Idle Indian Idolatry

Back home in India for three weeks, I had the opportunity to get a grip on the eternal question, who is the real Indian idol?
If the media gurus of the increasingly colorful newspapers (finding editorial content amongst the advertisements is a challenge for the future Indian Idol) and sensationalist television (exercising their democratic right to misinform and mislead the public with their stings), are to be believed then the current contenders are as follows. MS Dhoni (T-20 Captain Cool) ; Prashant Tamang(Indian Idol singing sensation);Rahul Gandhi (Nehru-Gandhi heir-saviour of the congress).
A dashing cricketer from 'backward' Bihar, a bollywood singer from 'neglected North-East', a politician from the 'nehru-gandhi' clan. Hmmm....
Mrs. Karnad, my sociology professor at Elphinstone college, once said that the diverse peoples of the Indian Republic maybe governed by the constitution and its cogs including judiciary, parliament and bureaucracy but what really binds them together is cricket, singing bollywood songs and idolatry politics. I remember getting into a fickle debate...countering her argument, offering the Indian railways, Indian Postal service and All India Radio as the true binders of the nation. Remember this is way before Sardar Manmohan Singh liberalized the markets and Swami Chidambaram corporatised the corridors of power, when Ambassador was the only car on our street, Lambretta the only scooter, Hero was our cycle and Vada pav was our favorite snack. Mrs. Karnad of course indulged me as always before reminding me about my assignment on the role of Mohandas Gandhi and his political parleys to get buy-in for the Quit India movement from diverse leaders from across the country. I beat a hasty retreat to the library and quietly sat down to study the speeches and writings of the only Indian hero of any consequence. Mr. Mohandas Karmanchand Gandhi. 1869- forever.