Years ago, when the Soviet Union existed, a joke used to poke fun at the authoritarian system prevailing in the country. Two persons, one Russian and another American, were arguing about the freedom of speech prevailing in their countries. The American said, "Anyone can shout slogans against the US president standing in front of the White House, and it's perfectly normal. Nobody would stop him doing it." The Russian replied: "Same in Moscow. You can shout slogans against the US president standing in front of the Kremlin, and you wouldn't be stopped."
Currently in Los Angeles, the other day I was taken to the sprawling Swaminarayan temple, about an hour's drive from where we live. We were asked to reach there around elevenish, just ahead of the time of daily aarti. After passing through the reception, we were taken to the main temple, whose inside, I was told, was made of snow-white Italian marble, exported to Rajasthan, where expert artisans had meticulously carved out its different parts before being sent to Los Angeles for assembling them for the temple. Must have been pretty costly, I surmised!