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The papers nowadays are all about leaks.
To begin with The Leak that has caught the imagination of every columnist and TV anchor, the NEET exam paper leak. The reason why NEET has become the talking point is that it has caused a ripple effect, with the NTA (National testing Agency) scrapping every possible national level exam held or to be held this year. This in turn has upset the bulk of the country’s population, the jobless youth and their anxious parents, so in effect, the elderly too! The NTA has probably misunderstood the term “taking advantage of India’s demographic dividend”.
After a particular age most youth toy with the idea of sarkari naukri or admission into an institution which will put one on the path of a job. The paradise of government jobs or medical/engineering/law/academic institutes is ring fenced with grueling entrance tests or trial by fire where only the ‘chosen ones’ shall be allowed in. Or that was what generally assumed till the NEET exam fiasco where 67 students got a perfect score, which is an impossibility, except for a handful. Maybe if those involved in selling the papers had not got greedy, the entire thing might have gone unnoticed. For instance the 7th major bridge has come tumbling down in Bihar since 2023. (Till the sixth bridge, the news was reported in a small column totally unnoticeable. Fraudsters must know when to draw the line! Now a high level committee will be looking into (away) the matter, which will probably mean a drain of wealth for all those involved. Among ‘minor’ bridge collapse incidents, there have been four this week in Bihar alone.
When the Wikileaks expose happened, Assange revealed to everyone what they already knew. The comfort of saying ‘well we don’t know for sure’ was snatched out ones hands. US government’s hard work into putting forth an ‘all is well’ image in the midst of waging wars, came crumbling down. Similarly everyone knows that exam leaks are as old as exams themselves. But the expose has confirmed the doubt. The un-deniability of exam frauds has hit student’s morale. Till the time that the little soldiers believed that the system was fair, they’d bury themselves in airless attics and suffer hunger, cold and isolate themselves from the rest of the world, just to crack the exam. It was worth it for those who passed. Those who did not make it, cursed their luck but couldn’t find fault with the system. Now they feel cheated of their youth, for most of them emerge from their dungeons well past their 30s, balding, spectacled and possibly having one or more psychological problems.
Large scale leaks of different and equally serious type keep recurring in the current digital era. Just last year some 81 crore people had their adhaar information leaked on the internet. This should have caused a massive uproar but it barely got any coverage in news channels. Instead a leak of another kind has reporters busy. Apparently the roof of the grand Ram Mandir has been found to be leaking, which, according to me, is expected given that it is now quite a few months old. An architectural marvel costing 1800 crore rupees has a leaky vent. Why is there such a hullabaloo over this? Does your house not have a leak too? My office building is leaking everywhere and its damp walls work like natural air conditioners in this wretched heat. There is much to be said about such leaks.
Maybe it has become such an issue because the leak is right above the place where the priest is supposed to be sitting. If it leaked right above my head I’d complain too. The threat of the water going into my ears or mouth (depending on which angle I nod off) is too great.
Faulty constructions are the order of the day. Why else will freshly laid roads cave in, un-inaugurated bridges collapse, metro pillar develop cracks or temple roofs leak? There is a leak, within the leak. Or can we call it the ‘real trickle down’ economy that neo-liberals promote? Grand infrastructural projects of the government are one of the best methods of wealth distribution. Ab jaane bhi do yaaron.
Wikileaks founder Assange is finally walking free. Now that is a leaky story with a good end.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint