Extracts

“New Delhi, July (six months before the national elections)"

It rained in the disinterested Delhi way as if doing a job that would bring neither rewards nor recognition, the same way the government officer in the free water department, signed an order that afternoon to normalize water supply to areas in southwest Delhi. No one had asked him to expedite the file or delay it by luring him with tickets for the IPL cricket matches or special passes to movie previews. No one even thanked him for making sure that 15000 households would be pleasantly surprised to find water in taps next morning for the first time in three months. He knew why there had been no supply. The water had been secretly diverted to private businessmen, who had resold it at a profit to the same households. The dry taps were explained to the government by saying that the water supply was affected because of peak demand due to summer heat. No one thought of investigating the matter; the private water lobby ensured that. This informal and hugely profitable arrangement usually came to an end with the arrival of monsoon rains each year, after which there could be no justification for water scarcity. It helped if the rains were delayed, though; people remained thirsty a little longer. This year, however, the rains were on time…..”