Children have no votes. This alone explains the way they are often treated by politicians. The latest instance in an appalling series is what they had to endure while they waited for Mr Amar Singh and Ms Jayaprada, of the Samajwadi Party, to make an appearance at a function in Green Park in Kanpur. Both leaders, belonging to the party that rules Uttar Pradesh, took their time to arrive at the function while the children stood in the scorching sun. Many passed out. It took Mr Singh more than 24 hours to issue an apology. His initial reaction bordered on insouciance. It has become customary in India to use children in functions organized to welcome or honour important persons. It is presumed that politicians, leaders and other celebrities like being greeted by children who can then be forgotten about since they do not count for anything in the calculations of the persons being welcomed. Children can be taken for granted without any unpleasant questions being asked. Politicians and other celebrities, practically without exception, are notorious for their completely disregard for any kind of punctuality. They believe that people should wait for them and on them. The Kanpur incident points to the consequences of this kind of negligence and callousness.

But this arrogance grows out of the VIP culture that is assiduously nurtured in India, especially among politicians and filmstars. But politicians are by far the worst perpetrators. Political leaders do not blink an eyelid when they keep people waiting, when traffic is held up for them, when they needlessly move with an entourage and generally make a nuisance of themselves by disregarding all codes of civilized behaviour. The underlying assumption is that they as leaders are different from and superior to ordinary people. Such an assumption is as unwarranted as it is undemocratic. This attitude is most prevalent in New Delhi where the so-called VIPs proliferate and the pernicious culture they engender hold sway. In no other country do politicians enjoy the kind of privileges that Indian politicians take for granted. In London, traffic does not stop when the prime minister drives past, but in New Delhi it does. The argument based on security considerations does not hold water. It is to do with the way politicians fashion themselves and the way Indian society allows them to get away with it.