The Perils of Development

It was a really awkward day for this Bihar correspondent of ours, when he stumbled upon a group of people celebrating holi, a couple of days before the actual festival. Puzzled by this, he went ahead and asked them the reason for this bizarre behavior. One of them adjusted a heavy gold chain around his neck, and came forward and replied, “Our state has now been declared backward! Now, we will receive help from the Central government so that we can also become rich!” Wondering why people should celebrate upon being labeled backward, he contacted a person from the CM office. The man was obviously elated. He revealed the reason, “We really pity developed states like Gujarat, whose CM speaks about the development of his state, but has his dinners cancelled by American Universities. Look at our CM. He declared to the whole world how poor and backward we are. And look how much he has achieved!”

Upon contacting the Ministry of Human Resources, their spokesperson declared that in the light of recent events, like how only the poor get entry into reality shows, and also develop sufficient knowledge to win knowledge based shows, the Ministry is considering a new borderline to define the poor. This new borderline will include most of the Indians, except the Tatas, Birlas and Ambanis below the poverty line. As a result, India will be the poorest, and hence, the most aided nation in the world. He also stated that the first rank in school will be given to the student scoring the least so that he would soon become sincere.

“Social impact? Hahaha!” the spokesperson laughed upon being asked about the same, and said, “It’s a cyclic process. Those who are developed now, will soon become backward as all the funds and help will go to backward states. And then, they will ask for help. Like this, we will have a constant number of backward states, and we will also develop a lot of states,” he replied in a triumphant smile.

Puzzled by this entire logic, the correspondent contacted the CMO of Gujarat for their comments. However, the spokesperson stated that Modi cannot be reached since he is lunching with a Japanese delegation. Oh, the perils of development!