Triumph of the frill

Before May 16, the ruling classes were virtually unanimous in declaring the elections 'issue'less. Now, suddenly, every one's an expert on lessons to be drawn, courses to be corrected, and philosophies to be overhauled. Everyone has a list of their favorite issues that have triumphed. But the laurels for the most frivolous definitely rest with vocal votaries of pubthumpers. Even in the ground zero of pub brawls, where 'communalism' carried the day, undeterred pub-goers are claiming victory. With an electorate supposedly concerned with bread and butter issues alone, the furtive catapulting of liquor consumption as an 'issue' remains a mystery. Maybe once you're high, you cannot let your issue on the dry. Factually though, when it came to electoral excitation, pub chic was a non-starter; a non-issue. If religion is no longer an issue, as we're told, the massive mobilization of certain votes, from the pulpit no less, goes unexplained.  If cherubic faces are all that the masses seek, then the waterloo handed in the hinterland of Bharat demands class action. Uncomfortable questions can queer the pitch for any seeming explanation being furthered by the triumphalists.

With the irrational exhuberance among the chattering classes at its apogee, one can not help but conclude that we are in a secular bubble market.  The hyperinflated secular, dynasty stocks are at there peak, and one won't be surprised if cum next poll season there will be several pollsters doing the Jim Cramer dance. Alas, with our supine media, we can be sure that there won't be any Jon Stewart-style  smackdown. The road to hell, as they say, is paved with good intentions. Issues du jour, secular, inclusive, are reputed to be one such.