Thumbs down

A graphic doing the internet rounds in Gujarat is an amusing if telling comment on the economic management - or lack thereof - of the current regime. It shows the reverse side of a Re 1 coin of 2002 (when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was in power) engraved with the numeral one flanked by two ears of corn. Below it is another graphic, this time the reverse side of a Re 1 coin circa 2010 (when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance had been in power for six years). It shows the numeral one flanked by an upraised thumb, which can be interpreted two ways. One, as a thumbs-up and, two, also a universal symbol for doing nothing. Given the diminishing purchasing power of the rupee, the latter interpretation is certainly more relevant.