Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France before the French Revolution, symbolised excesses and had a tragic downfall. When peasants faced shortage of bread she is reportedly to have said, "Let them eat cake." Apparently, she had said those words when she was nine years old (1765) and living in Austria, i.e., five years before she was engaged to Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France and became the queen (1769). In India we have equivalent phrases. Some years back when asked about the high price of onions, a Union Minister famously said that she is not aware as she does not eat onions. Her words brought tears to the citizens as she seemed to be living in an ivory tower. On Nov 2, 2026 the Supreme Court refused to hear an urgent petition concerning the 700% price rise in air tickets during Diwali. The petitioner sought the Court to direct the Centre to frame a mechanism to cap the price during festive times. The bench hearing the plea, apparently stated, “Don’t travel by air.” Perhaps the minister and the bench might have made the statements in a jocularly manner but hopefully they realise the hardships faced by the people.
SRIDHAR D IYER, Caranzalem
