Wit Wisdom and Whoop

1975 to 1977 – Emergency declared by Congress under Indira Gandhi. The atrocities of that period were predominantly in northern India. Whole slums demolished with bulldozers, thousands of people sterilised even if they were young, others killed. The Turkman gate incident where many Muslims were rendered homeless and thrown out is still well known. In the south the effect of the emergency was far less. We did have the infamous Rajan murder case where a young engineering student was brutally tortured and killed and his body never found. The prime accused Karunakaran went on to become a Chief Minister and  a very senior national leader of the Congress. As a 14 year old my own classmates were arrested ostensibly for wearing khaki shorts, identified with the RSS, and transported to a jail 200 kms away and lodged there. They were let off after a day with dire warnings. In 1977 the Janata party swept to power with 295 seats, squabbled, lost and fresh elections held in 1980. A nat...

Dear P.R.I.C.K.S I could not help coining this acronym which incidentally stands for - Powerful Rich Influential Celebrities Knowledgeable Successful - and though meant to be positive is also said with a certain hint of sarcasm. By Knowledgeable I refer to those generally considered as “Intellectuals” in our society and so the “I” can also mean that apart from Influential. Let me also state at the outset that I am addressing the diaspora of PRICKS here – from Modi to Lalloo, Amitabh to Anupam,  Sonia Gandhi to Brinda Karat, Sunny Leone to Nandita Das, Capitalists to Communists and so on. This has no politics, no religion, and no caste implications. I was motivated to write this after reading what Nandita Das had to say in Sunday Times of India. Frankly I agree with her for the most part and my sympathies with her. I have infact written about this earlier but in passing. Firstly every one of you PRICKS need to wake up, smell the coffee and face the reality of this w...