Mr Raghavendra Puthraya fwded us a thought-provoking e-mail, the content of which is purported to have been authored by no less a person than the President, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. Accompanying note asks the e-mail recipient to forward the mail to friends, instead of feeding them with jokes and junk mail. I don’t suppose the President would have put it quite that way. Anyway, the substance of the longish e-mail is worth sharing, in five takes.

Once in an interview, the famous ex-municipal commissioner of Mumbai, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. 'Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,' he said. 'And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?'

He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public