Marking Time

November 10, 1973 economists nor sociologists nor political scientists have been able to grasp the nettle. The problem could scarcely be simply one of ensuring political stability or of hastening the pace of economic growth or of having a dedicated bunch of administrators who believe in socialist goals or of a better degree of communion between the leaders and the led. These are subsidiary issues, the principal one being that everybody, beginning with the politician, must re-learn one of those basic truths taught in early childhood: one should not, must not, cut corners, however apparently noble the motive might be. Those who cheat, for example, at playing the parliamentary game are likely soon to end up cheating in all walks of life, their influence will permeate, and the nation will be re- WHAT a shoddy spectacle this Uttar Pradesh business has been. The comings and goings of "Tripathiji", and his final baptism as the cartoonists' delight even as he prepares to shift his many- sided talents to Delhi, have disrupted the time-table for so many of the political changes that had been planned around Diwali. After all. until Uttar Pradesh is cut into five small slates, nothing can really be done without calculating its effect on. the moronic "heartland" of India.