Month: February 2013

‘No human has the right to dispense death to another, whatever the circumstances’: The human rights lobby’s war cry is at a feverish pitch.

In their blinkered view the Government and courts are extensions of a bleeding-heart humanity and not impersonal institutions.

Have you played book cricket? I am sure most of you would have for that is the ideal way to put books to good use in school and college, particularly when post-lunch classes are on. Also, scoring runs with a textbook is a lot easier than scoring marks with it. In my case, being a book-addict, over time, the childhood habit of book-cricket had morphed from a playful indulgence to almost an all-consuming obsession. I tell you, there is nothing better in a dull or idle moment than opening a book, be it even a dictionary, at random and feeling the fresh fragrance of new words and ideas or the familiar caress of known ones emanating from that page!

Each one believes he/she is the centre of the universe. Self-obsession in its various dimensions is a human trait. We see life and its myriad experiences only through the prism of our sensory perceptions. The mind, where you and I live and which is the real experiencer of pains and pleasures, emanates and receives actions and reactions and intereprets sensory signals only from the perspective of the individual.

The familiar fight between freedom of expression and tolerance to dissent is on in full swing across the nation. From cinema to politics to religion to literature to judiciary to law & order to domestic disorders, the landscape is littered with offensive stuff, offended souls, loud voices and super-sensitive ears. So, let me add my byte to the season’s flavour by speaking without fear or favour.