South Asia Daily

Ahmedabad verdicts that could alter politics

A special court in Ahmedabad, India, has handed down a slew of sentences which has the potential to significantly alter the country’s politics.

The court of Special Judge Jyotsana Yagnik today announced what are probably the most stringent sentences in contemporary India in connection with cases of communal riots. The sentences specifically relate to the February 28, 2002, massacre of 97 Muslims in the neighborhood called Naroda Patiya in Ahmedabad, a Western Indian city of more than five million people.

Two of the 31 given sentences include a former women and children’s welfare minister and a particularly vocal fanatic Hindu leader. The minister, Maya Kodnani, a gynecologist turned politician who was a serving legislator of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the fanatic Hindu leader, Babu Bajrangi have been given 28 years and life in prison until natural survival respectively. The 29 others have also been given long sentences.

Judge Yagnik has shown an exemplary ability to cut through all the political skulduggery that  surrounded this particular case for a decade and exposed the key players for what they really are—people who deliberately let their viciously criminal impulses run riot. The judge reportedly described Kodnani as “the kingpin of the entire riots.”

There is a tendency to elevate as good versus evil, conflagrations such as what the state of Gujarat witnessed in February, 2002, first in the brutal arson killings of more than 50 Hindu train passengers near Godhra followed by retaliatory violence that killed close 1000 Muslims that included the 97 people for whose massacre Kodnani and Bajrangi have been sentenced. At their heart all such killings are instances of vicious criminality marauding through society. Unless they are first treated as criminals, it would be difficult to create a strong deterrence against their recurrence.

Having followed the Gujarat violence since 2002, I have frequently encountered arguments which project the killing as manifestations of deeper religious and cultural animus, which they certainly are. However, there is sophistry at play here. By casting them only as a consequence of longstanding historic animus between Hindus and Muslims such acts of violence are being deliberately diffused and diluted. There is also that unspoken implication that those who engage in such reprisal killings from both sides are more like warriors in a historic battle in service of a lofty cause rather than ordinary criminals. For a society to function well it is important that at the more immediate, practical level such acts are treated as purely criminal acts, punishments for which have been specifically codified in criminal jurisprudence.

It is from that standpoint that the tough sentences given by the judge have the potential to deter politicians such as Kodnani who may be under the mistaken impression that their profession would act as a shield against prosecution, conviction and imprisonment. It is for this reason I think the verdicts have the potential to significantly impact a brand of politics of hatred which has taken hold in India.

Naming a clothing store ‘Hitler’ and asking for compensation to rebrand

Only in Ahmedabad, my hometown, would you find a business owner who, having gratuitously named his store ‘Hitler’, would ask the world to compensate him for the expense of creating a new brand.

The store’s co-owner Rajesh Shah seems to be enjoying his moment of glory as it is attracting considerable media attention around the world. What is otherwise an ordinary men’s wear outfit in the Vastrapur area of Ahmedabad has become an international story.

The city’s small Jewish community is understandably angry at Shah’s choice of branding. What is not understandable is that a large majority of the city’s residents could not care less about the name.

Various media reports, including the one today on the New York Times’ website by Malavika Vyawahare, quote Shah as being rather blasé about the nomenclature. “None of the other people are complaining, only a few Jewish families. I have not hurt any sentiments of the majority Hindu community. If he did something in Germany, is that our concern?”, he wonders without a trace of irony in Vywahare’s dispatch.

As if that was not enough he says if the Jewish community is so exercised over the name, it should pay him to change the branding because he has already spent what he could on calling it ‘Hitler.’

In asking “If he did something in Germany, is that our concern?”, Shah betrays staggering selfishness which is not as uncommon as you might think.

Shah’s defense has generally been that no one objected during the run-up to the store’s inauguration when he put up a teaser banner saying “Hitler opening soon.” The whole approach seems to be ‘I have done what I think is right. If you think I am wrong, pay me to set it right.’

It might surprise many to know that in parts of India, including Ahmedabad, Adolf Hitler transcends his real persona as someone who presided over one of history’s most horrifically sick killer regimes. For them Hitler is this cutesy caricature of a charmingly dictatorial uncle who dispenses tough love and is a strict disciplinarian, whose bark is worse than his bite even as at his heart he is a genuinely caring man. In the perverse imagination of some Hitler is a man of admirable virtues such as adherence to strict discipline who might have minor character flaws. This deeply offensive dilution of what the man actually stood for is  a result of both willful and genuine ignorance about the horrors that he unleashed. Even when those who hold such a view of Hitler denounce him as a mass killer there is always a “but” followed by some ridiculously mitigating explanation of his actions.

