Sandwiched between fetid heaps of garbage, primeval ooze trickling from surrounding walls, ringed by steaming heaps of dung, a hopeful billboard in Kolkata reads: “Don’t let litter spoil the glitter.”
But what’s in a sign? We Don’t care about them. When in doubt, we Indians like to throw it out. Got a bad cold? Stream out the phlegm from nostril to footpath in an olive green avalanche. Eating a succulent paan? Create a juice reservoir in the mouth and aim a torrential puce-coloured projectile at the nearest wall, and to hell with anyone who happens to be passing by. Getting the urge to answer nature’s call? Find a street corner or a railway track or maybe the neighbour’s vegetable patch and Read More
