Martyred at the altar of 80s-style rally

Somewhere in a forgotten corner of modernity thrives an ancient political ritual: the political rally. The primal display of power through marching mobs, rivers of stalled traffic, and vanloads of people moving to one destination is still a thing in primitive locations like Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee's annual 'martyrs' day' rally yesterday, for instance, really refers to citizens being martyred at the altar of ease of 21st-c living. Such societies still believe that power is measured in sq ft blockage. But can you really blame Didi for picking up and walking in droves with this communist ritual? There clearly are enough people who'll follow the piper in these medieval non-Germanic Hamelins for a free day trip to the City of Ploy and, for some, per diem and box lunch en famille.

Citizens who, in any other corner of the world, would have demanded they be allowed to go about their daily business, are happy to take such mob showboating as just another normal activity. Daily business being an oxymoronic concept in these places, a staycation on a weekday (for those who can afford to stay home and take a day off) becomes quite another rallying point. One almost admires the commitment to archaic spectacle - until your metro route is hijacked by a banner-waving throng shouting about something that similar mannequins would have shouted in the 1980s.