People, Wrong Numbers, and the Government

People, Wrong Numbers, and the Government

The country has witnessed multiple crises under the current government. Two recent examples stand out: the Indigo airline fiasco and the ongoing LPG crisis.

The Indigo crisis left countless customers stranded, at the mercy of the airline, yet it barely made the headlines. Social media buzzed with outrage, complaints, and discussions—but soon enough, the crisis quietly faded away. Officially, the government seemed unaware; it was as if no distress calls had ever been made.

Interestingly, the concept of the “wrong number” gained national attention thanks to PK. In the film, Amir Khan’s character believed that most distress calls were reaching the wrong number, which explained why help never arrived. The metaphor seems oddly apt for real-life crises.

Fast forward to the recent LPG crisis: people across the nation are calling out, seeking assistance. Yet, the government appears unmoved, again citing that all calls were made to the wrong number. Nothing officially reaches the records, and the distress officially “doesn’t exist.”

So, who is really at fault here? Is it:

1. **The people**—who, despite their efforts, dial the wrong number and then insist they’ve done their duty by reporting the problem?

2. **The government**—which remains indifferent, expecting the wrong number to somehow resolve the crisis before it is officially recognized?

This triad—people, wrong numbers, and the government—creates a surreal drama. Distress calls are made, ignored, misrouted, and vanish into official oblivion. Meanwhile, the public discussion rages, only to be quietly erased from the official record.

In the end, it’s a peculiar theater of bureaucracy: the government expects crises to sort themselves out, the wrong number sits in the middle as an accidental intermediary, and citizens are left wondering if their cries for help were ever meant to be heard.