The Summer Syndrome

The Summer Syndrome Ramesh Thapar SUMMER is descending. The linger ing heat is there. The dust too. Drinking water is down to a dribble in many areas. And, as if more reminding was necessary, the entire capital was plunged in darkness last night for two hours (with minister's houses glowing in the night on self-generation). Another case of 'tripping'. Some suspected sabotage. It was on the day of the public sector bandh for a minimum wage of Rs 500. At this rate, we may find that the wages are drying up too, The patterns of summer are familiar. We tend to go into a kind of hibernation. Everything slows down. Only the dynamic individuals who are manning the key points of our political and economic life cannot stand still. They plan their global tours, anything upto two months, to tell the world about India even as it scorches under the pitiless sun. It would be a telltale exercise to calculate the cost of this annual exodus and the elaborate pleas on which it is justified. Now, the pressure is intense, what with electricity and water coming in fits and starts.