Unlike America's 99%

If there's any global conference or a summit of importance being organised in any part of the world, you can be sure there will be protestors, some serious, others less so, and some outright mercenary. India, though, unwittingly provides an antidote to sustained opposition. A recent global summit on an environmental issue in Bangalore attracted its complement of conscientious objectors outside the hotel where it was being hosted. Several expressed the intention of camping outside the gates for the three days of the summit. Perhaps they forgot that this is not the US. Unlike the Occupy Wall Streeters who sustained their protests with the help of support infrastructure, including sympathisers, the reaction here was indifference. And inevitably, nature played a part. With no access to toilet facilities – public toilets are not a regular feature of most Indian city-scapes – the protestors had to call it quits within three hours, forget the three days.