shuddh cow shit

this is one way of looking at these national awards: if bharat ratna is for individuals who build bharat, the jnanpith award is for those who define it. loosely.

in my last post, i'd pointed out that at least 18 of the 40 bharat ratna recipients until now have been brahmins- which means about half of those who built bharat are brahmins. if you think that's an oversimplification, that one community couldn't have built bharat, please check how bharat is defined. over 26 of around 40 jnanpith awardees until now have been brahmins- a bharat defined by brahmins could only be built by brahmins.

and if you think the relationship between nationbuilders and the writing classes is never so cordial, never so agreeable: do you think all of them received the prize for writing the same thing, or holding the same views?

not just agreement, approval, praise but even angst, dissent, rebellion, disapproval- everything has to smell like cow shit. if any shit isn't processed by some cow's holy entrails, tough shit, it won't be acceptable. if x, or another cow like him, disapproves of something, only y, or another cow like him, can disagree with him. any buffalo that butts in with its own shit is as welcome as bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

any questions, that concern india's present, past or future are best debated by the cows- only they've the right to lock horns. and on their elegant shoulders lies the burden of both: making policy and opposing it. of agreement and dissent. and that's holy shit..i mean, writ.