Let me begin with a frank admission. Since my school days, I have hated English grammar. On the other hand, my wife is a grammarian, knowing Wren and Martin's grammar like the back of her hand. She compensates for my many inadequacies.

The word "slip" is both a noun and a verb. The grammarian tells me that a noun is the name of a person, place or thing. A verb is some kind of action. Here's a classic example of the word in both forms in a single sentence. "He let slip the slip of paper from his clumsy hands".

Why am I harping on the word "slip"? It has many meanings, idioms and connotations that have a bearing on our current state of political affairs. I shall list them before delving deeper.

1. Pardon, your slip is showing
2. A slip of the tongue is no fault of the mind
3. There's many a slip-twixt cup and lip
4. Mind your step lest you slip on a banana peel
5. The prisoner managed to slip away under cover of darkness
6. The boss gave his employee the dreaded pink slip
7. The chairman sent a slip to the loquacious speaker to conclude
8. The F1 racer followed in the slipstream of the car ahead
9. Ten million Indians suffer from a slipped disc
10. The aggressive batsman was caught in the slip cordon

Ten steps that sound like the Ten Commandments! Each one is pregnant with meaning and can be juxtaposed with our current political scenario. Let's begin with the first – Pardon your slip is showing.

This is a polite way of drawing a lady's attention to her undergarment protruding below her dress. It is common in Western attire, such as a frock or skirt. In India, most women wear longer clothes that do not require a slip. However, a chemise would be worn inside if one is wearing a relatively transparent Chikankari kurti. This French word comes from the Arabic Qamis, corrupted to kameez, which could either be an outer shirt or an inner slip.

But there are seldom any niceties in the rough and tumble of politics. If one were to say that your slip is showing, it would mean that the dirty inner linen is visible to the naked eye despite the outer garb or finery. I see this happening with sickening regularity in the political arena. The government makes stupendous claims about an Atmanirbhar Bharat, Amrit Kaal and Achhe Din.

But there are too many slip-ups – horrendous foreign relations with our neighbours – Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and China. We have backed the wrong horse in both Ukraine and Gaza. The post-Pulwama surgical strike against Pakistan ushered in the votes but not peace and stability. The suddenness of demonetisation and the COVID lockdown on an unsuspecting public resulted in untold misery. The abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of Kashmir have not had the desired results. The list is endless. It would be safe to conclude that not just the slip is showing, but possibly the emperor has no clothes at all!

The second is the slip of the tongue. Such a slip can be pardoned. But if the tongue is used for hate and intemperate speech against "others," using words like Muslim, mangal sutra, mujra dancers, etc., then this is not an accidental slip-up but a deliberate act that cannot be condoned.

As St James has cautioned, "We all trip (slip) up in many ways. Someone who does not trip up in speech has reached perfection … The tongue is only a tiny part of the body, but its boasts are great. Think of how small a flame can set fire to a huge forest. The tongue is a flame too" (The Holy Bible: Letter of St. James 3:2,3,5). Or as Jesus said, "Whatever comes from the mouth comes from the heart; this is what makes someone unclean. For from the heart come evil intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander. These are the things that make a person unclean" (The Holy Bible: The Gospel according to St. Matthew 15:18-19). So, we need to guard against poisonous darts from the tongues of politicians.

Thirdly, there's many a slip-twixt cup and lip. There is a similar colloquial saying that there is a difference between "about to give birth and actually giving birth". This is applicable to stillborn ideas that don't take off, like the Agnipath scheme. The leakages from the roofs of the hastily constructed temple in Ayodhya and the new parliament building could fall into this category of slip-ups.

The fourth is the warning about slipping on a banana peel. Since we Indians are prone to littering, we are literally in constant danger of slipping and falling. In politics, pride and power are slippery surfaces when one non-biological man's "guarantee" seeks to sway the nation off its feet. Those at the top need to be reminded that when they slip, it will be in only one direction – down.

The fifth is slipping away under the cover of darkness. This is subterfuge or camouflage. The surefire way of covering up one's failures is the strident religious appeal that Hindus or Hinduism is in danger. Under such a cloak of darkness, all other shortcomings are quickly forgotten.

The sixth is the pink slip given to an employee informing him of his dismissal from service. Unfortunately, with rising unemployment and paper leaks, pink slips are everywhere.

The seventh is the warning to the loquacious speaker. They never tire of hearing their own voice or airing their "Mann ki baat". They are oblivious to the ennui of their listeners. A two-hour speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort is the latest case in point. Is it now time for the people to pass the slip (ballot paper) to say "times up?"

The slipstream is the eighth. It is a tactic used by Formula One racing drivers to stay in the vacuum created by the car in front, thereby increasing one's speed. I see many camp followers and "fringe elements" following the leader to attack vulnerable groups like the minorities or hand over the Adivasis' ancestral lands to big corporates.

This leads us to the ninth—the slip disc. Many of us suffer from the slip-ups of those in power. We are burdened by their erroneous or malicious acts. At the same time, many of us should also show more backbone to those in power.

Finally, the slip cordon is used to great effect in cricket test matches. Public life is not a wham-bam T20 game. It is a long haul, like a test match, that is the real test of captaincy. A tried and tested (pun intended) approach to a well-settled or aggressive batsman is to first arrange a slip cordon on the offside, then bowl wide of the off stump, thereby inducing the batsman to snick the ball into the slip cordon and be caught out.

In India's political spectrum, we need astute and intelligent captains in the Opposition ranks, both in parliament and the State legislatures. Only then can we ensure that there are not too many slip-ups in public life.