I have no specific reason for writing about dictators in this column. It’s not an anniversary or anything. Dictatorships have not really been on my mind lately, nor do I have any reason to connect anything happening in India with the trauma and brutality commonly associated with those regimes either. I suppose I thought about them simply because the mind can sometimes trick us into thinking about awful things precisely when we are enjoying our most pleasant moments.

India is currently going through what I’m informed by Twitter to be the most prosperous time in our history as a country. Unemployment and poverty have almost been erased, according to what I have seen on several news channels lately. This has also been confirmed by some Bollywood stars, which means it’s true. The rupee is probably stronger than it has ever been against the dollar, going by what a heavy-breathing cult leader predicted a couple of years ago. Also, women, children, minorities and Dalits have never felt more loved and protected since the time Aurangzeb shed his mortal coil. So, naturally, given this state of grace, my mind wandered towards dictators and what they all seem to have in common.