Seculars' wager

Sonia Gandhi claps as Teesta Setalvad receives the Rajiv Gandhi Sadhbhavna Award in 2002

Isn't it funny that the woman who is supposed to be a tireless fighter for justice for a certain set of minorities receives an award in the name of the man famous for his "big tree" remark? 

Actually, there is nothing funny or surprising about it. This can be explained purely by economics principles. If a certain type of behavior is rewarded, there will be more of it. On the other hand, if a certain type of behavior is punished, there will be less of it. 

Now suppose a certain type of action has a low probability of reward and no chance of punishment for cheating at all, many punters will jump into the fray. There will be all sorts of hi- jinks and adventurism. 

This is really the benign part of it. 

Left unchecked, such a situation can create massive ripples of social unrest. Think of it this way: suppose a man is falsely implicated in a riot case and jailed. In the jail he is anally raped. Meanwhile his wife leaves him. His teenage daughter is regularly abused in school by her male classmates ("why are you shouting bitch, tera baap ne bhi to aisa kya tha?"). Etc. etc. 

Now, given that every act of riot must have an equal and opposite bomb blast (morally justified too, according to secular people), what is this man to do after he is released? 

Let's assume our man is too broken and too old to do anything worthwhile really. So, he goes to an Ashram and becomes an inmate, cleaning after pilgrims and cooking meals twice a day.

One day, there is an OB van outside the ashram. There is a man with the camera and his helper. Then there is this posh looking young female journo. She starts her intro: This is so and so speaking for Channel XYZ. See, this is how Hindu Fundamentalism takes root. See, trident here! OMG! Scary Gods! See how these devotees look? 

At this point our man is confused. He is getting mixed up. The party gets closer and closer, the journo is furiously reading her script into the microphone. The pathway is paved with stones, uneven like. There is a large rock just sitting there, so tempting, it is shaped as though it is meant to be gripped .... 

So, our man picks the rock up and throws it aside, so that it doesn't trip the journo. Why? Because she looks kinda like his daughter.

Happy ending, see? Hindu tragedies usually end that way. 

Happy happy mushy mush 

Cadbury khaoge?