What makes Shah’s enterprise particularly galling is that he seems to be aware of what Hitler represents but is cavalier about the implications. Not just that, he is actually saying that if the Jewish community is so offended by it they should compensate him for the costs he would incur to rename the brand, remake his storefront sign and reprint business cards. For him it is a great business inconvenience even though he knows he is cashing in entirely on Hitler’s name recognition without any regard whatsoever for its profoundly sinister implications. In case the name Hitler does not ring a bell among his unsuspecting customers, Shah has used a swastika inside a circle on the ‘i' in the name. That is rather crafty because the right facing swastika has millennially been a Hindu symbol of all things good and auspicious.

One is tempted read deep socio-psycho-cultural meanings into Shah’s choice of a business name. In reality, it is nothing more than a petty businessman’s way to generate cheep publicity. To that extent he has succeeded but in the end of the weight of his stupidity could prove too much to bear. Then again, may be not. After all there is a very prominent politician in the state of Tamil Nadu called M K Stalin who has also enjoyed a successful career as a playwright and actor. On May 29, 2009, I wrote this about him:

“When it came to choosing a name for his son in March of 1953, for Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi it was a no-brainer. He named him Stalin. Born into the lap of the Dravidian movement of southern India whose leaders were captivated by the statist grandiosity of the Soviet Union and communism the two most popular names for the newly born children of the era were Stalin and Lenin. He was “bestowed” the name “oblivious to the fact that this political connotation would also ultimately lead to a political career.”

It has also been pointed out on Stalin’s website that “Stalin in (the) Russian language means ‘Man of Steel’, and M.K.Stalin has since been living up to his name.”

I AM SARCASM

The late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

I am sure India’s former Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh has it in him to understand sarcasm when it comes his way, particularly when it comes labeled in all capital letters “ I AM SARCASM.”  But then again, may be he does not.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) reports from London Singh recalling a meeting that took place between Apollo 11 astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, and India’s late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. The astronauts were on a world tour after their historic moon landing.

Photo ops dealt with, the astronauts were ushered into Gandhi’s office. It fell on Singh, who has occasionally referred to himself as an intellectual, to initiate a polite conversation with the astronauts. The PTI quotes Singh as telling Armstrong, “Mr Armstrong, you will be interested to know that the Prime Minister kept awake till 4.30 am, so as not to miss the exact time of your lunar landing.”

To which the self-effacing Mr. Armstrong replied, “I apologize for the inconvenience we caused you, Madame Prime Minister. Next time, I shall make sure that we land on the moon at a less unearthly hour.”

There is much that is incongruous about what Singh told the two visitors but let me just point out some of it. It is hard for me to decide which one is a more historic act—the first human being ever to set foot on another celestial body or someone having to stay awake till 4.30 in the morning to watch him do that? The answer is not as simple as you might think.

If you are India’s foreign minister laying it on thick for your boss, at very least her bothering to stay awake until that unearthly hour is as historic as Armstrong walking on the Moon. I mean can you imagine the trouble she took to stay awake? Armstrong had to be made aware of her heroic act.

In his private mind Armstrong probably thought, “Was I just told that someone kept awake so as not to miss my moon landing? Wow! Let me see how I can get out of this one without being directly rude.”

What sounds gently humorous in Armstrong’s reply is actually distilled sarcasm. I am willing to believe that Singh realized just as soon as he said what he did that he had screwed up. Also, that he had set up Armstrong for a sarcastic riposte. At the same time, I would not put it past Singh to actually believe that it was important for the American visitors, whose day job was wearing silly suits and helmets, fly to the Moon and gather some dust, to be made aware that a personage no less than madam prime minister had deigned it worthy to stay awake.

It is entirely possible that Singh, in reminiscing about the meeting, is being self-deprecating about his own faux pas. All of the above are possible but for the purposes of this blog I am going with the version that at the time he did think it was significant to highlight Gandhi’s historic sacrifice in staying awake for a sideshow like the first human landing on the Moon. Why? Because it is juicier.

