Between you & me

NEVER A dull moment. The Bal Thackeray charade went the way most of us expected, with a whimper. The matter has of course not ended, and the State Government has other recourses open to it. For the time being Thackeray has called all the shots, and the Maharashtra Government does not particularly look even half way triumphant though it tries to take some credit for getting him into a court of law. I don't suppose that this was the kind of case which any lower court would have handled with a strong hand. But as a layman, I wonder whether causing disaffection between communities can be time-barred. There is no reason to believe that Mr. Thackeray is mellowing. Recalling the time when he was brought before a court in 1968 or thereabouts, he said with quiet pride that at that time Bombay burned for 10 days. Incidentally, I did not know that there is a lunatic fringe of the Shiv Sena in Chennai - I got an anonymous telephone call a few nights ago, warning me against writing anything derogatory about Mr. Thackeray. There was a very racist governor in the United States named Orville Faubus. The stand-up comedian, Mort Sahl, said: ``I have nothing about Orville Faubus - I just don't want him to marry my sister.'' Well, I have nothing against Thackeray, I only wish I didn't have to write about him.

No sooner did Tackeray indulge in his derring-do - the police actually let him go to the residence of his friend, the Mayor of Mumbai from where he said he would be arrested - than Mr. Ram Jethmalani jumped on to centre stage, waving a flashing sword like an avenging angel (avenging himself, that is). However he is on a pretty poor wicket. He neither has anything like the following Thackeray has, nor does he seem to have many supporters. In his public statements he has always been overbearing and cantankerous, and his one overwhelming trait has been self-esteem. ``When I open my lips, let no dog bark'' seems to be his motto. We are a people, who, with all our faults, are given to a great respect for the judiciary, and to secret documents of the Government. When a member of the legal procession chooses to flout the judiciary and official secrets which he obtained as a member of the Cabinet, I am not sure how he should be dealt with, particularly as he seems to remain unrepentant and intransigent.

Coming to our own state, I am beginning to wonder if there had been a time when there was so much crime and lawlessness in our urban and rural areas. The Chief Minister is busy with opening mega projects as well as farmers' fairs, and providing statistical information on how far ahead our state is than any of the others in most respects. He is constantly handing out grants and gifts to students who did nothing more important than studying well and pass the examinations with good ranks, which is what a good student is supposed to do. In my days the student who came first usually got a medal which the school, family and friends alone knew about - no front page coverage in the newspapers, no photographs, no TV interviews because there was no TV. I mention this not out of chagrin that my medals went unnoticed decades ago, but because there are today literally hundreds of thousands of students, and to pick out a few for being honoured does not do much for the morale of the others. Not to mention the atrocious habit of schools advertising themselves through their `toppers.'

But I am wandering. Not a day passes by without more than one burglary. There is not much point in blaming the hardworking police, for except in some cases, the robberies take place in houses whose occupants have gone on a visit to another town. Why would people leave valuables in their houses when they are not going to be there? by the same token why would women wear valuable jewellery and walk by themselves on lonely roads? The worst anti-social act is the road roko.

The Chief Minister stated some time ago that in future people who hold up traffic will be imprisoned, but nothing seems to have happened. The other day the students of the Presidency College indulged in serious violence in front of their college because some of their colleagues who had tried to play the fool with women assistants in a shop were manhandled by the men in the shop. The students ran riot, attacked the police with sticks and stones, and in the end more than 20 policemen were injured, while the students apparently were not. What does the Chief Minister do? He orders arrested students released as it may affect their educational career. Enough said.

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HOPE springs eternal in the human breast, and though I have not succeeded so far, I shall make one more attempt to correct some common errors, indulged in by Tamil Cable TV. ``Summon'' - the word is a verb. You ``summon'' somebody, but you send him ``summons''. ``Tension'' is a noun and not an adjective. You become ``tense'', not become ``tension'' - this is an all time favourite of Cable TV writers. And ``robot''. This is not a French word and the final ``t'' should be pronounced. The word comes from the Czechoslovakian, ``robota'' meaning ``work''. That ends today's lesson.

* * *

THE aggravations people have to live through. Here is one in the correspondent's own words. ``The problem of toilet water seepage from top flat to the one below. I am suffering great mental agony and physical discomfort but top flat resident refuses to repair. To my surprise there are many such victims in almost all colonies, and most victims are forced to get repair done at own cost after struggle/ delay. Has anybody tackled the problem in a better/ different way! Can anybody give suggestions to settle this menace quickly? Are victims ready to form an association? ``Interested readers, if they like, can send me a note with a self- addressed envelope which I shall forward to the correspondent.

This complaint is from a woman reader, but I don't know if anything can be done about it. ``I am a senior citizen living alone and not keeping good health. Of late there is a spurt in the delivery of promotional materials for all sorts of products and services by courier. The boys insist that I sign the receipt and put the telephone number in their paper. Every time I am compelled to open the main door to answer the call. This is a security hazard and disturbs my peace. Courier service should be restricted to only business transactions and for important letters. For sending business promotional materials there should be a steep increase in the service tax.''

A morality tale, Parthasarathy. A truck-driver stopped at a cafe in the middle of the night for a dinner stop. Half way through his meal three wild-looking motorcyclists roared up - burly, bearded, leather- jacketed. For no reason at all they selected the truck-driver as a target. One poured pepper over his head, another grabbed his apple-pie, and the third deliberately tipped his coffee over. The truck-driver never said one word, just stood up, paid his bill, and left. ``that truck-driver certainly is not much of a fighter,'' sneered one of the motorcyclists. The girl behind the counter, peering out into the night, added: ``He doesn't seem to be much of a truck-driver, either. He just ran his truck right over three motorcycles.''

S. KRISHNAN

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