Apropos your issue on The Greatest Indian After Gandhi (Aug 20), the greatest Indian after Gandhi is neither Nehru nor Ambedkar, Kalam or Tata. My vote goes to the common man (or woman), the aam aadmi, the long-suffering Indian. Sixty-five years after Independence, s/he remains the lone bulwark of our country. Kicked around, swindled, made false promises to every five years, waiting in endless queues for getting sanction for the basic amenities of life, fighting for admission to school or college, deprived of healthcare, hostage to terrorists and cultural police alike.
Col Romy Sakharia, Kochi
If you set Gandhi as a benchmark, then it becomes imperative that the contenders for the greatest Indian after him be judged by the standards of the Mahatma. And your 10 finalists fall far short of Gandhi’s greatness. The popular vote and market research may put A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on top but unfortunately popularity is mistaken for greatness. Agreed, Kalam was one of the most popular of Indian presidents due to his proactive approach and his ability to connect with the youth, but he certainly doesn’t deserve to be on a par with Ambedkar or higher in ranking than luminaries like Nehru, Patel or J.R.D. Tata, who remain the foremost jewels in the crown of India.
S.R. Gadicherla, Bangalore
How come veteran freedom-fighter Abul Kalam Azad does not figure in your list, but Abdul Kalam, the rocket engineer who slipped into the presidency due to the political expediency of the then ruling combine, is towards the top?
K.P. Luke Vydhian, Bangalore
It’s ridiculous to compare the greatness of a Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar or even J.R.D. Tata with Gandhi. These individuals are great in their respective spheres, but don’t even come close to Gandhi.
G.S. Rao, Bangalore
The collection of articles on Ambedkar was outstanding. However, Buddhist Ambedkarites, instead of subscribing to the Lotus Sutra ideal of being like a Bodhisattva, ‘never disparaging’, are ‘always disparaging’, whether of Gandhi or Brahmins, or whatever. Only the articles by Sudheendra Kulkarni (The Theology of Intolerance) and Saba Naqvi (The Higher Statesman?) were balanced, as was Gail Omvedt (A Part That Parted).
Santhanam Krishnan, on e-mail
Can anyone enlighten us how many times Ambedkar went to jail during the freedom struggle? Was he not defeated in his own reserved constituency during the general election, indicating he didn't even have the support of his own people?
Rama Rao Kathirisetti, Hyderabad
Why this fuss over a No. 2 to Gandhi? Is it not narrow typecasting? A nation is not a bunch of people. The collective wisdom of a billion Indians should catapult us to new horizons of progress.
Jitendra Sangawar, Hyderabad
Unlike what Vinod Mehta says about Mother Teresa in the lead essay (On Greatness), I think I would be “lifted out of hopelessness and despair” if someone picked me up when I was “lying forsaken and abandoned....” Not that I think she should be the ‘Greatest Indian’, but your arguments against it were a bit skewed.
Ierene Francis, Bangalore
While deciding greatness, one parameter had to be paramount—the section which says ‘against all odds’. Dr Ambedkar took on a 5,000-year-old ingrained, inhuman system called casteism and helped best it.
Ranadheer Patwardhan, Sangli
I agree with your list of requirements for mini-greatness, bar one point: do not covet your neighbour’s wife. Thodi toh badmashi karne dijiye.
Mohan, Adipur
On setting the criteria for the ordinary citizen’s ‘greatness’, I’d like to add two points—political awareness and utilising the right to vote. An Indian greatness menu would be incomplete otherwise.
Shereen, Abu Dhabi
Today India is what Indira Gandhi made of it. It’s a shame that neither she nor her son Rajiv are part of the list.
Rahul Pathak, Patna
When the rich and the netas break every law that you proscribe for the ‘ordinary citizen’ and get away with it too, why should I not do the same? What will I get for clearing my own conscience? What will I get for suppressing the evil inside me? Absolutely nothing. PS: Good article, but the German surrender was after Hitler’s death and the UK elections happened in 1945, not in 1946.
Rishi Vyas, Kangra
In India, where people are so ill-informed and biased, this kind of poll is meaningless. And in today’s anti-Congress mood, Nehru wouldn’t have got many votes. The truth is, this wasn’t a poll, this was an election. Nehru lost.
Rohit Desai, Mt Prospect, US
In a country where very few follow the laws of the land, it is very easy to achieve greatness. For, any person who helps restore some order can lay claim to it, Anna Hazare in Maharashtra and ex-supercop H.T. Sangliana in Karnataka being prime examples.
Amar Heblekar, Panaji
As they say, ‘some achieve greatness in spite of the media, and some have greatness thrust upon them by the media’.
K. Suresh, Bangalore
Congrats, Mr Mehta, your batteries seem to have been recharged after you retired from helmsmanship.
Kel Shorey, Glasgow
