Stories from Troy!

This morning I casually remarked to my domestic help that she was in with a chance to secure a pressure cooker or a goat for free in the near future. The lady goggled at me, puzzlement writ on her broad brow. She had been looking rather questioningly at me as I lurked around the house, wondering as to why I was not at work? The lady is well acquainted with IT folk and is quite aware of the cycles of boom and bust that they seem to go through. Well to cut a long story short, thanks to the good God Shiva, I was home. So, where does the goat enter the scheme of things? Well, apparently the incumbent Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Miss J.Jayalalitha has entered the race to be Prime Minister and has promised the masses’ freebies, amounting to gas stoves, pressure cooker's, cows, mixer-grinders and of course goats, if she does become Prime Minster heading a band of loosely bound political entities ranging from the extreme left to the left to the socialist. The issue is that this band calling themselves the third front have not identified Miss JJ as their leader as yet, though our venerable ex-PM Devegowda, seems to feel that the lady has it in her to be Prime Minister. Amidst the excitement the details or fine print are a little difficult to see, being how Miss JJ would finance these freebies considering that there would be great demand for goats and such offered free to the great Indian population. Interestingly Rome was not built in a day, neither was its demise sudden. As the Roman kings thought up of innovative ways to entertain themselves, they realized that they needed to keep restive bourgeois quite for them (king) to be allowed to continue to wallow in the fat of luxury. And how did they do this - well you have guessed right - by distributing freebies though the great Gibbon in his magnum opus The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire does not record that goats were distributed free to the citizens of Rome. Free bread and carnivals, where men slaughtered fellow men or beasts did little to improve the lives of the groaning masses, though it did divert their attention for a while. These shenanigans eventually weakened Rome internally and she imploded. What exactly does Miss JJ say in her battle of the ballot with her main opponent the DMK? Her manifesto offers a big bunch of freebies for the financially weaker sections. It promises free houses of 300 sq ft each, costing Rs 1.8 lakh, to three lakh BPL families. Other promises for rural areas include 60,000 cows for 6,000 families increasing milk production from 2.5 million litres to 10 million litres. Families below the poverty line will also get four sheep. Women remain at the centre of Jayalalithaa's scheme of things. Women's self help groups will get loans up to Rs 10 lakh, with a waiver of 25%. Pregnant women have been promised Rs 12,000 during four months of maternity leave. Marriage assistance for poor women would be enhanced to Rs 25,000, with a four-gram gold coin as a special gift. For those women with a diploma, the wedding assistance would be Rs 50,000. A few days ago the lady was at the centre of controversy for threatening to release those accused and indicted in the murder of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by throwing an ultimatum at the Central Government. On occasion the lady and her faithful band seem to forget that they are a part of a larger nation called India, which is larger than her and her followers. I'm sure all of us are aware of the story of Troy, of the Trojan horse and gifts that arrive gratis!