Austerity is tough for those who have become accustomed to the high life, corporate style. Private planes, five-star hotels, expensive foreign cars, watches that can cost as much as an Indian farmer makes in a lifetime. These are just some of the small fringe benefits that Indian politicians enjoy. So now that they are being forced to return to more ‘socialist’ ways, they chafe and lose their sense of humour. Or why would there be such a fuss over Shashi Tharoor tweeting unhappily about travelling ‘cattle class’? It is a well-known colloquialism for travelling economy and poor Shashi has suffered enough, deprived as he has been of his suite at the Taj.

What puzzles me is why nobody notices that when he moves into his government accommodation, Indian taxpayers will be paying for him to live in much greater style. The Taj Mahal Hotel is a cheap hostel compared to living in a bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi. Only the richest Indians can live in the style in which our senior politicians and officials live. And, as I have suggested in this space before, the real sacrifice that our politicians can make is to surrender their palatial houses in Lutyens’ Delhi and move into lesser accommodation. If security is a problem, then Cabinet ministers can move into the cottages that already exist on the grounds of Rashtrapati Bhavan, as can Sonia Gandhi and her family. I repeat ad nauseam that we can no longer afford for our politicians and bureaucrats to live like billionaires, but since I cannot see this change happening in my lifetime, may I humbly suggest other austerity measures that would really make a difference.

... contd.