Relentless orgasms and Obama’s anti-colonialism

‘The Purple Girl’ by Mayank Chhaya (Imagine that she is climaxing)

Today’s post was originally going to be about how I have a hard time comprehending conservative pundit Dinesh D’Souza’s scholarly constructs, particularly his barely hidden contempt for President Barack Obama cleverly packaged inside a complex historiosociopoliticocultural  argument.

(Historiosociopoliticocultural, as you might have suspected, is not a word but the circumstances under which I am writing this post, it will have to do).

My congenitally low intelligence, however, would not let me get a grip on D’Souza’s profound insights into what shapes Obama’s worldview and how he is deliberately presiding over America’s decline. I would just point you to this 2010 piece in The Economist to counter D’Souza’s rather ridiculous theorizing about the American president. Incidentally, ‘2016: Obama’s America’, a documentary written, produced, co-directed and narrated by D’Souza has become a major hit.

Mercifully, I was rescued by a story in The Sun newspaper about what is being described as a Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder. Women suffering from this “disorder” experience frequent orgasms, sometime as many as 200, without necessarily having to engage in copulation.

James Mills of The Sun reports the case of Kim Ramsey, a 44-year-old nurse originally from Hitchin, Herts, but now living in Montclair in New Jersey, who “feels constantly aroused and the slightest movement can trigger a climax.” She first noticed her condition in 2008 when after having sex with her boyfriend she experienced orgasms for four days straight.

Mills quotes her as saying, “I had constant orgasms for four days. I thought I was going mad. It also happened with a new partner and I even tried sitting on frozen peas.”

Since the churlish/flippant side of my brain is often the first to respond to such information, my immediate question was—Why is this state of eternal orgasm called a disorder? Simultaneously though, I  also knew why this could be a very difficult condition to have. A few multiple orgasms, with or without an obliging man, can be a blissful experience but to have a condition where even a slight movement can cause one to climax becomes very difficult to deal with.

Apparently, there is a good enough number of women who report this condition for it to have been given the gravity of serious nomenclature like “Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder.” Only those who have it would know whether the upsides to this disorder outnumber the downsides. I would imagine that to have orgasms lasting four days is slightly more uncomfortable than an erection lasting four hours.

Once you get past the inescapable humor in this condition, you do understand that this is a rather unpleasant problem to have.

On a separate note, why is it that only The Sun finds such stories? I suppose it has an obligation towards its 2.6 million plus daily subscribers.

Let me make you a deal. The day The Sun writes about Dinesh D’Souza’s historiosociopoliticocultural theories, I would buy into them uncritically.

‘Samsara’, the way it is

Like many Indians, I instinctively know and understand the Sanskrit word ‘Samsara’, or more colloquially Sansar, meaning the cycle of birth/creation, death/destruction, rebirth/regeneration.

This cycle unfolds around us all the time even as we remain an intrinsic part of it. It is one of those paradoxes where one is an integral part of something larger and yet one can stand apart and experience it as if from outside. One grew up hearing this philosophical explanation to anything and everything happening in life: “Sansar chhe. Chalya karey.” (It is Sansar. It goes on).

However, it is for the first time that there is perhaps the most effective representation of Samsara/Sansar, not to mention the most visually enchanting one,that I have seen yet. Although I have not seen director and photographer Ron Fricke’s visual feast ‘Samsara’, its trailers are enough to gauge how powerfully it captures the intensely saturated play of life and death and life again on Earth.

As the promo of the film explains, ‘Samsara’ was shot in 25 countries over a period of five years. The 102-minute film is entirely non-verbal and is narrated, if one can call it that, by its background score. It was shot in 70 MM using a Panavision camera. It is only appropriate that the film was shot in 70 MM cinemascope to capture the grandeur of this cycle.

I don’t know why I thought of the Dalai Lama when I first watched the trailers. Perhaps it is because, strictly going by the two trailers, the film seems to look at Samsara with the philosophical detachment of a Buddhist master.

It does not seem to try to control or influence or redirect this cycle but merely moves around within it. There is a Sanskrit expression which goes “Yatha Bhutam” (The way it is) that fits the images perfectly. It is strange that I should think of the same expression while watching the trailers because I conclude my biography of the Dalai Lama (Man, Monk, Mystic) on a similar note.

