Sunday, December 07, 2008

Tank-Tops

"On Wednesday, tens of thousands of urban, English-speaking, tank-top-wearing citizens stormed the Gateway of India.." (Emphasis mine, bad reporting all NYT's.)

How Somini Sengupta (of the New York Times) verified the linguistic abilities of tens of thousands of protesters, while keeping an eye out on every marcher's wardrobe, one will never know. Maybe that's why she writes for the New York Times.

Just read the words "tank-top-wearing citizens" out aloud and tell me it doesn't send a Gateway-sized bolt of "ugh" down your spine.

8 comments:

Falstaff said...

*insert obligatory head-shaking over NYT's India coverage*

The interesting thing about that piece is how sharply it holds India's elite up to ridicule. I doubt that was Ms. Sengupta's intent, and I think the piece misrepresents a lot, but if you took the article at face value you would see a portrait of a shallow, pompous, self-centered and somewhat deranged group of people, who are responding like spoilt children to their first taste of reality

Anonymous said...

She missed "Coke drinking,french Fry eating". Aren't they the ultmate symbols of modernity?

neha vish said...

I should get myself a tank top. It seems like a useful tool to assert my elite status.

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Reminds me of my cop friend on a similar occasion. When I told him I was mad about something, he asked "So? Will you write a poem about it or what?"

There may be a point there.

J.A.P.

km said...

Falstaff: And this is hardly Ms. Sengupta's fault alone. The previous day's story (by her) had a picture of people doing Yoga, with a helpful caption that said they were doing it to alleviate the stress from the attacks. Oh come on, NYT.

Lekhni: you forgot the iPod. Grr..

JAP: But we can always count on you to tear them a new one, right?

Neha: Oh yeah. Aaj ki bharatiya naari.

GhostOfTomJoad said...

Ah, no wonder one couldn't recognise the resident snake charmer at the Gateway...the blighter was wearing a tank top and doing his thing in English!

km said...

Ghost: Resident snake-charmer - you mean the one who does the Rope Trick and lies on the bed of nails while smoking hashish and reciting the Gita?

GhostOfTomJoad said...

The very same to same