Indian airports have achieved something remarkable. They have turned ordinary citizens into temporary aristocrats or nawabs.

The battle for Uttar Pradesh has begun, even though the election is still months away. Tickets are being chased, alliances are being stitched together, and political camps are already measuring their strength. BJP leaders are saying with confidence, “Let our work speak.”

They promised to change the country. Yet the streets show the same scene: red lights ahead, wailing sirens behind. Ordinary people sweat in traffic while leaders’ convoys slice through, no longer kings on elephants but rulers in SUV caravans.

Will we leave our children a green and flourishing India, or a land of dust storms, poisoned air and dying rivers? This is no longer a question for environmental activists alone. It confronts every citizen standing on the banks of Agra's shrinking Yamuna, every farmer watching erratic monsoons destroy crops, and every family forced to breathe toxic air through long winter months.

Even if we accept that a few rotten elements have entered the media, and that some activists misuse the Right to Information, is it fair to put the entire community in the dock? In law, medicine, the judiciary, and politics, black sheep exist everywhere, but does that make the whole system guilty?

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay recently appointed his personal astrologer as an Officer on Special Duty in the Chief Minister’s Office. The news spread like wildfire. Reports claimed that this very astrologer had ‘predicted’ years ago that Vijay would one day rise to power. Within hours, political circles erupted. Alliance partners objected. Rationalism, constitutional values, and scientific temper were invoked. Eventually, the government was forced to retreat.