Sahara shiningPerhaps the most unkindest cut of all is that an emerging epicentre of the millennial boom in blatant conspicuous consumption is Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh (UP), the largest and arguably poorest state of the Indian Union. Over the past decade or so UP and Lucknow in particular, has been transformed into Sahara country by virtue of its being the heaquarters of Sahara India Ltd, a multi-business group of mysterious origins and antecedents. Currently the Sahara Parivar (family) presided over by its ‚Ëœmanaging worker‚ Subrata Roy owns an airline, a television channel, sponsors the Indian cricket and hockey teams, and has built the first hill station in the history of post-independence India (Amby Valley). Nor is it surprising that the quintessentially moffusil ruling party in Uttar Pradesh ‚ the Samajwadi Party ‚ shares the same acronym as Sahara Parivar.Recently the Sahara Parivar celebrated the ‚ËœWeddings of the Century‚ of Roy‚s two sons in Lucknow with unprecedented pomp and ceremony. Among the 11,000 invitees were the prime minister, every page three personality you can recall and a huge army of foreign guests and entertainers. A passage from Xpressions ‚ Air Sahara‚s in-flight magazine ‚ describes the pomp, grandeur and scale of festivities at the wedding thus: “The majestic dinner that was laid out was a gourmet‚s delight with as many as 110 cuisines, comprising Indian, Mexican, Italian, Mongolian, Lebanese, Chinese and American dishes to suit a variety of choices and tastes. The entire fooding (sic) was arranged by the Chef, Shri Hemant Oberoi and his team from the Taj Group of Hotels and for the first time ever, in both the marriages, arrangements for a sitting dinner for over 5,000 guests were made, under strict hygienic conditions.” And while the privileged invitees who included “900 IAS/IPS officials from UP” dined in style, “a soul-stirring musical extravaganza” was provided by a 121-piece British Symphony Orchestra from Birmingham.India shining at its best!Don‚s graduate armyNotorious gangster Prakash Srivastava alias Babloo, former associate of transnational gangsters Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan, who has 38 criminal cases filed against him and is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow‚s neighbouring Sitapur district, has a uniquely qualified army of volunteers campaigning for him. Over 1,000 Lucknow University (LU) alumni see nothing wrong in campaigning for an alumnus who chose to walk the wild side while a student of the 83-year-old university. Right now even as Srivastava cools his heels in Rai Bareilley jail, his graduate army has fanned into the countryside armed with posters, banners and buntings extolling people to vote for Srivastava who has shown “true repentance”. Srivastava‚s election campaign calls upon the electorate to vote for Sitapur‚s “true son”, so he can prove his worth, and give a befitting reply to those who‚ve framed him for heinous crimes including the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993. To the charge of criminalisation of politics, his graduate army‚s ingenuous retort is “What harm has he done to the people of Sitapur?” Srivastava‚s supporters claim that their campaign has struck a responsive chord in the electorate. “After all how many candidates can boast so many graduates and postgraduates campaigning on their behalf?” asks former LU student leader Ashu Singh. This poll strategy seems to be posing a threat to the chances of several political heavyweights in the constituency, given that Sitapur hosts an estimated 20,000 former students of Lucknow University, and is also dominated by Srivastava‚s kayastha clansmen. While the don‚s graduate army, kith kin and clansmen could prove a winning combination, it‚s also a commentary on the depths to which this ancient institution of higher education has sunk.Obesity epidemicWhile the majority of the population scratches out a precarious living in water-scarce rural India, in the nation‚s capital a raging obesity epidemic has prompted many of Delhi‚s schools to shut down tuck shops, canteens and fast food cafes on their premises. Leading the health foods school revolution is the capital‚s Gyan Bharati Public School which has not only abjured a canteen, but closely monitors every student‚s tiffin box to check if the lunch is ‚Ëœhealthy‚ and has banned soft drinks on campus.Other schools like Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Vasant Valley, Frank Anthony Public School, Apeejay, Bal Bharati Public School and some branches of Delhi Public School are imposing similar though less draconian culinary restrictions. This crackdown follows several studies by health organisations which indicate that within Delhi‚s high-income group, 25 percent of children are obese. Hence the ban on burgers, colas, chips and other fast foods.Inevitably not all parents have taken kindly to this curtailment of culinary democracy. Some feel, it is tantamount to too much interference. Standby for stormy PTA meetings and perhaps unusual writ petitions.Fear the keyA growing number of organised sector corporates are beginning to smell business opportunities in the nation‚s hitherto peripheral education sector. The Chennai-based Shriram Group of companies (annual revenue: Rs.5,000 crore plus) for example. Recently the Shriram Group offered a free seminar for school children and parents in Chennai, promising to show them ways and means of averaging high percentages in public examinations. At the seminar, education expert Aditya Lohana, who boasts 12 years of experience in education research, made a flashy Power Point presentation to a jam-packed audience.The seminar was a not-so-subtle sales pitch for the Shriram Test Series study programme. Its modus operandi is that class IX and X students are invited to an orientation programme which the group conducts in June every year. After registering, students are tested every Sunday. The programme is priced at a thought-provoking Rs.4,158 per year with discounts offered for early birds. Enrollment, Lohana assured the audience would reward them with a 12-18 percent higher average in public examinations which can make all the difference in the annual scramble for prized admission into the best colleges. Though in effect this magic “triple maxim” Lohana prescribed (listen well in class; read lessons at home; and practice writing answers) was old wine served through the new electronic medium, there‚s no shortage of takers. Quite obviously fear and insecurity ‚ as also the crumbling higher education system with only a few and declining number of colleges offering quality education ‚ has created a lucrative business opportunity. And the Shriram Group has merely joined the flourishing coaching classes club which rakes in a cool Rs.3,000 crore per year.