India is experiencing a devastating second wave of the pandemic. Indeed, the country appears to be going through one of the darkest moments in its post-independence history with new records broken every day for new cases of Covid-19. There are also growing concerns that even these staggering numbers that have been officially reported are in reality an undercount. And then there is the crippling shortage of life-saving supplies such as medical oxygen.Critics claim that the Indian government has ignored numerous red flags in recent months and disregarded scientific opinion. Thus, some have argued that Indians are now paying the price of government inaction while others have pointed to the historical neglect by successive ruling parties to invest more in health.The image of India as a country experiencing rapid economic growth and lifting millions of people out of poverty has of late been replaced by pictures of funeral pyres.How did it come to this? And how capable is the Indian state at responding to major crises?Patralekha Chatterjee is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and author, who has written extensively on the role of economic, political, social, cultural, and educational factors in public health in India.Patralekha Chatterjee's blog"Lessons not learnt after a year of battling Covid" (The Deccan Herald, 21 April 2021)"Why trust needs to be the key word in 2021" (The Asian Age, 06 January 2021)"Is India missing COVID-19 deaths?" (The Lancet, 05 September 2020)Patralekha Chatterjee on TwitterDan Banik and In Pursuit of Development on Twitter