I must admit that I write this column with much anguish every night. As I witness the obnoxious statements by our political leaders and the various panel discussions on the nightlies, I worry about the future of our country.

I write this from Pune, on the eve of a Narendra Modi rally, and spoke to a cross-section of youth to gauge their sentiments about the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. While all of them were excited about his presence in the city, they recalled how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had visited Pune to support Suresh Kalmadi ahead of his first tenure.