The joys of Rediff Comments

One of my lesser known "guilty pleasures" happens to be browsing through the comments section of any old article published by that doyen of NRI oriented websites - Rediff. It generates, among other stuff, an amazing amount of bile, candid observations on the nature of race, religion, purity of blood (or lack thereof), caste and in one bizzare instance the size of the captain's balls (sic).

The comments are refreshingly candid, brutally critical and written in a manner calculated to make you smile and wince at the same time. Here is an example of an extremely astute piece of observation from an old timer no doubt.

RE:Kumble has guts unlike sachin
by Yogaguru on Nov 12, 2007
01:18 PM

In cricket the size of the balls of a captain is
important.Sachin adjusts the balls all the time while he is batting.He suddenly
ducks sometimes to adjust the balls although there was no bouncer at that
time.Do you remember folks?

Such felicity I have not seen since the days of Wodehouse and Waugh. And here is another classic example of astute observation and remarkable pithiness.

Take Half the Indian Populationby Reporter on Nov 12,
2007 02:13 PM

If USA takes half the Indian population, not just the students, India
will be free from over-population and excess competition for
limited food and natural resources. We don't care for brain drain. We have
excess supply of brain here: which itself is not optimally used

Joy unfolds exponentially.