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Recently I had an experience that left me somewhat annoyed with a writer friend of mine. I had invited her to dinner along with a visiting academic friend from Duke University. During the course of the conversation I noticed that the writer, let’s name her V, was becoming abusive, making disparaging remarks about academics in general and needlessly taunting my Duke U friend, let’s call her M, who had offered no discernible provocation. M, who is the embodiment of civility and goodwill refused to rise to the bait but I decided not to let it pass.

I recently had the opportunity of going on a little tour of Melaten Friedhof, the municipal cemetery in Cologne. Etymologically the name Melaten is derived from ‘malade’, the French word for illness, as there used to be a hospital for leprosy patients, Maladen, on the site of the present cemetery. Until 1829, only the Catholics of the city could be buried here (they have always been the dominant community in Cologne); after that it was made available to Protestants too, and in principal, to all other communities.

"…how much does he earn?"

"Once he gets married, he will start earning too."

"So, does he not earn anything now?"

"He does but a man can't always win. Sometimes he loses too."

"Loses!"

"Isn't that's true of gambling?"

"So, he's a gambler!"

"No, not a gambler but once he gets drunk, he obivously can't help playing a hand or two."

"Gambler and a drunkard too. But he's too nice a person according to you!"

"Of course! Once married, he will stop visiting that dancer's house and his drinking-gambling days will be over too"

The recent debate on caste-based reservation remains quite predictable. The known binaries such as caste versus economic backwardness; social marginalisation versus merit and public sector versus reservation in private sector are evoked to endorse a few established positions on SC/ST/OBC reservation.