"The Supreme Court has upheld Kasab's death penalty" read my friend's SMS. I looked at the message and wondered whether to be happy or not. It's not that I have completely lost faith in the country's judicial system. But who knows what appeals and pleas – not to mention appeal for presidential clemency - his lawyers may come up with to keep him safe behind the bars for years to come. Come to think of it, I wouldn't even have rejoiced if the SMS had read 'Kasab to be hanged tomorrow'. The only message that can ever bring satisfaction and some sense that the justice has been served to those who died in the 26/11 attack and their relatives is 'Kasab was hanged today'.

Just wonder what happened to the old-fashioned Hindi movie tactic of the cops taking the criminal out of the prison on the pretext of transferring him somewhere and then shooting him in cold-blood because 'he was trying to escape'. I wish the real life would imitate reel life just this one time.