I met Sauvik Chakraverti many years ago when I was more closely involved with the Liberty Institute, one of the few pro-liberty organizations in India.
I did not interact much with him but his fiesty arguments in a loud(very loud), booming voice and his professed fondness for nautch-girls and ganja left an impression that still lingers.
It is only today that I discovered he has a blog, ANTIDOTE –and a very good one; colorful and no holds-barred from my first read.His own chosen emblem on the blog is a ganja leaf. A sample from his latest post, A Democracy Rigged By And For Nikammas -
Anyway, the sudden demise of the main opposition party to Chacha Manmohan’s populist excesses is worthy of note. This, when it is quite apparent that the Congress is also devoid of genuine political leadership. Chacha is a baboo, Sonia is a housewife, and Rahul is a non-entity. It is amazing that the UPA has a second term in office, and this undoubtedly has a lot to do with the fact that the BJP has gone down the drain.
His take on dancing girls-
Take the case of dancers. A poor girl cannot dance and entertain clients in Mumbai – while all the page 3 actresses make their fortunes dancing on screen. There is some Principle of Law being flouted here – and I hope you see it. Where this Principle does not hold, there can never be Liberty. The Law, which is our safeguard, becomes instead a Tyrant: arbitrary, capricious, unjust.
At no time in Indian history has the nautch-girl been banned. The Mughals, the British, all the princely states – they all patronised them. But in socialist India they are banned – while weighty women talk of “reservations for women in politics.”
Well worth a visit, I think -again and again.
(emphasis mine)
