A truly important leader should pay his own bills

It is heartening that US President Barack Obama — definitely not burdened with a commonplace, easily-forgotten name or low-profile job — first thought he was a victim of identity theft when his credit card was embarrassingly rejected after a calorie-conscious tête-à-tête dinner with the First Lady. That he thought there could be another Barack Obama who may have brazenly cloned the President’s credit card underlines his audacity of hope. But it is somewhat disturbing to note that the leader of the free world thinks that he is not above falling prey to cyber pickpocketing though millions are spent on his security.

The fact that his card was rejected due to infrequent use, however, is only a reminder that he should probably get out a bit more. In India, such a development would raise an additional question: why should a VIP need such mundane things like credit cards? Why should they need such accountable annoyances when everything can be routinely ‘taken care of ’, if not by taxpayers then by bodyguards or ‘friends’? Indeed, the notoriously generous coteries surrounding our average Indian netas would probably be tickled at the very idea of elected grandees actually intending — and having — to pay their own bills, thereby signalling their lack of political credit worthiness.