The politicos seem pious in comparison. The financial flooding of an otherwise parched Pennagaram or the currency garland that encircled and enriched a ‘note-worthy’ neta, Maya, to name a few current cases of excess, cannot hold a candle to the vulgar parade of cash and dash at the cricketing carnival that is under way now. Clearly, the Indian Premier League has given the Indian Political League a run for its money.
Better late than later
‘When in doubt, ask the reader’, goes a popular journalistic mantra. Over six weeks have elapsed since we asked and many readers have already wondered aloud whatever happened to all their inputs. Really, the volume and variety were overwhelming, warranting enormous time and toil, albeit pleasurable, for the Talk team to sift, sort and study the feedback. Still we could have saved two weeks had it not been for my insistence to read every one of the letters.
A House Divided
‘History in the making’ is how most have described the passage of the Women’s Quota Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The bill no doubt is a legislative landmark and will have definitive impact on the Constitution of the Lok Sabha and possibly influence some of its decisions too. But the chivalrous euphoria of the ‘aye’sters and the unprecedented rowdiyism resorted to by the ‘nay’-sayers have only joined hands to kill a great debate that needs to be held and heard beyond the circular confines of the rulers’ citadel.
The politics of art
‘I a m a bit confused here. How does one deal with offensive art? But then is it art at all if it is offensive? And who is the arbiter when what is offensive to one set of eyes seems a creative masterpiece to another? Does artistic freedom come with an uninhibited right to offend? And how should the offended lot react?
