India, May 25 -- Every day, an average of 6.4 million people use the Delhi Metro to commute. On Raksha Bandhan day, the figure crossed 8.1 million, a number that is routinely cited by the Metro authorities with characteristic enthusiasm. In comparison, Norway has a population of just 5.6 million people. In contrast, India has a population of 1.4 billion, with the Andhra Pradesh government announcing incentives for people to produce more children, taking its cue from the world's most powerful NGO, which also runs a government.

The point is that Norway is a country we can just ignore. God alone knows why Prime Minister Narendra Modi thought it necessary to visit the UAE, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Italy soon after announcing a se...