Offered (almost) without comment

I was much amused by this particular piece of newspaper-work. Who would have thought that the pesti-cola issue should have birthed, of all things, an NGO?

One that calls itself Centre for Sanity and Balance in Public Life and claims that the cola issue is a waste of the nation's time.

Of course. All that fuss about fizz.... A little toxic sweetened fizz never killed anybody. And as for ground water, land, and the battle for the earth's resources, why, what's there to fight about? They belong to whoever has the most money, don't they? Juski bhains, uski laathi. Usi ka makkhan, usi ka tabela.

A certain Mr Asthana who has started this group dedicated to sanity and balance, believes that we should concentrate instead on 'core issues'. The core issues being "the Ayodhya temple issue, security in Hindu temples where stampedes kill people, the social evils of lotteries, and the use of text messages by television and mobile phone service companies to make money."

Of course. Why waste Rs 6 sending a message to channels, say, during the Bombay blasts, or during floods, wondering if friends and family are alright, or just expressing your opinion during a televised debate? Rs 6 could buy you a bottle of cola, after all.


In another vein,

I was a little bothered by this BBC headline - ' Indonesia to execute christians'

That the people who are to be/were executed are christians may be factually correct. But it wouldn't have hurt to say 'Indonesia to execute rioters'. There is not much wrong with the rest of the story; it goes on to elaborate that the accused were convicted for masterminding attacks on their muslim compatriots, and that Europe isn't too happy with the verdict.

But that headline sort of clinches the mood of the story - reinforces the fact that christians are being executed, rather than communal rioters. And the media has no business doing that.