As India enters 2026, it faces a critical choice between political fantasy and sober realism. Despite surface stability and economic resilience, the author warns that a consolidation of power, leaning towards authoritarianism under the BJP, masks underlying discontent and institutional failures. The piece argues that a dangerous political fantasy, characterized by evading reality and prioritizing emotionally gratifying narratives over facts, eclipses genuine challenges, contrasting it with a necessary realism that confronts the world as it is.