Sathyakama Sharma

                                                          Poles Apart   What’s there in a pole? I mean the electric poles doubling as lamp posts dotting the sides of streets.   A closer look might offer an answer. You might find a Wanted Ad or a PG Accommodation ad hanging from it only to be amused by the free media poles provide to those unabashed advertisers. Look at the bottom of any pole. There’s garbage encircling it, dutifully dumped by the artful litterers as if it is manure meant to nourish the pole.   Moreover, the stinking garbage covers the nauseating stench of urine lying beneath, as the bottom of the pole is used by the four-legged as a guidepost and the two-legged male species pass it for a public urinal. Yes, in India, even poles are not left alone. In a country where loners and lunatics are hardly differentiat...