Curious how the stuff of Animal Planet becomes a mainstream media issue and everyone in the animal kingdom a spokesperson for it. First, it was the tiger - when the Sariska poaching incident came up, our friends in the media announced doomsday for the big cat. Sorry, even before that it was the elephant - Veerappan and his ivory oligarchy won Jumbo a number of page-one anchors. And then we forgot about them. Now, because tigers are so last year and elephants scarcely a blip on the radar, media melancholia has shifted to the knob-nosed, fish-eating crocodilian we know as the Gharial. Before we wait to find out what's behind the mysterious gharial deaths in the National Chambal River Sanctuary, we already have hyper-informed, scoop-hungry television anchors beating their chests in public and writing the ancient reptile's epitaph. Before you can say Gavialis gangeticus they have flung a daisy chain of jeremiads upon everyone and everything within...

Finally, someone has blown the whistle on the obscurantism and low idiocy that plagued us throughout the 'shining' reign of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Speaking for the UPA-led Government of India, the Archaeological Survey of India has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court rejecting the claim that there exists a Ram Sethu in the Gulf of Mannar. Predictably, the BJP and its mythology-drunk cohorts have started to act out their charade of Hindutva-charged nationalism that befools both history and common sense. Be warned, a heady saffron pralay is about to flow our way. It started on Wednesday morning on my way to work even before news of the affidavit was out. My bus was held up on Hosur Road (already notorious for its cranky moods) for two hours in log-jam traffic. Protesters with saffron flags and headbands stopped traffic at a critical intersection, as they did at many places across the country. Staging a 'peaceful demonstration' and enjoying plastic cups of...

In our time, prison is no longer the earthly equivalent of Purgatory, the ecclesiastical transit station between Heaven and Hell that allowed sinners an opportunity to repent. It is now more of a sympathy sink for celebrities - a rehab that enables the socially blemished to win back lost love from the rabble and boost their PR ratings. Why else would Sanjay Dutt's jail term evoke so much public outcry? Look at the dramatis personae rushing to his aid - ministers and minions, the Bollywood swish set, thespians like Dilip Kumar and hopeless tinsel hopefuls like Monica Bedi. We have Signora Sonia herself, who reportedly summoned her honchos to an emergency huddle on the issue. Not surprising, considering that Dutt's sister Priya is a Congress MP who inherited her constituency from their late father. Educated citizens in our cities are taking out demonstrations and painting their faces to show solidarity with their fallen star. For media, the event has provided grist for...

In our time, prison is no longer the earthly equivalent of Purgatory, the ecclesiastical transit station between Heaven and Hell that allowed sinners an opportunity to repent. It is now more of a sympathy sink for celebrities - a rehab that enables the socially blemished to win back lost love from the rabble and boost their PR ratings. Why else would Sanjay Dutt's jail term evoke so much public outcry? Look at the dramatis personae rushing to his aid - ministers and minions, the Bollywood swish set, thespians like Dilip Kumar and hopeless tinsel hopefuls like Monica Bedi. We have Signora Sonia herself, who reportedly summoned her honchos to an emergency huddle on the issue. Not surprising, considering that Dutt's sister Priya is a Congress MP who inherited her constituency from their late father. Educated citizens in our cities are taking out demonstrations and painting their faces to show solidarity with their fallen star. For media, the event has provided grist for...