"Yes Minister"
Bangladesh civil servants (sorry masters, not servants by any stretch of imagination) have far outstripped Sir Humphrey of "Yes Minister" fame; hence the above heading. Astute civil servant that Humphrey was, knighthood was his reward for the adroit advises to his Minister of the Crown. These were good old days when possibly Britannia ruled the waves. Poor Blair now hardly rules the Thames River. Sadly, but surely, all the ruling has gone to the pocket of the Bush shirt.
Coming to our august civil masters, the recent remarks by the top gun of commerce to the media about the abnormal price hike of vegetables-- the last part of the quote (DS: 24 Oct) rings historic bells. The worthy is quoted as "people would not die if they do not eat them" (meaning vegetables). It reminds me of the French Queen's alleged historical remarks during the revolution. When informed that poor people in France could not afford to eat bread, she replied "Why don't they eat cake instead".
Without vegetables our poor countrymen will not die. I distinctly remember seeing many years ago in Calcutta in early 1940s people living on water only with "pantabhat" an occasional luxury!
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