This is a busy news week, what with Bush in South Asia and pundits holding fort on that great annual ritual, Budget, to which two sections of Indians looked forward to eagerly: Industrialists, who were seeking more sops from the Finance Minister and middle class Indians, who anxiously awaited income tax relief with elaborate plans to spend any unexpected saving on consumer durables. More on budget (presented every year on February 28th) later, once I have a chance to don an old and long discarded hat.
On Bush’s visit to South Asia, I will have more comments, but please be warned that Charlie Rose has been broadcasting from India; he will speak to politicians, journalists and industrialists. Fareed Zakaria has already compared Bush’s India trip to Nixon’s historic trip to China and there seems to be some buzz. You can also watch the Charlie Rose interviews on Google Video, free of cost for a day.
Indian Press too has gone into overdrive, publishing OPEDs from pragmatic pundits and radical Bush critics/haters. Arundhati Roy has this OPED in The Hindu and I have been thinking about it since I read it last evening. I am no fan of Bush but in the shrillness of his critics, I see, very ironically, this typically Bushian disregard to engage the opponent in a serious dialogue. Ms. Roy is no exception. Her piece, though, is engaging and fun to read. In particular, see this comment on Bush’s predicament, since he couldn’t be provided with a proper location to address the Indian audience. Well, his WH staff is familiar with that problem in America too and have perfected the art of bypassing media/critics, as he seeks to address the people directly.
Ironic isn’t it, that the only safe public space for a man who has recently been so enthusiastic about India’s modernity, should be a crumbling medieval fort?
Since the Purana Qila also houses the Delhi zoo, George Bush’s audience will be a few hundred caged animals and an approved list of caged human beings who in India go under the category of “eminent persons.” They’re mostly rich folk who live in our poor country like captive animals, incarcerated by their own wealth, locked and barred in their gilded cages, protecting themselves from the threat of the vulgar and unruly multitudes whom they have systematically dispossessed over the centuries.
So Bush’s audience in India will consist primarily of caged animals, living in the Delhi zoo and caged rich people, who live in the gated communities of Indian metropolitan cities.
Oh, by the way, given the proximity to Purana Qila, Bush will have a wise old man, residing in Nizamuddin, eavesdropping. I suspect Ashis Nandy will also not be summarily dismissive of George W Bush and offer more interesting insights. Dr. Nandy, will drop by with a bottle of single malt soon and let us have a go at GWB.
In the meanwhile, I will have more on Bush all through the week, including some additional commentary on my own OPED, which should be posted online wednesday night US central time. I read every word he has uttered in the last 6-7 years and I want to subject you all, unsuspecting readers, my punditry. As you all know, Bush ain’t no Lincoln (or Hariscandra) but should that stop us from demanding that he stand by his own words?
Well, more than a thousand reporters are in New Orleans to cover Mardi Gras. Mainstream Media always brings a saner perspective always. Indians may be stealing our jobs but South Asia be damned. We know what our audience craves for.
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