Arrogance, my dear reader, is not a trait you’ll find in confident people. It’s what you find in people who haven’t found themselves. And unfortunately, it’s become the new national dress code. Not khadi, not cotton, not even designer FabIndia—just pure, unadulterated, pompous arrogance stitched with a rope, not thread of insecurity.

And the tragedy? Most don’t even know they’re wearing it.

Take a walk through any news channel, preferably with a cup of tea and a doctor’s number handy. You’ll see our leaders—foreheads uncreased, eyes gleaming—not with wisdom, but with a smugness that makes you wonder if they’re playing chess with the Constitution or simply wiping their feet on it.

“Oh, we showed the opposition their place!” one bellows.

“What place?” I want to ask. “A jail cell? Or a ditch in some WhatsApp forward?”

And it’s not just at the top. No sir. Arrogance has trickled down like bad plumbing. You see it on the streets, in the comments section, and worst of all—at the airport check-in line, where my fellow countryman suddenly transforms into a global ambassador of entitlement. Watch him shove, glare, grumble and then turn into a purring kitten once he crosses immigration in Dubai or London. It’s as if the arrogance is somehow geography-locked—strongest within Indian borders, but mysteriously evaporating at Heathrow or JFK.

But back home? Oh, it flourishes!

It flourishes in mobs who think sticks are better than speeches. Who believe justice is better served raw and bloody In a land where gang-rapes become caste messages, while the law sleeps conveniently like Rip Van Winkle with a “Do Not Disturb” sign draped over its scales.

And, ah yes the smirk—that half-laugh, half-snarl expression worn proudly by political spokespersons on prime-time panels. You know the one. It says, “I’m right, you’re wrong, and even if I’m wrong, I’m louder than you, so I win!”

But let me tell you what that smirk hides: Fear. Insecurity. The same emotion you see in a tiny Pomeranian barking madly at a German Shepherd from behind the safety of a gate. I know. I’ve always had German Shepherds, and they never bark back. Why? Because they don’t need to. That’s confidence.

Confidence is silent. It walks with dignity. It doesn’t flex its muscle in every sentence. Confidence doesn’t need to put others down to feel tall. It knows it’s already standing on solid ground.

But arrogance? Arrogance is a sandcastle built with borrowed slogans, rewritten history books, and PR campaigns. And if we aren’t careful, one wave of global reality will wash it all away.

Remember that old fable of the emperor who walked around naked, believing he was dressed in the finest clothes? That’s us today. The world watches us swagger with nothing but arrogance stitched to our egos, waiting for a little child to shout, “But they’re not wearing anything!”

So dear citizens, before that child arrives with the voice of the world, maybe it’s time we looked in the mirror. Not to adjust our smirk—but to check if we’re truly dressed in confidence… or just parading in the rags of arrogance.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to calm down my neighbour’s Pomeranian—it’s just spotted my German Shepherd and disturbing the neighbourhood…!

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