NEW DELHI — There are times when fathers and sons say the same things.

In 2008, days after terrorists from Pakistan massacred scores of people in Mumbai, a group of affluent young couples met for dinner.

They work in large corporations, hold university degrees from the United States and England, subscribe to The Economist and even read it. But it was inevitable that when the men started talking about how the Indian government was too incompetent to protect its citizens from terrorists, they would conclude that the only solution for many of India’s problems was a “benign dictator.” Their fathers have been saying that all their lives.

Most urban Indians have said this at least once in their lifetime.

They say this not out of a distaste for democracy, which looks so classy and fabulous in the first world as viewed from here, but out of a passionate loathing for India’s corrupt, criminal and, in some cases, imbecilic politicians. For decades, many educated Indians have resented the fact that they are governed by low-grade people voted into office by drivers and maids and illiterate farmers. Thus, the benign dictator.

This dictator would be modern, English-speaking, selfless and generally a nice person who would not be inconvenienced by elections. The absurdity of such an aspiration is not lost on Indians themselves. The prayer for a benign dictator is more lament than actual political wish. Even so, Indians have knowingly and unknowingly kept the search alive.