Gandhi - the Vision and the Glasses

Congratulations to all my brethren for getting back what was rightfully ours. A certain pair of glasses that were under the hammer at a very big auction. India's prestige has been restored in the International community. Vijay Mallya turned out to be the greatest patriot of 'em all by shelling out a cool $ 1.8 million for the Gandhi Goodies©.

Somehow, I've begun to doubt my own sense of patriotism. My chest just refused to swell with pride when the news was announced. I apologize to Indrajit Hazra for quoting him here with the quote unquoted as he quoted exactly what I had been thinking.

My only question is: If we Indians wanted the Gandhi Goodies © (glasses, slippers, bowl and blood report)so badly, why did we ask the government to get them for us? After all, unlike the Kohinoor diamond and most of the Indian artifacts scattered across various museums around the world, these Gandhi Goodies© weren't stolen property that left an unholy imperialist-hegemonic ooze-trail across continents and time. This was fair and square deal in which the owner of the Gandhi Goodies© had decided to sell them to the highest bidder...No burglaries, no customs rackets, no Tomb Raider sequences, no RSS hanky-panky that we are so familiar with...All legit. So, why couldn't one of us, so keen to suck every Gandhi item scattered across the globe, raise his hand and make a bid at the Antiquorum auction last Tuesday night at New York?

No, you don't have to answer the above question. Not that I expect you to, anyway. What's the big deal with the glasses? I thought Gandhi was about ideology and not idol worship.Frankly, I have come to accept the Great Indian Hypocrisy as a way of life. To think of it, alcohol was the vilest thing according to Gandhi (That's why October 2 is a Dry Day!). Almost six decades after his death, India; his own country; cheered while his belongings were purchased at an auction by India's biggest liquor baron. Another one bites the dust in front of the Great Indian Hypocrisy! May his soul rest in peace.

This one flew right over the KINGFISHER's nest!