A conservative fool of a guy was raging in my presence about “those women” who go around with placards reading “Khaana khud garam kar lo” (Heat up your own food). He’d seen something about it on TV and social media. After a short ‘debate’, he easily conceded that his position would have been very different if he had a daughter with a career and dreams in life. Then, to quote him, he himself would enthusiastically join her in saying “Khaana khud garam kar lo”. Right-wing outrage is, to borrow Mao’s memorable phrase about Reaction, nothing but a paper tiger. Even though it is violent and deadly, it is based on nothing but ill-considered notions, fear and selfishness. We all like to talk about how difficult it is to transform society. At some level, perhaps it isn’t. The sick people that surround us can be healed if we ran the schools, the television networks and had just 500,000 guns to back up civilization and progress instead of promoting Pen di Sirri and Taliban Khan. Not asking for the Moon or anything… Published in Daily Times, March 24th 2018.