I was watching that so-called dharm-sansad and was struck by the realisation that the only thing we are finding objectionable about it was that it was being spoken publicly. The words themselves were not new. They can't possibly be new to anyone who has spent their life in India.

Talk of mass murder, derogatory language against minorities (or Gandhi), praise for Godse, none of these things started today. Many of you have heard these in school, in your own homes, throughout your childhood. The reason many don't outrage about these is that they don't see these as abnormal. The same goes for most patriarchal behaviour patterns, including the disgusting apps that were recently published to "sell" Muslim women. Offices have WhatsApp groups where guys have such conversations about their female colleagues.

We are not seeing ruin. We are merely watching an old ruinous process play out in what is called the mainstream. We are not becoming uncivilised. We are only becoming aware of the fact that we were never civilised in the first place. All we have done is changed the labels on the jars.