Delhi Poll Outcome

It is a deja vu moment.  The victory of AAP has many parallels with the BJP victory at the center in May last year.  It is a decisive mandate.  The mandate has been given on the basis of clear-cut issues rather than caste, region and identity.  It is a mandate that leaves little excuse for not delivering on the promises.  I would like to think that it also shows what happens when a decisive mandate is not fully honored, and hence it embodies a warning too for the beneficiaries of the mandate.  It says in very clear words that petty corruption and crony capitalism have reached a level that the public will revolt against at every available opportunity.  And it shows its disapproval for narcissism at any level.

The electorate in India seems to be maturing fast.  The old tricks deployed for dividing the electorate ad infinitum on the lines of caste and creed are now giving ever diminishing returns.  The electorate seems to be sending out a message that it is a taskmaster and will not put up with non-performance.

The electorate is essentially telling the politicians, "We are giving you responsibilities and tasks and NOT a seat of power and pelf.  And please do not use identity management to distract us from any non-performance."

AAP supporters are celebrating the victory in traditional ways.  They will do well to keep celebrations at a minimum and get down to brass tacks. AAP must not forget the warning very clearly implicit in this victory.  Deliver or perish!

The wonder drug SutoL

This indigenous drug has been around for quite long and tall claims have been made by its inventors about its efficacy for curing a wide variety of ailments - many of them peculiar to India.  However there was always a dearth of willing subjects in adequate numbers to participate in a trial that could establish the claims.  Quite a few patients also claimed to be allergic towards it.

Later on, somehow, the number of willing patients rose to a statistically very significant number in a state that is known for its enterprise.  The trials there have been claimed to be a resounding success that established all the claims of the inventors and then some more.  The competing firms, however, kept pointing out that the observed effects were more due to the disciplined lifestyle of the participants rather than the drug itself.  One newly established firm conducted its own research and maintained that though there were some improvements in the musculature and skin tone, functioning of the internal organs continued to be at sub-optimal levels.

In the meantime large number of patients throughout the country were getting disillusioned with established drugs from the best-known brand in the country.  Complaints were made of loss of general vitality accompanied by impaired vocal chords.  Moreover rising prices were making the drug very unaffordable.  There also was a suspicion of huge profits being siphoned offshore by this firm.

A sizable number of these disillusioned patients in another state, decided to try a drug that had been invented very recently.  The response was very good but the patients were too impatient.  To make things worse, the firm stopped production claiming that its competitors had blocked the supply of a vital input.

In the meantime inventors of SutoL claimed to have found a very potent molecule that they have named O-maN.  The addition of this molecule has significantly enhanced the potency of the old formulation.  Some of the ingredients in the earlier formulation have also been dropped as they were found to be interfering with the efficacy of the new molecule.

Left with no choice and with reports of the new formulation under the old brand name SutoL, the patients have shifted en masse to the indigenous drug.  The trials have begun with much fanfare.  The market share of competitors who had a near monopoly in the market has seen a sharp plunge.

The latest entrant in the market who had to stop production because of non-availability of a critical ingredient, are sticking to their claim that this new so-called wonder drug is essentially similar to the brand that it has displaced.  Unfortunately they find few takers.

The newly begun trials have evoked keen interest all over the world.  We offer our very best wishes to the participants in the trials as also the makers of this drug.