If walking your dog inside a sports stadium can get you transferred out of a shit hole to some idyllic heaven, imagine what could be achieved if you can make your dog pee or poo inside it? Exile to Tibet perhaps, or banishment to Xinjiang, if the trends hold.

Perhaps the Grandees sitting in the National Capital Territory consider living and serving in Ladakh or Arunachal as some sort of ‘punishment’, but in their imperious zeal they go onto prove China’s point that India considers these territories as ‘occupied’ and sends her most high-headed feudal overlords to run them. Basic common sense dictates that a human being, already out of control under your very nose, shall go berserk if banished to the frontier. Walking your dog inside a stadium is not the upper limit of high-headedness, one might even turn it lose inside someone’s bungalow or a private tea estate in Arunachal, or even force it to infiltrate China.

These irregular transfers also a subtle message to the sportspersons of Ladakh and AP that the violators of Delhi could not be tolerated in the NCT, but are being sent to their places to avail of their facilities. Kindly bear with them! Or, if you feel up to it, make the babusahebs understand and mend their ways.

Is there a hint of sadism behind this decision? We are a people who somehow tolerate, but deeply resent conjugal rights of prison inmates. Why allow them good time, when the banishment is meant as disciplinary action? Maybe some Worthy saw the fine print and posted the duo separately, lest they enjoy conjugal bliss.  Or perhaps the purpose behind this forced separation is to begin a custody war. “Who keeps the dog?” is exactly the kind of a case that might excite our lower courts and oblige them into demonstrating their legal acumen. Canines in the media are already salivating at the TRP prospects.

Well, what do you know, Mr. Decision Maker!  Every person, married for long, longs for such forced breathers from the family, especially the spouse. It is not just about the ‘single-hence-available’ status, or being offered the opportunity to drink as much one wants to, anytime, anywhere, but also because postings  serve as ‘spiritual retreats’. They serve as good opportunities to reflect upon one’s career, investments, relationships, future of kids, state of the nation and global issues, or for something which is euphemistically termed as ‘cooling-off’.

The unfortunate reality is that most people in this country harbour a deep sense of schadenfreude. They might resent the sight of a power couple taking a leisurely evening walk. “Do they get free by 7:30 pm?”, “How do they find time?”, “kaam kaun karta hai ji!”,  “How could they still bear each other’s company after so many years together?”- these are the usual reactions from journalists and common people on social media. Everyone feels entitled to pass a moral judgement.

The famous Justice Dinakaran, facing allegations of corruption and misconduct, was transferred out of the Karnataka High Court to the Sikkim High Court.  As if a judge who is a liability in Karnataka would somehow transform into an asset in Sikkim. There were widespread demonstrations, even by the Sikkim Bar, but the decision was not overturned. Or maybe, the powers-that-be counted tenure in Sikkim counts as ‘penal action’. One can understand how the people of Sikkim, which became a part of India only in May 1975, viewed this transfer. Many such examples of judicial transfers can be cited.

Lastly, a conspiracy theory titled Walk the Dog. Wag the Dog (1997)was a Hollywood film, featuring Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, in which a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.  Walk the Dog can also be a cooked-up scandal, a smokescreen, a red herring to transfer the officers far from Delhi for any number of reasons. As I see it, things are not always what they seem, especially in public life. That said, I tend to believe that the simplest explanation is usually the most likely one.

Go figure!

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