One of the most common expletives in North India (and I’m sure elsewhere) begins with ‘chu’. It is naturally uncivil and, you guessed it, ‘unparliamentary’. What is interesting is that some locals dampen the auditory (but not the semantic) blow of the word by replacing ‘chu’ with ‘phu’.
Tag Archives: Politics
Leading the Lamb to the Slaughter
Free-market systems mimic nature. In that, the big fish will, naturally, eat the small fish. Because they can. If left to itself, the system will result in a power struggle of the economic kind, which also spills into the social domain. Those who gain power are, again naturally, inclined towards retaining it and growing itContinue reading “Leading the Lamb to the Slaughter”
The Rich Get Richer Club
Dump: OK, pipe down guys. We’re not making money doing idle chit chat. This meeting of the Rich Get Richer Club is now in session. So, guys, here are the points on today’s agenda. The First is “What’s stopping us from getting richer?” The second is “How can we get even richer?” And the thirdContinue reading “The Rich Get Richer Club”
“I Can’t Breathe!”
Maybe it had lost its way, or perhaps it was attracted to minuscule food crumbs lying on the table, I don’t know. But within a split second, almost subconsciously, I pressed the little finger of my left hand and crushed it.
Narendra Modi, The Iconoclast
The Modi era may give rise to a new crop of citizens who are unafraid to question the sacred. I went looking for a silver lining, and I think I might have found one. iconoclast (noun): a person who criticizes popular beliefs or established customs and ideas. Origin: mid 17th cent. (originally referring to someoneContinue reading “Narendra Modi, The Iconoclast”
The Liberal Fringe: In Today’s India and Family WhatsApp Groups
Oh, how the times have changed! There was an age when moderate/liberal/progressive values were so highly regarded that people with such values were looked up to. Around me they were in larger numbers than people on the right of center. Right-wingers and conservatives were usually less educated, belonged to right-wing groups or were highly religiousContinue reading “The Liberal Fringe: In Today’s India and Family WhatsApp Groups”
It\’s Time to Thank God—And Make Some Changes
I guess it\’s time I thanked God for sending me down as an upper caste Hindu male. Now, if only I could also pretend that I hate minorities and find gau mutra delicious—that\’d set me up nicely for the next quarter century or so. I hope I\’m able to coz I\’ve heard terrible things aboutContinue reading “It\’s Time to Thank God—And Make Some Changes”
2019: A Face Odyssey
The Demagogue-class Castecaster crash-landed on a strange planet in the Tch O-kid ‘ar cluster of stars. I had lost my bearings and the crash had left me badly disoriented. I precariously stumbled out of the craft onto the alien terra firma. As far as my eyes could see, the landscape was swathed in eyeball-melting orange. AContinue reading “2019: A Face Odyssey”
Invisible Currents in the Ocean of Democracy
As far as the eyes can see, there’s a thrashing ocean of blood-red tongues screaming at the top of their voices defending their candidate. It is the roaring forties of representative governance — the general elections of the world’s largest democracy. Beneath the chaos runs a strong and vast undercurrent of opinions that dare notContinue reading “Invisible Currents in the Ocean of Democracy”
I Hate
Detestable, to say the leastThe things that don\’t deserve My respect or my love.Say, for instance, the sun.I hate the sun–It shines bright for allAnd doesn\’t dim itself for the \’others\’Who are not like me.I hate the moon–It shows the pathTo all travelers of the nightWithout checking their caste.I hate the trees–They give shade andContinue reading “I Hate”
Anupam Choudhury 