Penfriends are rare in this age. However, wherever there are two of them still exchanging letters; surprisingly, rules are the same old-school type. A veil of secrecy, a matador-like finesse in selection of words and an occasional, but deliberate, dropping of a surprise. In short, you have to go on in your preferably cursive longhand — like a ballerina on a pink sheet — without revealing anything of consequence.

Take for example the prime minister’s recent reply to Anna Hazare’s letter. “Dear Anna Hazare Ji,” he begins courteously before moving on to the business at hand. “As you are aware, we are committed to enacting a strong Lokpal law and we hope that we will succeed in the near future,” the PM writes. ‘As you are aware...’ is a traditional way of opening a letter; however, here it is carefully chosen. For, had Anna been really ‘aware’ of the PM’s and his government’s commitment, he would not have written to him in the first place. Anna wrote because the commitment was nowhere to be seen. “...We hope that we will succeed in the near future.” Now that is the real craft. Near is never nigh and future sounds like an Arthur C Clarke fiction book. If argued over in a court of law, the expression ‘near future’ may well mean the 22nd century.   

The PM writes further, “Our government is working on a broad agenda to fight graft and bring in administrative reforms. In this, several legal, administrative and technical aspects will be included. Establishment of the Lokpal is part of this broad agenda.” This paragraph is also a repartee and a double entendre, which can be interpreted otherwise. Like, ‘look Mr Hazare, ours is a broad agenda, and mind you, ours not yours and all your Lokpal-clamour is just a part of it. We think big. Got it?’ Just another way of reading the words one god knows carelessly or carefully chose.

In the end, the PM writes about his government considering the ‘right to reject’. An occasional pleasant surprise! But in the very next line he nails the surprise to a crucifix which shall have to wait until the day of judgement. “In a democratic society, political consensus is necessary on some issues. We want to discuss several proposals on electoral reforms with all political parties and act on proposals on which there is broad agreement,” the PM writes. Now when was there a broad agreement among political parties last? This is like if the sky falls, we shall catch larks, Mr. Hazare!

Now what cannot be underestimated is the writing acumen of the prime minister. And even if nothing happens, we can with some certainty hope that this penfriendship will blossom.