“THROUGHOUT HIS STAY IN HASTINAVATI, SRI KRISHNA the envoy of the Pandavas, resolutely spurns the hospitality of the Kauravas. Vidura’s humble abode is his favoured Xanadu. His residence there is also a powerful reminder to the Kauravas: Vidura is the unfading flower of Dharma in your empire of Adharmic sludge. He is the only fearless truth-teller and is therefore the genuine well-wisher of the Kaurava clan.

When we study Sri Krishna’s diplomacy in the Udyoga Parva and contrast it with the generational record of our IFS officers, we get a depressing picture. For a seat for their spawns in an elite US or British university, for business prospects, for post-retirement sinecures, three generations of our IFS officers have sold the Indian national interest without batting an eyelid.

It is unsurprising that the adult brats of such IFS officers are some of the most virulent India-haters. Among them, a majority have Hindu names….”