speech of freedom

From firstpost.com:

"The Prophet, Lord Rama, Shivaji, Bal Thackeray, Sonia Gandhi…a pantheon of gods installed on a lofty pedestal beyond reproach. To speak against any is to invite the equivalent of an online fatwa."

Is that right? Good ol' google says:

I'm sure Ms. Gandhi is not amused.

Indian writing

...or rather, the writing of reviews of Indian writing. The question is why, saar, why it be so poor?

Let me explain here. Someone I know wrote a book and it's won awards, got the author interviews on television, print etc the whole kitchen, sink and everything included. Now, I've never been too much in awe of the guy's writing although he has (probably) done his research well. (This is not an area I am aware of so I can't really comment on the quality of background work).

The frustrating thing is I am unable to find a single review that isn't collapsing under the weight of cliches, turns of phrase used ad infinitum, ad nauseum. The characters are "navigating the sharp curves that life threw at them" or falling from "heights of glory" or the subject of "vile rumours".

Boring, boring, tired. Is it too much too ask for a little per-so-na-lity? Strangely, Hindustan Times book reviews are usually quite okay. But no sugar here, they didn't bother. Even the Hindu's review informs us that the author had to "overcome all sorts of stumbling blocks". What, pray, is the meaning of a stumbling block?

From Wikipedia: "In an idiomatic usage in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, a stumbling block is a behavior or attitude that leads another to sin."

I am quite sure that is not what the reviewer intended. The meaning of the phrase and its use clash and we are left with something devoid of information.

(No, this is not in reference to Aman Sethi, whatever excerpts I've read of his book, reads just fine).