Between the Assassinations
Page 29
1988
Mabroor Ismail Engineer, generally believed to be the richest man in town, opens the first Maruti Suzuki car showroom in Kittur.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) holds a march from Angel Talkies to the Bunder. Marchers call for India to be declared a Hindu nation, and for a return to traditional social values.
Elections held for the City Corporation. The BJP and the Congress divide the seats almost exactly.
Construction of the north bell tower, delayed for a year by the death of the rector, is recommenced at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Valencia.
1989
General elections. Ashwin Aithal, the BJP candidate, upsets cabinet minister and Congress candidate Anand Kumar to become the first non-Congress candidate ever to win the seat of Kittur.
The Sardar Patel Iron Man of India Sports Stadium opens in Bajpe. The construction of houses in the neighborhood proceeds rapidly, and by the year’s end the old forest is almost entirely gone.
1990
A bomb explodes during a chemistry class at St. Alfonso’s Boys’ High School and Junior College, leading to its temporary closure. The Dawn Herald runs a front-page editorial asking: “Does India Need Martial Law?”
The first computer lab in Kittur is opened at St. Alfonso’s Boys’ High School and Junior College. Other schools follow within the year.
The Gulf War breaks out, leading to the loss of expatriate remittances from Kuwait. A severe economic crisis follows. However, the broadcast of the war on CNN, available only to those TVs with a dish antenna, proves a great boost to sales of satellite TV dish antennas in Kittur.
With its funding frozen, construction work on the north bell tower of the cathedral once again comes to a halt.
May 21, 1991
News reaches Kittur via CNN of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The town is shut down in mourning for two days.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aravind Adiga was born in India in 1974 and attended Columbia and Oxford universities. A former correspondent for Time magazine, he has also been published in the Financial Times. He lives in Mumbai, India.
***
FB2 document info
Document ID: fbd-36fe1a-d3cd-9a48-d69c-c0d3-2bce-efe94f
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 13.03.2010
Created using: Fiction Book Designer software
Document authors :
Source URLs :
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/