'Good days are over'

The Bharatiya Janata Party's election slogan "Acche din aane wale hain" (the good days are coming) may have given hope to the common man, but with the new government swinging into action immediately after taking over, some bureaucrats in the finance ministry feel the good days are over for them. That's because P Chidambaram used to start early and leave early, which allowed bureaucrats to do the same. Indeed, those timings came as a relief from his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee who would start late and leave late. But Chidambaram's successor Arun Jaitley starts early and leaves late. "If the minister leaves at 8 p m, we can't leave before 8.30 p m. Acche din chale gaye hain [the good days are over]," said one official ruefully.