India, go viksit, go underground

Honourable readers, India has spent decades drafting Vision 2020, Vision 2047, Vision Infinity-and-Beyond, and Vision Visionary documents, each promising to transform us into a 'viksit' nation. Best of luck with that. Yet, developed India already exists, not on our firmament but below it: in the Metro Rail universe under many of our cities. Above ground, we are the brand ambassador of chaos and entropy. But descend into Metroworld and - chhu mantar! - we become Berlin with a dash of Singapore. People queue, maintain order, and keep the corridors, platforms, subways... clean. They make way for passengers before boarding. They even stand on the right side of the escalator, temporarily turned into First Worlders.

The Metro ecosystem is undoubtedly India's most successful behavioural experiment. No one litters, since the floor is shinier than living room tiles. No one shouts, because announcements are audible enough. And everyone taps their card with the solemnity of a monk ringing a temple bell. Even our gleaming airports, with their passenger outbursts, have the Metro as their secret 'world-class' role model. So, after the budgetary show is done, and the op-eds are lost and won, pay attention to the only republic where Indians voluntarily obey rules without needing a Supreme Court directive or sounding out baat that's on well-intentioned minds.