already invited the criticism of seasoned analysts, however uncharitable their verdict may sound.

The nation being a democracy and government of the day having to function within the framework of the country’s Constitution, the masses have no option other than complying with the provisions therein, under the vigil of the functionaries in the law-keeping wings of the government, namely the Police force and the law courts, read judiciary. There lies the catch. Successive governments to this day, since taking over the reins of governing the land and its people, have enacted laws voluminous to the extent of crossing the physical limits of anyone to make out what that cornucopia amounts to. While that limit to comprehend the country’s laws flawlessly is the dubious strength of the lawyers and judges, together and separately, one cannot miss the growing numbers of street smart citizens who are living examples of the principle: “Show me the man, I will show you the rule.”

The nation, it must be admitted, has proved its staying power averting its disintegration so far. The question that looms large is: How long can it stay intact given the dominating influence of a major part of the population unwilling to comply with the laws, unbendable in its indiscipline behaviour and uncommitted to build a strong and vibrant India. The ancient prescription of using the stick (dandam dashagunam bhaveth) suggests itself.