GS2The Indian Express · Editorial
The cockroach toolkit gang
A satirical column uses cockroaches as a metaphor for people or systems that survive by adapting to difficult conditions.
SP
Samachar Pathshala Desk
Published 19 Jul 2026 · 1 min
The Indian Express column uses cockroaches as a metaphor for people or systems that survive by adapting to difficult, neglected conditions. The satirical point is that endurance is not always a virtue; harmful habits and forms of influence can persist when institutions fail to confront them directly.
The UPSC angle
GS2GS4Essay
A governance-and-ethics metaphor for institutional failure
Relevant for GS2: Governance, accountability, and institutional failure, GS4: Ethics, social responsibility, and public accountability, Essay: Resilience, decay, and the persistence of harmful systems.
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