But it will take more than the credibility of Vajpayee to translate lofty ideals into reality. The world is rushing ahead, he says. And India is lagging behind. After all, Nuclear India is one of the poorest nations as well -- the legacy of fifty years of mismanagement. Poverty, drinking water, primary health and education, rural roads, the homeless -- it is quite a national irony that these eternal words continue to dominate the Indian vocabulary of salvation. Every politician is obliged to mention these areas of deprivations whenever heis talking the new dawn. Vajpayee is not an exception here. His ``new India in the new century'' is unlikely to make these ancient words redundant. So forget that water-for-all kosher. But it is worth remembering what he says about the economy: reform, infrastructure development, fiscal rectitude ... For, ``the new century demands a new mindset''. Hopefully, Vajpayee's mindset will be emulated by his national democratic allies.

So this must be Vajpayee's bridge to the next century, and no sensible Indian can find fault with this modest ambition of this kinder, gentler, tolerant prime minister. He expects the opposition to be with him in the realisation of his non-partisan agenda. That is why the grammar of the Vajpayee doctrine is consensus. The Congress has paid a heavy electoral prize for its negativist positions on every issue of governance. Constructive opposition or creative dissent does not rule out consensus on national interest. The Congress, please note. The nationalist prime minister's address tothe nation is not nationalistically narrow. His wisdom in today's India is so obvious that you don't have to quote the Gita for emphasis.