Nothing Can Stop A Living Thing That

Mangalore, The Coastal Indian Town Where I Lived Until I Was Almost 16, Is Now A Booming City Of Malls And Call-centres. But, In The 1980s, It Was A Provincial Town In A Socialist Country.

See, The Poor Dream All Their Lives Of Getting Enough To Eat And Looking Like The Rich. And What Do The Rich Dream Of?? Losing Weight And Looking Like The Poor.

Too Much Of Indian Writing In English, It Seemed To Me, Consisted Of Middle-class People Writing About Other Middle-class People - And A Small Slice Of Life Being Passed Off As An Authentic Portrait Of The Country.

Go To Old Delhi,and Look At The Way They Keep Chickens There In The Market. Hundred Of Pale Hens And Brightly Colored Roosters, Stuffed Tightly Into Wire-mesh Cages. They See The Organs Of Their Brothers Lying Around Them.they Know They Are Next, Yet They Cannot Rebel. They Do Not Try To Get Out Of The Coop. The Very Same Thing Is Done With Humans In This Country.

The Coop Is Guarded From The Inside.