Over red wine, Kingfisher and paneer tikka, a bunch of (English) newspapermen were last night discussing the competitive chauvinism of the Kannada newspapers, thanks to the Cauvery crisis.
Apparently, on day three of the “agitation”, one Kannada newspaper carried a news item of a man being run over by a train with these revealing words:
“The Chennai-bound Shatabdi Express today ran over a Kannadiga…”
IJR 
This is ridiculous and shameful. It reminds me of the manner in which a television head honcho welcomed Sushmita Sen following her victory in the Miss Universe competition saying: “Our very own Bengali girl”.
Later, the same man said of Amartya Sen: “The Bengali economist” when he won the Nobel. In fact, he went on and on pronouncing Amartya as Omorto… no doubt that may be the right way to say it, but was it called for?
But such overt references to State and language are not to be found in newspapers, which is why this headline must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. When will we shake ourselves free from such regionalism?
I have always believed that the English Press has much to learn from regional newspapers and their style of reporting and presenting facts; which are at times absolutely brilliant. But in this case I refuse to endorse the silly, cunning headline aimed at fomenting trouble.