Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Are we really smart?

As a race we don't stop gloating about the fact that we have a rich culture, have a  long histroy, that we concern ourselves with bigger and better things namely, why we exist, why we are born, how to reach nirvana etc etc.

We may be good at pleasing the Gods but we have failed the humanity. Proof of pudding is in its eating, the proof of superior intellect is in first managing the mundane wordly affairs seamlessly, something that people can touch and feel. We have failed miserably there. Our superior intellect can not guarantee that we provide basic amenities to our people.

Major part of country plunged into darkness. The funny thing is, everybody who is a somebody in this area, knew that this is coming, but nobody did anything. It is a known fact that most of the utilities that buy electricity - State Electricity Boards - are broke. These utilities can't invest in basic distribution infrastructure. They can't pay the power generation utilities, which in turn can't setup more power generation capacity neither can they upgrade their power transmission infrastructure. The cycle is broken. It is a known fact that politicians use promises of free electricity to get votes. It is understood that it is populism at its worst, that hurts country's long term growth, but it is still done. It is a known fact that theft of electricity is widespread and is done with full connivance of the utility employees. But it still happens with impunity.

Can we call ourselves smart? I leave that question for the readers to answer. But smart or not, we definitely are a prime example of a dysfunctional state.

1 comment:

  1. Completely Agree. We should stop using "rich culture" as a shield. I was reading another statement by our power minister Sushilkumar Shinde saying "I was excellent (as Power minister)". Wonder when will 360 degree appraisal start for our ministers.

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