“Sainath’s law of infallibility,”

Shankar: Sometimes it’s “consumer,” which is a really terrible way to describe a human being, you know? It reduces you to somebody who consumes. Sainath: But, this business of creating role models in the media, that is very important. And, you will fi nd it’s always the worst elements that get glamorized. In fact, I made a small contribution to political science in analyzing this. It’s called “Sainath’s law of infallibility,” media infallibility. And my law goes as follows: if the media tell you “x” is the new messiah, if the media tell you “x” will lead us to the promised land, if the media tell you that “x” is the hottest property in town, and we ought to listen to him, then “x” is a criminal. It never fails.