Between you & me

I PROBABLY am going to sound like an ode to dejection, but I cannot help it. The scenario is as dismal as it can be. The plight of the public life in our country is such that it will move angels to tears.

Looking at our own bailiwick first, the Tamil Maanila Congress throws out its senior member, Mr. P. Chidambaram, for no reason except that he objected, quite correctly, in my opinion, to the party making an electoral alliance with the AIADMK. He walked out and formed a forum of like-minded members, to take an electoral line of his own. I admit I do not know where he will go from here. But I respect his integrity. As it always happens in our politics, his erstwhile friends and colleagues have started abusing him in no uncertain fashion.

The Congress(I), after a lot of blithering has not only joined the AIADMK alliance but agreed to share platforms with its bitter enemy, the pro-LTTE Pattali Makkal Katchi. I don't want to go into the amount of double-talk the Congress(I) has been indulging in to justify its decision. I don't know if any of my readers have seen a procession where a mother rat leads its brood, each catching the other's tail. It is a spectacular sight. The DMK and AIADMK alliances remind me of the rat procession, except that there is nothing spectacular about the alliances. No principles seem to be involved as far as I can see, except the hope of an electoral victory.

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MOVING NORTH, while the Muslims of the world condemn the Taliban's action in destroying Buddha statues, here in India alone the saffronites have to attack the Muslims in the one fashion that is sure to provoke the latter - namely burning the Holy Quran. Naturally riots result and people have been killed. According to a report, the police were mere bystanders when a burning took place in Delhi.

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THE STOCK market's fall was abrupt and shocking, especially as it had shot up after the budget. It will take time before the causes are exposed, but in the meanwhile the small investor suffers. To complete the picture, obviously some leading members of the market may have manipulated the market, and income-tax investigations are under way. We are a great people for closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Finally, I would like to quote from a speech of the Japanese Ambassador to India, from a report in this newspaper dated March 23: ``The attitude of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs adopted by authorities in India, and governance issues in States like labour unrest and extortion by criminal elements are posing a great threat to sustenance of revived Japanese investment... tax authorities `out of zeal or greed' often subjected foreign companies to harassment and undue pressure... The tax authorities' attitude `of giving with one hand and slapping with the other' was hardly conducive to investment... In Mumbai and its neighbouring areas in Maharashtra the Japanese companies were `every day having to welcome Shiv Sena who pose a security threat.' The Ambassador also expressed the hope that Tamil Nadu and Chennai would, in contrast, be able to maintain their good reputation as a good investment destination.

I think I will conclude my dirge at that somewhat positive note.

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A FEW weeks ago this column received a book, ``The Greatest Stories Retold - Ramayana and Mahabharata.'' The author, Dr. M. S. Rao worked in the Stanley Medical College, later went to England, went into general practice. There have been many versions in many languages of the two epics, and I must say initially my heart sank when I saw one more book on them, but Dr. Rao's book is very worth reading, especially by those who are not wholly committed to the originals as holy scriptures. Dr. Rao views the epics from the view of a modern man, and his rendering is racy and extremely readable. While he has his own point of view on many episodes, he treats the incarnations reverentially for the most part, unlike Aubrey Menen's ``Rama Retold,'' in which he deliberately tried to be profane, portraying Rama as a wimp and quetioning Sita's chastity. Dr. Rao is never offensive just for the sake of being funny, though he is occasionally ribald. Which, as he claims rightly, is in the originals, especially Mahabharata. As I said earlier, those who don't feel too awed by the originals will enjoy these versions thoroughly. Dr. Rao's address is: Carolina House, Carolina Tea Estate, Coonoor-643102.

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THIS STORY comes from a friend in Kuala Lampur, Parthasarathi. The much beleagured former President Josef Estrada of the Philippines was once addressing a foreign correspondents' group. One of them asked him what the national flower of the Philippines was.

``Chrysanthemum,'' Estrada said.

The reporter asked politely, ``Can you spell it, please?'' Estrada thought for a minute, then said: ``On second thought, I believe it is the rose.''

S. KRISHNAN

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