Sycophants flourish as a culture of flattery lives on Newspaper ads in New Delhi gush praise for the prime minister.

(From South China Morning Post)

Byline: Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi

Indian newspapers on Christmas Day were packed with full-page adverts extolling Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's virtues.

Describing him as an extraordinary man and wondrous leader, it was a vivid demonstration of how sycophancy still flourishes in every sphere of Indian life, but mostly in politics.

The occasion was Mr Vajpayee's 78th birthday. Among the army of admirers who came to pay respect to the leader, a passerby who happened to find himself in the thick of the adoring crowd was heard mumbling that, if he was not mistaken, Christmas celebrated the birth of …