May 06, 2007

Knee, coin, kiss, 57

  • Actor kisses an actress on stage. Somebody feels offended and goes to court to ask for them to be punished for denigrating Indian culture and attempting to "corrupt" society. That's right: denigration and corruption, in a kiss.

  • Woman wears a sari on a TV show; sari is imprinted with flags of many countries. India's is one, and when she wears the sari, where does that Indian flag appear on her person? Near her knee. Somebody feels offended and goes to court to ask for her to be punished for insulting the national flag. That's right: insult, in a sari and a knee.

  • New two-rupee coin is issued, similar in size and first glance to our one-rupee coin, plus it does not have the bevelled edges of the old two-rupee coin. How will a blind person identify the new coin? Answer: with difficulty. A lot of people are exercised over this coin, but not for this reason. Some lines and dots on one side of the coin, they believe, depict a cross. In this, they see a conspiracy to turn the country Christian. That's right: conspiracy, in a coin.

  • In early April, the Liberhans Commission of Inquiry got a three month extension to submit its report. It now has till June 30 2007. This Inquiry was set up at the end of 1992 to investigate the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and given three months to submit its report. If we assume that it has had its term extended by three-month segments each time (which may not always have been the case), and if my arithmetic does not fail me, the Inquiry has now been granted 57 extensions. That's right: 57.

    Question: which of these four, do you think, got the least mention in the press? (Let it be said that I don't think the answer to the question deserves much press anyway).

    Question: which of these, if any, says something about India? If you picked one (or more), exactly what is that something that it (or they) says?
  • 2 comments:

    Bland Spice said...

    What they say is perfectly clear -

    We have gone from the age of reason to the dark age of media-propped strident sensationalism.

    Democracy in India has unfortumately translated to pandering towards the basest of right-wing, insular intelligence and sesnsibilities, at the cost of the elite.

    Anonymous said...

    Samuel Reddy's coastal country will bear evidence of pentecostal activity. And how about his attempt to prop up a church on the Tirumala Hills.