Just Li'Es

Celebrations for the Madras Day have begun with a  bang, I observed to my husband  who was engrossed  in reading the day’s news.

Do you know Jaswant Singh has been removed unceremoniously  from the party, this is the plight of being honest  in black and white, he chuckled.

You mean in his book? I asked.

Yes, ofcourse, he said.

Though Madras has been renamed as Chennai, we still seem to be calling it Madras Day, and not Chennai Day, I  said  just to divert the topic.

I am glad that someone thought of reviving the old name, observed he.

Old name with ‘new values and culture of the west’, what juxtaposition! I don’t know whether to feel happy about this “coexistence”, I said.

Well, what’s wrong with the new values and culture? We should learn to adopt ourselves to the changing times, simple, don’t you think so, he said.

No, I don’t think it is as simple as it sounds. People’s attitudes to their fellow human beings seem to be changing for the worse even faster than western fashions, I lamented.

Well, we can’t help that because people will change no matter what the city is called, he said.

Now you talk sense.. I am just wondering if by chance Chennai is called Madras again will it be celebrated as ‘Madras Day’ or ‘Chennai Day’, I said.

Probably the second with ‘no values or culture’ to speak of, he remarked.

That  remark of his left me foxed!

n.meera raghavendra rao