An old friend of mine forwarded an email with a picture of someone named Mataji Nirmala Devi who had the Indian flag at her feet. She is apparently a spiritual leader. Anyway, the email was the collective nationalistic scream of Indians (atleast the ones who have email access and occupy themselves with forwarded messages).
"It is an insult! Indian Government must take action against this unpatriotic cult", read the email. Hey, here's a brilliant idea: let Nationlism and Religion to go at each other's throat. That could be the beginning of an end that we all have been waiting for.
I sent a note in response to the email. Here it is for what it's worth: "It is not an insult as you might think. The lady must be old and probably cannot see very well. One of her cronies would have come up with bright idea that nationalism must be injected into the proceedings, and would've placed the flag down. The lady's feet got cold and she pulled a rug - she can't see it's a flag - close to her feet. Or, all this may be a setup to stir shit up.
I find both nationalism and religious fervor equally useless, and many times quite dangerous. You may have seen how Pakistani government is reacting to the knighthood of Salman Rushdie (I don't support the queen nor the ridiculous award she hands out).
Let's not get carried away by sentiments that can harm others."
Just read Ed Brayton on the Rushdie non-controversy. oh, well.