India, March 28 -- How does one survive the dark, grim times? I guess everyone has a coping mechanism. For me it's reading. And what works best is satire, humour, irony. If nothing else, at least one can laugh!

Lately, in this mood, I have found myself returning to the short stories of Hindi literature's greatest satirist, Harishankar Parsai (1924-1995). His devastating humour and social and political satire should ideally be read in the original (though some stories are available, and a delight, in English translation).

Parsai tore into the hypocrisy and corruption around him. He wrote of the daily hardships and inequalities of ordinary people's lives, crushed under the weight of an uncaring bureaucracy and political class. He wrote of...