Da Vinci Code and Maai Baap Sarkar

So we have the whole - "Hurt sensibilities, protests and government ban" drama being played once again. This time, Christian sensibilities are hurt and the government first decided to ban the movie, then the IB minister saw it and declared magnanimously that the Censor board will take the final call.

It seems that though, the license raj has long been touted to be over, the government is yet to get over the hang over. Apparently, it will take some more time for the government to realize that keeping a control on how much rice people eat, what TV channels they see, what radio station they listen to, what car they ride on are things it will have to get out of. That patients are dying because of Doctors' stir, that terrorists gun down people in day light and blast away temples on festivals, that power situation is getting grimmer by the day even in the national capital, that road network still sucks in the age of information superhighways and that people who try to stand against deep rooted muck in government systems get shot down seems to be something a shade too insignificant for the government to expend its bandwidth on. Let the governance go to the dogs, I need to watch that movie.

Another interesting corollary is this growing tendency of intolerance amongst us. You are free to say anything as long as I agree with you. Forget about resolving differences sitting across the table, if you utter something that I don't believe in, I will rush to the government to gag you shut. Chances are, the government too will oblige depending upon the weed, the concerned minister smoked that morning.

A sensible person has only three choices - a) develop a rhino's hide, b) go into deep depression, or, c) take to guns. Option (c) doesn't go well with civilized sensibilities, option (b) is too harsh on the protagonist and hence no wonder people prefer option (a). I am thick skinned and unless a harpoon hits my backside, I give a damn about what happens to yours.