Goddess ministers

Feisty Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy lamented the growing incidence of atrocities against women in India and said it was particularly sad in a country with its rich mythology. As he pointed out, in Brahma's "cabinet" the three key portfolios are held by women - finance (Lakshmi), defence (Durga) and education (Saraswati). Given such a heritage, he said it is high time India started to respect women. And finally to cap it, he added that Lord Brahma felt that he should not leave out a man in his cabinet - so he entrusted the communications portfolio to Narada!