I have put some self –imposed restrictions on myself. I keep away from all talk of politics and of religion. I am of course a self-professed atheist. Today, quite unwillingly, I got sucked into a bit of politics. I had gone to the nearby branch of a nationalized bank where I have an account. I wanted to get an FD made for a small amount. The kind bank manager, noting my old age, offered to give me the FD receipt there and then if I waited for a few minutes. He quickly made an FD and handed over the receipt to me. Out of sheer habit resulting from working for a life time in bureaucracy, I looked at the FD receipt with a fine comb. And caught, what I thought was a ‘mistake’. Next to my name was typed ‘HINDI’. Pray what is it, I asked the kind bank manager. Oh, that is your preferred language, he explained. But you never asked me about my preferred language. Feeling a little sheepish, he said, Oh that is the default choice in the software, he explained. But ‘Hindi’ is not my pr...
