Thursday, September 24, 1998
Majority gives no immunity
One of the nicest jobs in the Vatican must be that of the devil's advocate. Let me explain what it entails for the benefit of all those without Italians to teach them. When the Church considers conferring sainthood upon someone, an officer in the Vatican is appointed to oppose the case, trying to deny that he/she was anything but an ordinary mortal.
Konark today, Taj tomorrow
At the risk of sounding anti-national, when one reads in The Indian Express of a two-tonne slab falling off an architectural marvel like the Sun Temple of Konark, one wishes the Raj had never ended. Set up in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham, a colonel in the Royal Engineers, the fate of the well-conceived Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is that of all the guardians of our heritage.
Oval sex in the time of AIDS
Now that everyone, from Maureen Dowd to your favourite kitty party hostess, has some view on Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, let me add my own bit and write myself into the endnotes of history. What rankles me is not Clinton's testosterone level -- he's entitled to his gift from God and, moreover, the Americans don't mind their presidents oozing that stuff as long as they don't do it in the Oval Office.
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