Friday, August 21, 1998
Look who's corrupting
It is almost like Bill Clinton sermonising about family values. Jayalalitha -- the politically immobile, culturally autonomous entity within the ruling coalition -- is today talking, no, not about gold or garment, but about corruption. At this moment of courage against a social evil, a national suspension of disbelief is called for.
The happiness of pursuit
Truth, and the pursuit of truth, is a big deal with Americans. American children learn very early in school that the country's first president could not utter a lie. The legend of Honest Abe is drilled into their minds. Despite the seeming hand-in-hand march of libertinism with liberty in the 20th century, a nation founded by pilgrim fathers has never really lost its puritanical, self-righteous streak.
Flag at half-mast
Women's empowerment. Political participation at the grassroots. Assertion of the politically powerless. Feel-good words of this kind have been bandied about ad nauseum ever since the 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts, reserving one-third of the seats in panchayats and municipal bodies for women, were enacted in 1993.
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