The Internet is flooded with videos and images of Indians “misbehaving”, in India and in other lands

xPicture the scene. A street in some picturesque European town. People chatting, drinking wine or coffee, eating, shopping, milling around. Suddenly, a long sharp sweet note from a flute rises and falls. Other instruments join in. People look around, and watch as musicians fill the street and the windows above. Strains of Mozart rise to a crescendo, matched by the awe and wonder of the people who realise they are part of a flash mob.

This to many is a sign of shared civilisation. Shared beauty and experience, a drop of joy in a mundane world.

Here’s another scene. La Tomatina or the tomato festival in Spain where people throw tomatoes at each other in the streets of Bunol. It used to be

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