There’s something wrong about the way we look at the age-old Indian tradition of ‘jugaad’. Once upon a time, this was an idea that was celebrated; now, if and when it is adopted by the government, critics start to crawl out of the woodwork with accusations of betrayal and corruption. When did we turn into such killjoys? It saddens me, because lying was one of the few things we did efficiently as a people; to see that virtue attacked is like watching us lose an integral part of what makes us truly Indian in the eyes of the world.

The reason for this complaint is a spate of memes and jokes that recently attacked the government in Delhi for its attempts at hiding data regarding pollution. Apparently, according to unconfirmed videos on social media—which, when it comes to anything portraying the government in a poor light, are always to be referred to as unconfirmed or doctored by opposition parties— water sprinklers were used around air quality (AQI) monitoring stations in the capital. This was supposedly done to manipulate air quality readings and convince residents that their eyes, ears, and noses were not to be trusted.