Fueling Thoughts

  I am still torn over who is the more tragicomic figure in  BAFTA award winning documentary   Mr. Nobody vs. Putin : the protagonist Pavel, known as Pasha, or the history teacher Abdulmanov. Pasha looks like the iconic Soviet film character Shurik come to life - the endearing, hapless, sexless, nerdy, pedantic antihero of Soviet comedy. Only he is slightly more pudgy, but equally looks like someone who is not feared, followed, or taken seriously. By contrast, Abdulmanov is like Koschei Bessmertny, the immortal skeleton, the central villain of most Russian folk tales. Tall, skinny and humourless, absolutely ideologically committed to the country’s politics. He is obedient to dictates from above, reverent toward the Soviet past, and unwaveringly loyal to the present leadership and its narrative. One cannot even call him an opportunist or a sycophant in the conventional sense. Yet he was rewarded with a new flat as the best teacher. Possibly he was one,  h...

  After a little over a year, I could finally leave my hometown and board a train, perhaps after half a decade. It was the new Vande Bharat overnight service to Kolkata - Indian Railways’ latest flagship and the country’s first high-speed sleeper train. Certainly the most modern thing on rails in India, with interiors almost at par with new Chinese trains, though not quite there yet. The travellers, however, were mostly unchanged - yelling across the wagon, playing music, or watching news and clips on mobiles at full volume. If some wore headphones, it took care of the input, not their vocal cords. The train was new and clean, inside and out. The linen was fresh and crisp. It travelled quite fast for an Indian train, and almost everything worked, except the bathroom occupancy lights. They glowed green at all times, which meant anyone inside had to bear the indignity of the doorknob being repeatedly rattled by people attempting to enter, especially while they were re...