Laloo hits at the heart

Adamant Laloo meets Manmohan, demands resignation of ECs. I am reacting late to this. I was waiting for it to unfold. I wanted to see how the UPA leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh reacted. Because it is they who have to assess the consequences of letting Laloo have a free run in Delhi. And the danger is clear and present.

Laloo Prasad has brought his brand of blunt and blatantly ugly politics, which nearly demolished a state's polity and institutions, to Delhi. The ruffian ruckus-is-better-than-rules politics has shifted to the heart of India from the Bhojpuri heartland.

In that kind of politics, institutions get little respect, muscle gets all. That brand of politics abhors institutions and seeks to systematically destroy them because they cannot stay together.
Now that he is a central minister, the monster is right in the heart of India. We all know the merits of the L.V. Saptharishi episode. And how he abused the Election Commission in a letter meant for the law minister and handed it over to the railway minister.

I really do not know how the two Election Commissioners behaved or what they said to Saptharishi to warrant these wild allegations, but the Laloo Brand of Politics does threaten to sully the institution, admired not just here but across the world for organising the world's biggest election in a democracy that has politicians like Laloo Prasad Yadav. Also read. Laloo on Rampage.

A380: Applause and Best of Luck!

World's largest passenger jet takes off! A historic day in aviation since the Concorde took off in its maiden flight in 1969.

I am fascinated by aircraft. I guess it has something to do with the human desire to fly. Flying translates into freedom. A bird is on the ground pecking at things as people pass by. The moment one comes too close for comfort, it flies away. About hundred and one years ago, the Wright brothers made it possible for humans to leave the ground and since then humans have taken giant leaps into the art and science of aviation.

But every time I board a plane, there's slight fear of being in a space not natural to us humans. It makes us weaker. Birds fly away because they feel safe in the air. A turtle will jump into the water if it feels threatened on the ground. A wild animal will rush into the jungle if it feels unsafe in the open plains. We all are the strongest in our habitat. The home ground.

Every time I fly, there's this flutter in my heart, a small doubt in the back of mind, an unknown itch. A question: What if...?

Hence the Concorde reference in the second line. Concorde remains one of the most beautiful, pardon the nose, man-made creations that flew in the sky. It carried passengers on supersonic flights across the Atlantic. It became a legend, and a status symbol. And then... it lies in museums. Just 20 were built. Half of them operated. One deadly fire and it was all over. Humans realised they are human after all. Once you leave the ground, you are weaker. You can't take chances.

And that brings me to the viability of the double-decker A380. The fact that it can carry so many passengers (550 to 800) is both its strength and weakness. Let us all hope and pray for the success of the jumbo endeavour. Because in the air, all you can do is pray.

Condom condemned

Indians use 75 per cent of the condoms manufactured here to make saris, toys and bathroom slippers. Only 25 per cent is used to not make more Indians.

The condoms are valuable to manufacturers because of the lubricant on them. Sari weavers place the condoms on their thread spools and the lubricant on the prophylactics is rubbed off on the thread, making it move faster through their sewing machines, the Economic Times quoted an Indian industry official as saying.

Sari makers also turn the condom's inside out, place them on their fingers and use the high-quality lubricant to polish gold and silver threads used in the traditional Indian women's outfits.

India manufactures more than 1 billion condoms annually to check population growth and curb the spread of HIV/AIDS.