Let Them Dance-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

Let Them Dance-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India


While in principal, there can be no argument against that, who decides what is moral, what is right and what is wrong? To what length does a city or its people need to go to become "global"? If, for instance, foreigners start coming to my city, Lucknow, in hordes, does that mean the Lucknow ki tehzeeb (or whatever is left of it) should be subsumed to the "global" culture just so Lucknow becomes a truly global city? There is no right or wrong answer. Its just the leadership and the larger public opinion that would decide so, if and when the time comes. Is Dubai not a global city?Amsterdam is a global city. As global as any can be. May be we need to legalize marijuana. How about emulating Singapore? Let's legalize prostituion then. Copying Paris? Lets legalize and allow weddings for gays. Build some casinos as well and some strip bars. Well, why not. In a truly globalized, 21st century, all of this is quite ok and accepted, isnt it?Do we even know what percentage of the local population in Bangalore goes to discs for dancing and prancing around in the night?Globalization doesnt just mean dancing around for either men or women. It means providing facilities of international standards, having an infrastructure that others come to emulate. Let Bangalore provide roads, clean drinking water in the taps, 24 hour electricity, roads for women to walk safely on at 2am in the night, police that truly holds up the peace of the city like the European police and public transport like that of Hong Kong. That then would be a truly global city. For the population of Bangalore, dancing will come naturally then irrespective of whether pubs and discs are open after mid night or not.

India and Kashmir

Put Out The Fire-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

Unless we integrate the Valley with the rest of the country, these issues are likely to continue forever into the future. Before Independence, the place was ruled by a Hindu king. Can we imagine a Hindu ruler now? Before independence, there didnt seem to be any communcal problems in Kashmir. Now since the last 20 years there are. Unless we try and integrate, things are not going to change. No point in saying that the Valley has special rights and is a special state thanks to its unique culture. The very culture we used to talk about has changed now. That culture was a great blend of Sufism and Hinduism - with both religions living together in peace and harmony. Now neither Sufism is left and nor is Hinduism. That is why even common discussions result in classifying Kashmir as the only state with a majority muslim population. I am sure that Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Patel and all the others never envisaged such a situation. The ground realities having changed so much, the case is for the integration of Kashmir rather than its continued isolation from the rest of India. We need a repeat of Punjab in Kashmir without continuing to harp on its long lost "unique" culture.