India, Jan. 5 -- While the rest of the world sits with diaries open and gym memberships renewed, resolving to drink more water and scroll less, something far more honest happens in the capital of India. An army gathers.

Not to change. Not to improve. But to reaffirm continuity.

This is not a resolution meeting. This is an oath-taking.

Hands are raised, chests puffed, as the oath is shouted with conviction. We resolve to continue misinforming the people of this country about reality. No hesitation there. Truth is a slippery thing anyway. Why burden the public with it when falsehoods are lighter and louder?

We will build bridges and roads, they declare, but we will not show how weak they are. The cracks are inconvenient, the audits unne...