Wodehouse and His Fine Cows
The point about todays British general election is we missed it.If anything,it was like the cows waning "audience appeal" so entertainingly described by PG Wodehouse in his Blandings series on that fluffy-minded,pigloving peer,Lord Emsworth."It was a fine cow,as cows go,but,like so many cows,it lacked sustained dramatic interest"
So too the British general election.It was a fine election,as elections go,but like so many elections,it lacked dramatic interests,for India,because modern day Britishers dont bomb cities,nor do they interfere in nations and thier affairs,nor do they trouble people with immoral policies.What makes Indians fluffy-minded about British politics is a million-dollar question.I guess we regard Britian as too tiny,formal imperial power and hence boring.....maybe something of that sort.
Punchline 1:Wodehouse who conveyed a certain idea of England,is still to capture the faded,cabbage roses and cribbage essence of Englishness,to us Indians,so that Britian can compete with Americas entartaintment quotient.
2.It is in Indias interest to know more about 21st century Britian than half-remembered passages from Wodehouse and rude one-liners on how continental people have sex lives but the English have hot-water bottles.
The Rich Poor Blame Game
We live in interesting times.Till few days back newspapers and tv channels were full of Mayawati's high denomination garlands,huge pay-scales for young executives,and MPs deciding thier own salaries.Now getting a fix on yours neighbours income is becoming as tricky as finding out the true owners of an IPL franchisee.People are acting uncannily.They not only pretend to be either richer or poorer than they are (which is understandable),but sometimes(and this is infuriating)claim to be broke while suggesting that they are very rich.Their anguish is synthetic,its an ersatz melancholy.Consider this:"The wife said,my three-month-old BMW needs a coat of paint.I Told her ,i dont have a dime to paint the whole thing with."In my social jigsaw,these are the people who dont fit.And in contrast there exist people who are deprieved of the basic living facilities......no proper food and shelter...no source of income.Result-A large number of people joining the Mao-army.Maybe we deserve nothing better than this
Punchline 1:India is a poor country where rich people live.
2.India is a developing nation where people are against development.
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