In Pune, where I live, we have a number of first-rate public institutions and private organizations. And any number of talented individuals. But we're riddled (infected?) with a third- or even fourth-rate civic body, filled with slimy, lifelong bureaucrats and assorted buffoons and incompetents who don't care a hoot about the promise this city holds out. This is apparent to any thinking dweller here, but needs to be said again and again as a cathartic ritual.

Fortunately, the spirit of Pune's citizens has yet to be broken, though the pathetic civic body continues to foil their dreams at every step. How do you transform a body that's myopic, lethargic and essentially inert, thanks to the government largesse it's been fed on for years?