Raja's read only memories

(No names will be mentioned. Readers are expected to fill the blanks themselves) Think of the infamous national emergency of 1975 imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and one would by default make an association with this national newspaper. Why, this was when the newspaper waged a fierce war against the government, burnishing its anti-establishment tenor. When few others had the guts to offend the government, this newspaper chose to excoriate it by publishing a blank space on its front page, usually reserved for editorial pieces. Our rulers themselves tried every trick in its bag to unsettle this publication – through coercion, threat and direct assault – yet it emerged unscathed. As accounts go, Indira Gandhi wanted to stifle this media group because it would not bend to her whims and fancies. Supplies of essentials such as newsprint, electricity and even water were cut, so was its financing. When every other newspaper accommodated persons from the government in the...

My ruminations on reactions to the demise of public personalities     If ignorance is bliss, then we humans are the masters at being in a state of nirvana . An ever-burgeoning list of people blatantly ignored when alive, but eulogised after death offers clinching evidence for the same. The passing away of every public personality, for instance, should set the template for the study of this behvaioural trait. From outrage to surprise or disappointment, reactions to the same can open a Pandora’s Box, leaving behavioural analysts salivating to no end. Case in point: the demise of former Union minister Gopinath Munde. True, the Maharashtra BJP leader was a senior politician with considerable clout; in fact, he was widely tipped to be the state’s next chief minister. It was, therefore, expected that the leaders of his party were bound to shower the customary encomiums. However, it was a surprise indeed when leaders of opposition parties matched the BJP, if not bettered t...