The concluding paragraph of the biography reads: “The journey from Tengster to Lhasa to the rest of the world has been an epic one. When twenty-four-year-old Tenzin Gyatso shed his robes and dressed up as a soldier to flee to India, little did he know that he would emerge as the world’s conscience keeper. At seventy-one he looks back on his life, divided between enormous personal growth and virtually lost battle for his homeland, there could not be a more apt conclusion than the Sanskrit maxim yatha bhutam, or “the way it is.””

I look forward to watching ‘Samsara’ even though I know that after a while the sheer richness of the images would be somewhat exhausting, quite like Samsara I suppose.

Neil Armstrong takes a giant leap into eternity

Neil Armstrong (Pic: NASA)

In my childhood in the 1960s, there was the real Moon and there was the poetic Moon.

The real Moon was often a sharply etched silvery white disc firmly glued on Ahmedabad’s near desert clean sky. In contrast, the poetic Moon was like a beautiful apparition that teasingly peeped from behind the veil of the poet’s imagination and whose beauty lay in its unattainability.

That there were people in a distant land preparing to fly to the Moon, land on it and walked around a bit seemed to fit well with the lunar folklore. So much had been imagined about the Moon that someone would actually set foot on it did not seem all that outlandish as long as it was just a fantasy. If a woman’s face could be as glorious as the Moon, it was rather obvious that a man would reach out and touch it.

I could not tell you much at all about July 20, 1969 except that I was eight years old. My only indirect connection to America was through my father Manharray’s pen pal Carol. I have no specific memory of Neil Armstrong landing on the Moon other than that it had indeed happened. As I said the Moon was so integral to one’s existence, not the least of which was because of its spectacular waxing and waning over the Ahmedabad sky, that the enormity of putting a man on it was almost entirely lost on me. The poet had primed us all with so many fantasies about the Moon that landing on it did not feel all that fantastic.

It was only a year or so later, when Carol sent my father a bunch of Apollo 11 memorabilia, including a copy of the picture above, did one begin to gauge what had happened. I remember there was also a picture of Armstrong on the lunar surface with the US flag behind him. The one below is the one I am talking about. I just found out from the NASA website that this was the only good picture of Armstrong on the lunar surface. It was taken by his fellow astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin.

The only good picture of Armstrong on the lunar surface (Pic: Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin for NASA)

Armstrong’s death yesterday at the age 82 ends for me personally that era of childhood so studded with the Moon and stars. “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, the immoral words of Armstrong on landing on the Moon were not fully comprehended by me then. I remember asking the elders in my family why, if it was a small step for man, it was so such a big leap for mankind. One of the commonest answers was, “Ketlun saras keedhun. (How well he said it!)”, which was really no answer.

Armstrong’s footprints on the Moon left an indelible mark on me in so much as they countered the poetic exultations about our immediate celestial neighbor. The Hindi movie songs weaving in the Moon into their narrative that came after the Apollo 11 mission sounded a bit odd because I would go in my mind, “Yeah but Armstrong walked on that.” Of course, even now the Moon remains probably the most used celestial body in Hindi cinema to underscore the ultimate feminine beauty. The poet could not care less that the lunar dust, whose reflective qualities give the Moon its resplendence when the sunlight bounces off it, is actually quite hazardous.

I remember for the next two to three years after Armstrong’s and Aldrin’s landing, they too became as unattainable as the Moon itself. It was as if anyone who came in contact with the celestial body whose virtues were endless were transformed and became part of the lunar folklore.

Interestingly, when the word got around in the the neighborhood that the Chhaya family was actually in possession of the Moon landing pictures we became local celebrities within half a dozen homes. The Moon’s reflected glory reflected a bit on us as well. They did not know that NASA would have sent those pictures to anyone who asked for them.

As Armstrong’s family said in a statement, the great astronaut remained a “reluctant hero” throughout his life because he genuinely believed he had merely done his job for the country. We live in a celebrity obsessed and saturated 21st century where keeping up with the Kardashians is regarded as a genuine achievement. It is only wise that Neil Armstrong chose not to trivialize his and NASA’s accomplishments by competing with the Kardashians on television.

I await Neil Armstrong 2.0 to land on Mars or any other body for that matter. Here is to a man who has just taken a giant leap into eternity.

Unceasing marvels at Google Art Project

Lidded ritual wine ewer in the form of a bird” from the 5th century BCE (about 2500 years ago) Middle Eastern Zhou dynasty, China (All images from the Google Art Project/On display at Freer/Sackler, The Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art)

 

I returned this morning to my favorite watering hole on the net—the Google Art Project. As always, it continues with its unceasing marvels.

