“Boys and girls together? Arre baba, there will only be trouble!”—the grandmothers, the aunties, and the WhatsApp uncles of India chant this like a holy mantra. For them, co-education is the gateway drug to doom: a ticket from ‘innocent schooling’ straight into the moral ICU.

For over a month now, Karnataka has simmered under the weight of an explosive rumour: a whistleblower alleged that hundreds of women and girls were sexually assaulted and murdered, their bodies secretly buried around the sacred Manjunath temple in Dharmasthala. The accusation electrified the state. Overnight, a revered shrine became the alleged backdrop of unspeakable crimes.

Once upon a time, the newspaper editor was a formidable institution. A single line from his desk could rattle the very foundations of power. Today, many readers can't even recall the name of their preferred paper’s editor. The values that elevated journalism and gave it its luminous purpose are now fading rapidly, eclipsed by the shadow of market pressures. News, once a badge of integrity, is now just another commodity, its worth measured by sales, ratings, and clicks.

Despite numerous efforts, the captains of India's current political system have not been able to free themselves from Mahatma Gandhi's life ideals and Gandhian ideology. Congressmen never truly embodied Gandhi's principles, and Hindutva thinkers have been irritated by the name Gandhi since the beginning.

The real test of self-reliance begins now. America’s golden dream has darkened into India’s waking nightmare.

Welcome to India, where mornings no longer greet you with birdsong but with a full-blown orchestra of honking horns, brawling bus drivers, and political soundbites.