What is it about hundred, hundred-and-twenty-five or hundred-and-fifty years that gets us so excited about individuals and events? There was much outpouring of highfalutin praise for Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore during the year marking the poet’s 150th birth anniversary. He had not figured in public (or private) discourse before that; nor has he found mention since then.

Similarly, there was much hoopla over the Mutiny of 1857 (the politely politically correct call it the “Uprising”; the robustly patriotic call it “India’s First War of Independence”) to mark its 150th anniversary, although it still remains a mystery to me whether the candlelight vigil at India Gate was a requiem for Mangal Pandey or Bahadur Shah Zafar.