 

“Hafted axe with dragons” from the 13th century BCE (about 3300 years ago) from Henan province, Anyang in China

 

Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi as the Goddess Parvati, 1oth century (about 1100 years ago) bronze from the Chola Dynasty

I have chosen three pieces of breathtaking art—a “Hafted axe with dragons”  from the 13th century BCE (about 3300 years ago) from Henan province, Anyang in China, a “Lidded ritual wine ewer in the form of a bird” from the 5th century BCE (about 2500 years ago) also from China and a “Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi as the Goddess Parvati” from the 1oth century CE (about 1100 years ago) from the Chola dynasty in India.

To view an ancient Chinese axe or an ewer or an Indian bronze in such fine detail sitting in a basement in Naperville is to unconsciously pay tribute to an extraordinary convergence of ancient craftsmanship and layers of complex modern technologies. Would the unknown creators of these three pieces have ever conceived that after such a long passage of time not only would their works survive but even preserved and viewed with such delight?

Off the cuff, I can think of several technologies that went into creating and preserving and exhibiting these pieces. First is mining the metals, mostly bronze, that went into it. Then came the metallurgical expertise to forge an alloy that would withstand millennial vagaries. Then the sheer crafting of the objects, two of which the axe and the ewer had specific daily uses. One can jump to the way these were found by archeologists and the amount of technology needed to accomplish that. Add to that their transportation which most likely meant flying them from China and India to the United States. I am skipping several steps but one can conclude by adding to the mix the Google Art Project, broadband connectivity and Ethernet cable. I am not even going to mention electricity. It took all of these mindboggling technological breakthroughs for me to be able to find out about these objects’ existence and write about them.

The details in these objects are astonishing and the Google Art Project’s high resolution images and zooming options make it possible to experience them. While both the axe and ewer represent the finest craftsmanship of their kind, I am particularly struck by Queen Sembiyan’s absolutely enchanting female form. Look at the various features below and tell me if you would not be thunderstruck if such a woman came and stood in front of you. The voyeurism here is inescapable.

‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’

Jerry Seinfeld (All pictures: Grabs from www.http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/)

I have always wondered if free will exists or we live in a tightly deterministic universe. The free will versus determinism debate is unlikely to be settled in this blog today but I think I have a fairly compelling exhibit in favor of free will.

But for my free will why would I watch a new web series by Jerry Seinfeld called ‘Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee’? As the name of the series suggests it is about comedians driving in a car to get some coffee and along the way talking about this, that and the other for about ten to twelve minutes. Mirth is generated in the process mixed with some sharp and astute observations of the kind I make routinely in this blog. And then the two comedians, or at least one of them a professional comedian, go home or do whatever it is that comedians do after getting coffee in their car.

Alec Baldwin. left, with Seinfeld

What attracts me to the series is the fact that it feels like an audio-visual version of this blog. I am not sure if by saying that I am elevating my writing to undeserving heights or debasing the series to unfair lows. In any event I can only tell you why I watch it. In some ways I am like Jerry Seinfeld in so much as it means that I am not doing anything in particular and once you reconcile with the fact that I have no money at all and barely any talent. Other than that Seinfeld and I are not that different. Sure, he has more cars as well.

One recurring superficial and obvious impression one gets looking at Seinfeld is that for him, as one of his guests, terrific actor and a natural born wit Alec Baldwin puts it so tellingly, “life has been one unbroken boulevard of green lights.” It is not necessarily true and I am sure Seinfeld has his own share of life’s hardships.

Baldwin and Seinfeld

I have seen all the webisodes so far, including the one with Larry David, the co-creator of the iconic series ‘Seinfeld’. Together, David and Seinfeld feel like a pair of well-worn shoes. There is that natural ease almost bordering on complacency of the kind that comes with having known someone for a very long time. In contrast, Seinfeld looks somewhat deferential with Baldwin, perhaps a bit too eager to enjoy any and all of what the actor says. However, it all seems genuine because Seinfeld is really enjoying his coffee mate.

At its core a comedian’s a conceited profession because they presume that they can just talk, make you laugh and make a living. It is self-indulgent and self-absorbed. But the point is that Seinfeld did not ask me to either watch his new series and, having watched it, write about it. It is all a case of genuine free will. No one, the least of all Seinfeld, determined it for me. I just woke up this morning and chose to write about it, unless, of course, it is your case that free will is also preordained. In that case, any argument is redundant.

