The current pandemic raging across India has its denizens seeking divine intervention to alleviate their pain and suffering. While a lot has been written on the virulent virus SARS COV 2 and the comparison with other nations on our mortality rate, do we actually need the courts to tell us what we need to do during this calamity. Failure of governance is probably as old as the government itself. Both these words are derived from the French words gouvernance and governement. Good governance actually signifies a participatory form of governing that functions in a responsible, transparent and accountable manner based on the principles of legitimacy, efficiency and consensus for the purpose of promoting the rights of individual citizens, their welfare, well being and equitable development without any bias to any community, region or individuals. The legitimacy of the polity is derived from elections and participatory governance is the "sine qua non" of any functioning democracy.

It is a well known adage that " success has many fathers but failures none". Similarly, military leadership teaches us that the credit for success in any operation should be given to the soldiers and subordinates who actually fight the war, while the responsibility for failure should clearly be that of the leader. any nation or organisation that fails to abide by this, or any leader who lacks the moral courage to accept responsibility for failure, will sooner rather than later, lose the trust of his subordinates.

The other enemy that lurks around the corner, propitiating a self fulfilling prophecy is "hubris". Hubris, is defined as the characteristic of excessive confidence or arrogance, which leads a person to believe that they may do no wrong. The overwhelming pride caused by hubris is often considered as a flaw in character. History is replete with examples of hubris, leading to the downfall of nations ruled by despots afflicted with this virus. When death and destruction affect each family, when the feasibility of affordable medical care seem to diminish by the day, when even "contacts" cannot get you a hospital bed and requisite medicare, when burial grounds and crematoriums have long winding queues that cannot even ensure a dignified send-off for the departed, are we really progressing as a nation? Who is going to believe that our mortality rate or case fatality rate is one of the lowest in the world, when in every four deaths in the world is that of an Indian, when nearly half the world's cases are in India. Either we are naive or we accept our pain and suffering, including death, as fate and destiny.

The problems that plague the country are many, however the true test of leadership comes only during a calamity. The more unprecedented a disaster, greater is the mettle of the leadership at the helm to weather the storm. The hallmark of good governance and the ability of any leader to infuse trust, faith and hope in its subjects, is humility, transparency and accountability. At no stage during the present crisis, have we seen any heads roll, any blame apportioned to anyone, any admission of failure or guilt, other than political bickering. What we have instead is a defensive mindset and reaction, wherein the calamity is attributed to something beyond our control. While the pandemic, maybe such, what then are scientific, medical and epidemiology experts for, their counsel can only be ignored at the peril of society at large.

All however may not be lost, if only an action plan is made in consultation with experts, executed and implemented with the help of civil society and government agencies. This needs to be disseminated transparently, across the country, after rendering a public apology that "we erred". These actions will not only repose the trust of the nation, which today has crossed the bounds of cynicism, but also reassure the citizens that all is not lost and that a national effort is being made earnestly and with renewed vigour. Only then will those on "A Wing and a Prayer " will have "Happy Landings".