August Tidings

I am not an astrologer, nor was I a fly on the wall during secret parleys, but it always seemed to me that the crisis had a short lifespan. After all the posturing and the public positioning, neither Mr Karat nor Mrs Gandhi were ever keen to take this to the finish. An election suited nobody, in fact it would have been an electoral disaster for both the upa and the Communists. Thus, from the very beginning, the crisis seemed readymade for self-destruction.

Although the nation's nerves were needlessly strained, it gave us journos juicy fodder and added gaiety to a dull August. We lived in interesting times.