Table Manners

32

Arundhati Roy's book, Power Politics, uses the delectable imagery of how it increasingly appears Indians are being rounded up and loaded into two convoys of trucks - the tiny one moving towards a glittering destination and the large one, comprising of the unsung, hurtling towards darkness and then disappearing. Award ceremonies are widely criticized for egging on only the mini-convoy. For celebrating those who glitter and are considered glamorous. For feting fluff and frivolity. So when you have an awards night where the underdog, the unsung and the simple is celebrated and put under arc-lights, you would expect a certain solemnity in the air. You would expect the invitees to feel privileged to be a part of a celebration where status and power - the two heaviest loads being carried by the mini-convoy - have been offloaded. But Delhi is different. It's a city....