Big city, bright lights

That Austria was too dangerous for Antara to discuss on her own, without overt official backing, was known to everyone.

What purpose was served by making her repeat her discomfort with Austria, over emails and in her FACSIMILE blog ('Global South was the fault of the Americans', August 23), well, wasn't it called 'schadenfreude', the pleasure derived from another person's misfortunes or humiliation?

For those that had already made moral compromises and adjusted to a Mob-Communist lifestyle, what choice did they have except to turn to Antara and see her squirm? As Antara was repeatedly reminded, "If any educated woman in India had any anxiety about Paramount or AAP, they'd have approached you by now. They were liked, you were the trouble."

ii. Certain questions had arisen about what had been bothering Antara since 2021, apart from the propaganda that "Ajit lost out in Yalta".

There were three stand-out events of the summer of 2021. Antara had moved to a house in the blazing summer heat with no curtains (because of the Covid lockdown) so Vladimir Putin's influence would always be increasing in world affairs, never decreasing, possibly because of Edward VIII's abdication;

Antara was told that a prominent Israeli politician as well as a well-known politician from Bihar province in India were either Tagores themselves or very close to the Tagores. Hence, Antara could take a humanitarian approach towards Gaza while keeping the Islamist threat in mind, it wouldn't cost her in the United States. 

Antara was also reminded of a song that Close Female Relative had taught her in childhood, "Cindarella/Had a party/In the Forest/At the Night...". It implied that the Global Communist would try to prolong the hostage situation merely to find out which financiers supported Antara through Communist excesses. It was apparently obvious that the Communists would never get the financiers' identity.

iii. Those in the United States suspected that the above was the reason for bringing Antara to Delhi, to hold her as a hostage (no livelihood, no existence) within the city, occasionally let her out but avoid her altogether, take away any financial backing and distribute it among the local citizenry. It explained why AAP took Delhi in 2015, not Lucknow or Bhubaneshwar. 

The above was to be expected, Delhi had lost all relevance after the end of the Mughal rule in 1857-58, India was no longer ruled from Delhi once the British Crown Rule started, it had no connection to global events or the global economy. The British were convinced, too late in the day, to build New Delhi (in the 1930s) but how long could residing in rows of pretty bungalows keep you important?

When Ukraine was attacked in 2013, Bengal started convulsing from financial scams. Bengal felt that the Treasury was under attack, there were historical ties that connected them. Which part of the world had ever depended on Delhi for any viable support?

For those trying to piece together Antara's life since 2021, it was more or less certain that she'd be employed by January 2022. Her employment was prevented because Putin was massing Russian troops along Ukraine's border, leading up to the invasion. The NRIs and NS Road/Class of 1995 would take the blame while it was apparently the cities of Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai that couldn't afford that Antara be employed again. 

Over the last four years, the possible reasons for thwarting Antara's employment had been analysed thousands of times, no credible explanation emerged for Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai's behaviour till Paramount and Skydance merged a few weeks ago. Oleg Gordievsky had information against the Treasury and the US Republicans, why should Indian city-dwellers relent or allow Antara any dignity?

iv. It was assumed that Indian provinces with coastal areas had better relationship with the US Navy, which allowed them better access to the Pentagon as well. You didn't have to be a Navy official, as HT had thought when kicking out Antara. Bengal and peninsular India behaved responsibly because they had coastal areas with seafood enjoying cultures.

A few years ago, Antara had gone for her birthday lunch to a posh Chanakyapuri restaurant. It was after the Covid lockdown had lifted, they hadn't eaten out in years. When Antara ordered the fish, she was told it would have to be flown in from Mumbai, that the restaurant needed prior alerts and booking for fish dishes, and one would have to eat the entire fish, one or two kilos. 

If such was the condition in Delhi a decade after Military Sealift episode of 2012, if it needed Navy support from Mumbai, if it didn't know how to store or incrementally use such support, if it had to consume all of it at one go, then why should anyone pay heed to what the Today Group was saying about Admiral Horthy? It didn't even know what it was talking about. 

August 24, 2025.