Some things to Reconsider

Come October, India enters what I call the “Republic of Outrage.” The so-called festival season now comes with its own ritual choreography — not of lights, but of hashtags. First, the annual denunciation of Gandhi: a flurry of posts calling him the “great appeaser,” followed by that curious sect of Godse devotees who believe the man with the pistol was history’s most misunderstood patriot. And then, inevitably, comes the annual symphony on fireworks — the claim that bursting crackers is a time-honoured Hindu tradition. Celebrities, industrialists, and TV anchors join in with missionary zeal. Some sing solo, others harmonise, but they all hum the same tune. From television studios to X (that glorious temple of half-truths), the chorus swells. Sudhir Chaudhary, our national priest of prime-time patriotism, warns solemnly that “banning crackers is an attack on faith.” Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai logs on to declare that “pollution isn’t caused by crackers,” and that restrictions are...