India is a land of impossibilities, and nothing proves this better than a recent gold hunt ordered by the Indian government on the basis of a dream by a sadhu, or holy man.

Shobhan Sarkar told Charandas Mahant, Union minister of state for agriculture and food processing, that the golden treasure of once-ruler Rao Ram Baksh was hidden in a temple complex before he was hanged in 1858 after rising up against the British. The king appeared in Sarkar's dream and told him to take care of the riches buried in the remains of Baksh's fort.

As a result, the central government has gone about the task of locating the hidden treasure by asking one of its agencies, Archaeological Survey of India, to conduct excavations at the site. The dig will continue for 45 days.

The matter has already become a major national discourse and also a political slugfest with the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is eyeing power in the general elections scheduled to be held in May, 2014.

The BJP leaders have thrown barbs at the UPA government over this wild goose chase.

BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has advised the government to instead go and get tainted money stashed away by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in Swiss bank accounts which is worth much more.

There are imaginative estimates that the lost treasure in question is worth around $5o billion. The biggest economic woe of India, the Current Account Deficit, would be wiped out at one stroke, if this treasure was actually found.

But if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. The Indian government is going ahead in chasing this golden dream as the returns, in the improbable event that the sadhu's dream proves true, would be no less than a windfall while the investment won't be more than a couple of million dollars.

For its part, the government claims that the Geological Survey of India had reported possible non-conducting metallic contents or alloys at five to 20 meters below the surface, and suggested that an excavation be carried out. But critics are wondering whether this survey hasn't been retrospectively created to justify the minister's superstitions.

India is hardly the only country where superstition has been allowed to influence the course of government. Former US president Ronald Reagan used to consult his astrologer to make decisions involving the fates of hundreds of millions of people.

But the prevalence of traditional beliefs and the widespread adherence to individual gurus or mystical teachings in India may make the country particularly vulnerable to such farce.

People's individual convictions are one thing; for government funds to be spent literally chasing a dream is another.

But whatever the truth, we'll soon find out whether there was any substance to the sadhu's dream.

The author is a New Delhi-based journalist-author and a political commentator. bhootnath004@yahoo.com