New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- Nothing seems wrong-until suddenly, everything is. IndiGo's spectacular meltdown is a reminder that even the most admired firms can be undone not by a single failure, but by an ecosystem where expectations silently drift away from rules.

This is not just an airline's operational collapse; it is a commentary on India's chronic institutional voids, inconsistent regulation and the dangerous comfort that both government and industry take in 'relaxed compliance.'

To understand what happened, imagine a familiar moment from any classroom. A group of students approaches a professor on the day an assignment is due, claiming that the "majority" is unprepared. The professor, anticipating futile pushback, quietly extends the d...