Steady state

History offers a long view of events. How long? GAIL India Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi provided a perspective of sorts when quizzed on the prospects of the long-awaited Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. He told journalists that the company had government clearance to be part of the special purpose vehicle, and gas-sharing deals were already in place. Responding to this, a journalist said, "We have been hearing this for the past one year. What is the present status?" To which Tripathi provided a tart answer: "Look, historic projects happen once in 15 years, so it may take some years to change the status."