2010 । ২০১০

While many Indians still hold the Supreme Court to be a fair institution — standing amidst the ruins of many collapsed constitutional bodies — the present Election Commission of India (ECI) is considered to have reached an unimaginable nadir.

I came across a photograph of Pandit Nehru sitting on a simple wooden bed, covered with a frugal white sheet and a few batik spreads, and a couple of pillows strewn behind and beside him. There were no crowds on the dais, which was obviously during the Convocation of Visva Bharati in (1954), and while the Upacharya, who was at the right corner of the photo, delivered his address over an ancient microphone, Panditji looked straight at the audience.