India, July 8 -- Delhi was facing an unprecedented heatwave when I left for Kerala in June, with temperatures crossing the 50-degree Celsius mark. The worst memory I had was when I stood under a shower and opened the tap. I felt a burning sensation all over my body when the water fell on me. I stepped out and turned off the tap. Fortunately, my skin, thickened over the last seventy years, was able to withstand the heat, and I escaped without blisters.

Figuratively speaking, too, Delhi was reeling under fears that Narendra Modi would return to South Block with over 400 seats, allowing his Sancho Panza and other sidekicks in states like Assam and Uttar Pradesh to turn the law upside down. For the first time in five years, the people could ...