If you have ten,fifteen minutes to spare I recommend you watch the series. It is immediately engaging and ultimately pointless, like this blog.

P.S.: It is a slickly shot series with some cool dashcams (dashboard cameras)mounted inside the cars. I would not mind installing those in mine.

The aftermath of Harry’s Vegas trip

St. James’s Palace has asked Britain’s Press Complaints Commission (PCC) to ban the publication of Prince Harry’s nude pictures on the grounds of a breach of privacy. Evidently, St. James’s Palace has still not caught up with a little invention called the internet.

I think the palace took the famous catchphrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ too seriously while approving Harry’s trip to the city which is basically one long strip tease, as in a strip along which a lot of teasing happens.

If the palace was so concerned about the prince’s privacy, it should not have let the 27-year-old choose Vegas where people go so that their privacy and privates can be invaded. As I see it, it would have been a scandal had a 27-year-old anything, the least of all a prince, was not caught doing what he was caught doing.

Harry and his friends were supposed to be playing what is known as “strip billiards.” I do not quite know how that works but I suppose it involves sticks and balls.

The palace should know that privacy is history in a world with close to six billion mobile phones. There are so many mobile phones now that some of them start taking pictures and videos on their own out of sheer boredom.

One is unaware of the royal protocol in the event of what the palace considers flagrant indiscretion by one of its members. It is possible that Harry will hear from both papa dear, Prince Charles, as well as grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. May be there is an elaborate royal reprimand ritual where the members would turn out in their full battle regalia and subject the young prince to a punishment such as a severely silent treatment.

The queen might tell him, “You do know that there is a whole range of clothing between a Nazi outfit and no outfit at all, right?” (I am sure the queen does not talk like that but this is just an approximation.)

Prince Charles might tell him, “Strip billiards, really? Why not cricket? At least the bat is wider than the cue stick.”(I am sure Charles does not talk like that but this is just an approximation.)

Brother William might tell him, “Did you at least get lucky? (I am sure William does not talk like that but this is just an approximation.)

And finally, Kate Middleton or Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, his sister-in-law, “Wow! I did not know that.” (I am sure Kate does not talk like that but this is just an approximation.)

The Naked Royal Ape

Britain’s “Prince” Harry in fully glory in his hotel suite in Las Vegas. Picture exclusively on www.tmz.com

From a straight male perspective I have always considered the naked male body a rather ridiculous collection of awkwardly dangling limbs and fleshy protrusions.

The only thing good about nakedness is that it is a great equalizer between a prince and a pauper. There is nothing distinctive about a royal body once it is stripped bare. It has the same droopy primal feel.

Speaking of princes and primal feel, TMZ, the celebrity gossip website, has just published naked pictures of Britain’s “Prince” Harry who is vacationing in Las Vegas after being tired of vacationing in his own palaces in London. The lad needs a break from all the royal indolence he has to grapple with on a daily basis after all.

One TMZ picture shows Harry covering his scrotum/groin area and watching television with a naked girl behind him. I am no expert at guessing the dimensions of male assets by just looking at them but the fact that he is able to fully cover them behind his palms tells me that they are not particularly impressive. And remember these are the crown jewels pampered on a daily basis like the rest of the royal body they are attached to.

I am fairly certain that other than very private internal disappointment laced with a gentle royal reprimand we are unlikely to hear much about this from the royal family. TMZ quotes an unnamed representative of the Buckingham Palace to say, “We have no comment to make on the photos at this time."

I doubt if papa Charles would land a thumping kick on Harry’s royal buttocks for this indiscretion. Shorn of all the manufactured outrage, there is nothing to the story other than a horny young man of privilege having a great time with equally horny obliging young women in a town where Viagra/Cialis are sprayed in the air and carnality is on steroids 24/7. Men get a hard-on just as soon as they book a flight to Las Vegas. It subsides only on the return flight.

So Harry need not feel coy about the pictures. Looking at the pictures, I am reminded of Desmond Morris’s 1967 masterpiece ‘The Naked Ape.” Here is what Morris writes in the introduction.

 

The pictures reveal nothing other than how young men of wealth and even devoid of it feast and fornicate when they can.