indiascribe satire

Time was when any King worth his name would seek to expand his kingdom through conquest to become an emperor and gain what they thought would be everlasting fame. It is another matter that most of them ended up as just ciphers in the march of time. In modern democratic India, we have the curious spectacle of everyone demanding lesser things. Take the case of caste based reservation itself. Of and on, there is a  clamour for being included in most backward classes list. For a people who consider "loss of face" as the worst thing that could befall a person, it is indeed strange to see that so many sections are prepared to lower themselves to any extent to grab a piece of pie on offer. Similarly, the demand for smaller states by insignificant politicians. They have discovered that fellows who cannot win even a municipal election could become the Chief Minister through this route. Otherwise how could Chandrashekhar Rao, whose TRS party was soundly thrashed in the elections ma

I was in a hurry. The Rajdhani Express was leaving Trivandrum in a few minutes and I wanted to buy a book to survive the nearly 48 hours long journey to New Delhi. Could not locate the Higginbothams on the platform and asked someone. He said it is located outside, on one of the exits. Managed to find it and the first book I saw was 'Elephant Song' by Wilbur Smith. Bought it in double quick time and boarded the train. Till then, had no clue to who the author was or what the book was all about. Somewhat like a blind date. The train started rolling and I started reading. Actually, Elephant Song is a misnomer for this thriller set in the wilds of Africa. The elephants figure only in the opening chapters. Then suddenly it changes track and picks up pace as the main protagonist, Dr Daniel Armstrong, a naturalist famous for his TV shows (shades of Dr David Attenborough, perhaps) finds his friend Johnny Nzou, chief warden of Chiwewe national park in Zimbabwe murdered along with his en