The cattle class

(Madhu fascinated with KKarisal cattle)

One would think "what a nasty comment it was!" in response to Shashi Tharoor's (India's State Minister for External Affairs) reference to economy class flight travels as 'cattle class'. Does it not reflect the mindset of the elite who have come to occupy the seat of power without any real understanding of the masses?

Reading the story in detail would, however, show that we have been over-reacting to a comment made jokingly. When a reporter asked S.T if he would travel 'cattle class', he replied, repeating the same phrase, "I would travel cattle class in solidarity with all the holy cows". A debate instantly ensues as to who the 'cows' are! S.T. has clarified that he was only commenting on airlines that herd us in like cattle, and not made fun of economy class travelers. (Glad that our PM has come to his rescue).

Apparently, using analogies involving animals like dog, monkey & cow is risky -when people fail to catch the metaphoric intention, but rather get upset on being 'compared' to animals! Nobody is an exception. When I used to open up an electrical appliance (VCR, camera etc) and leave it in open condition for a couple of days either because I didn't know how to fix it, or as I lost the charm in working with them... I often hear Deepika say "இதென்ன, ’ஏதோ’ கையில் பூமாலை கிடைச்ச மாதிரி....”.

Few years ago when Mu.Ka was reinstalling Kannagi statue, Ananda Vikatan had commented that politicians were playing with Kannagi as if she was a 'teddy bear'.Mu.Ka went strongly against AV as it compared Kannagi with a 'bear doll'! (If you thought Mu.Ka was good enough to understand உவமையணி, he proved you wrong!)

The term cattle rang a bell to me -that Eisntein had used it to refer to atheists. Did a little search and found that famous quote: "The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle". That was Albert Einstein who looked at religious guys like a herd of cattle.

Even when I'm on this topic, I recall some interesting events that involved my friend Ponraj. But I choose to keep quiet and not write about his reactions then... Well, Let the sleeping dog sleep! :-)
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