Antara Dev Sen

Apr 28, 2010
Letters to Editor

Letters to Editor

Antara Dev Sen

Justice on my mind

The 2G spectrum trial has begun. The trial of the country’s largest financial scam will be watched keenly by outraged citizens fed up with corruption. Hopefully it will help stem the rot in the system.

Pralay in our backyard?

In hushed horror, I found myself humming an eminently unexciting nursery rhyme while reading about death, destruction, atrocities, insider trading, booming corruption and political intrigue in the newspapers. “Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?/Brother John? Brother John?/Morning Bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing/Ding dong dong! Ding dong dong!” I hummed, not unlike a moron.

Let there be more light

What a relief! India’s Central Information Commission (CIC) threatens to spill the beans. If they get a complaint about an RTI activist being attacked or killed, they will examine his pending applications, and publish on the Net the information he was seeking. Thus making it clear to the public exactly who may have had an interest in silencing or attacking him. Finally, we may be looking at a concrete step to protect RTI activists.

Below the sarkari line

Stop complaining about rising prices. So what if food inflation is close to 10 per cent? You’re still stinkin’ rich. The sarkar has decided that if you spend Rs 32 a day, you are not poor. (It dips to `26 a day for rural folk.) And considering you spend way, way more than that, you are utterly untouched by poverty. Whew! Isn’t that great news? Relax. Enjoy your new status as Mr and Mrs Moneybags, stop fretting over the price of pulses and rice and onions. That’s so low class! The point of being rich is that you don’t think about prices. Life is priceless. Just focus on getting ahead at any cost.

Mistaken identity

Life is hectic. Too many things to do. Nothing works. Corruption has got you in its python grip. Rising prices have yanked everyday needs out of reach. Terror attacks lurk in harmless garb, waiting to blow you away. And justice is peacefully ensconced in a torture chamber that you dread to approach. You want to fumigate the entire system. Bring in the pest control, burn the rubbish, clean out your life.

Speak, and be damned

Amitabh Bachchan, exhilarated by freedom, threatens Ajit: “Teja, mein jail se baahar aa gaya hoon! (Teja, I have come out of jail!)” Ajit replies icily: “Kaho toh phir andar karvaa doon? (Say the word and I’ll send you back in.)” I was reminded of that scene from Zanjeer as our parliamentarians demanded a privilege motion against Om Puri and Kiran Bedi.

Inquilab in numbers

Justice Soumitra Sen seems all set to be impeached. In a historic move, the Rajya Sabha in an overwhelming majority has supported the impeachment of the judge for misappropriating funds. And since all political parties except one are unanimous in demanding his removal against the backdrop of a humongous mass movement against corruption, the motion is likely to be passed in the Lok Sabha too.

Can’t wait for a perfect Lokpal

Which is worse, an imperfect Lokpal law or a non-existent Lokpal law? The passionate have always rooted for “all or nothing” in every situation and the Lokpal is no different. But when this desire for perfection at birth is likely to abort the precious plan you have conceived and nurtured, maybe it is time to take a step back and explore the limits of the possible.

Our media moments

What is it about Rupert Murdoch’s media empire that makes you cringe? Is it just the unabashed hunger for power? Or the revolting habit of chewing up public establishments to satisfy that hunger? Or is it our disgust with ourselves, we the target audience that laps up every rotten morsel of what he serves up, garnished

Get well soon, Mr Azad

Relax. Our health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad means well. He really would like to identify and perhaps cure those suffering from the disease of homosexuality. Feel his frustration.
“The disease of ‘Men having Sex with Men’ is unnatural and not good for India,” Mr Azad lamented at the National Convention of Parliamentarians on HIV/AIDS this week.

No Articles Found

No Articles Found

No Articles Found

I want to begin with a little story that was told to me by a leading executive at Aptech. He was exercising in a gym with a lot of younger people.

Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen didn’t make the cut. Neither did Shaji Karun’s Piravi, which bagged 31 international awards.

Horoscope