I accept that the sexual proclivities of Indians are at least as well-defined as that of the Americans (No Sex Please, We are Indian, September 21). But this doesn’t justify our acceptance of lax morals in those whom we choose to govern us. It’s worthwhile pondering the words of Peregrine Worsthorne, writing to The Spectator about Jonathan Aitken, the disgraced former British minister.
"Private and public lives, contrary to conventional wisdom, are not lived in separate compartments. The habits of lying and deceit necessary for the life of a cad and a rake are not in a different moral universe from those required for the life of a crook and a fraudster. No more than an egg can be bad in parts can a man be a liar and a deceiver in his private life and scrupulously honest and trustworthy in his public life." It is dangerous to respect our leaders as gods when we fashion our gods with feet of clay.
Phiroze B. Javeri, Mumbai
I’m surprised you omitted the mysterious liaisons of our beloved PM A.B. Vajpayee in your comprehensive cover story. For details please refer Savvy, the May 1991 issue which carries a detailed report with direct interviews of all concerned.
Anand Salian Puthige, Mangalore
In the minute details you’ve provided of the love lives of many well-known Indians, why has an exception been made with regard to India’s first two Presidents? Dr Rajendra Prasad’s attachment to one of his secretaries, Ms Darbar, was brought out in a series of amorous letters he wrote to her, and which were published in the press some years ago. And Dr Radhakrishnan’s extra-marital affair has been described in detail in his biography written by his son Dr S. Gopal. Neither of them finds a mention in your otherwise comprehensive write-up.
Narain Swarup, New Delhi
Clinton at least had the courage to confess his sins and face the music, unlike Indian politicians, who, even after getting involved in scams such as hawala and fodder, keep denying the charges, even if all evidence is against them. Thanks to the not-so-strong media and a short public memory, some of them are even back in business.
Manish Mohan Sinha, Patna
The exposure of Indian (male) hypocrisy and American schizophrenia in your story is both vivid and absorbing. Incidentally, you forgot one of today’s self-appointed messiahs of the downtrodden—Ram Vilas Paswan, who reportedly shed his dehati wife to acquire a city-bred lass. While it’s true that the West is apparently permissive, we should remember that there is a core of conservative values that acts like a spine of that society. After all Christianity, which dubs sex as the original sin, does form the bedrock of Westerners’ socio-cultural evolution. No matter how far they appear to stray from the straitjacket of Christian Puritanism, Americans will tend to go back to their roots—temporarily or perhaps permanently—sooner or later. What we see on TV and in the movies is only a distorted image of America. It is impossible for any society to survive if a majority of its members consists of degenerates.
Randeep Wadehra, Haryana
The idea behind Yankees! (September 28) was presumably a sound one: why is America debasing itself—more accurately, why its politicians are debasing the country in collusion with the media. Americans are themselves perplexed by the over-the-top hype that has inflated something so frivolous as sexual dalliance into a federal case, and welcome intelligent analysis from any quarter. But intelligent analysis was not evident in most of Outlook’s treatment. ‘Excess of Spleen’ might’ve been a more apt title for this unmitigated trashing of American culture, habits, people. An articulate American voice was absent. Balance demanded one—given your over-reliance on quotes from Newsweek and Bhaichand Patel.
Excellent points were raised in some articles, but often blunted by a sanctimonious edge. It’s ironic, if not ludicrous, for someone who comes from a place where garbage frequently lies in heaps on the streets without benefit of containers to indict Americans for the large size of our garbage cans; or for a scion of the land that reels out Bollywood films to criticise American films and cultural offerings as flat. Attempts to explain the American predicament were superficial; genuine evaluations of our culture simply absent. There’s more to America than just hamburgers. Often naive and provincial, perhaps, compared to teeming India, America does have its complexities. One’s the difficult conflict between an underlying puritanism and an ‘anything goes’ reality—somewhat the opposite of India, which has a richly sensual culture but a repressed reality. A nuance missed by the lead story writer, who condemns Clinton for draft dodging, is the deep imprint of the Vietnam War. It was seen as immoral by many Americans and compulsory draft was abolished as a result of overwhelming protests. Vietnam still haunts America, in a most personal way. Criticism is always a good thing. Puerile attacks, however, are demeaning. Outlook usually does better.
Lea Terhune, New Delhi
Yankees! clearly brought to the fore the hypocrisy that characterises America. In a society where morals usually take a backseat, it’s surprising to see people taking undue interest in Clinton’s peccadilloes. This only bolsters the fact that in America, explosive and steamy news is always welcome, because it helps them forget the great failings of society.
Sunit Oliveira, Pune
Tunku Varadarajan says—"Most of America has always had its knickers in a twist over morality...the only members of this vast and quixotic society who seem to subscribe to a coherent morality (even if it’s their own audacious brand) are those who do not usually insist on wearing knickers—the country’s pornographers". Dear friends at Outlook, it’s shameful that you can permit unfocused men like Tunku to influence the thought process of millions of our countrymen.
Vivek Raghuvanshi, Noida
I was shocked to see the photograph of a nude woman on your cover. One likes reading Outlook because of its extraordinary articles. But the purpose is defeated if you publish obscene, sensational photographs.
Vishnu Sharma, Nagpur
Devastating floods played havoc in UP, Bihar and West Bengal, claiming hundreds of lives, inundating lakhs of hectares, and submerging entire villages (Floods and the Fury, September 21). Whenever such calamities occur, the army is called in, the Centre duly conducts on-the-spot surveys and declares crores of rupees as compensation to the victim’s families. But these tokens come only after the flood has taken a dreadful toll. The greatest irony is that while the northern states reel under floods, the southern states are quarrelling over riparian rights!
M.A. Madhusudan, Bangalore
Pondicherry is just one of the examples of the futility of aping the West (Death as a Way of Life, September 21). Affluence does not bring peace of mind. Social change has to take place but not at the cost of uprooting your own roots.Aping the West will only bring disillusionment with life and a resultant belief that suicide will solve all problems.
Rajesh V. Iyer, Mumbai
The Tatas would do well to bestow some meaningful attention to their existing core business concerns (Better Dig Your Heels in..., September 14), instead of trying to spread their wings in the air. Scores of once-prized concerns in the group have, of late, shattered investor confidence. One can’t hope to live on past glory alone.
C.V. Subbaraman, Ahmedabad
In the Don’s Lair (September 14) mentions that "the only sporting memorabilia around Sir Donald’s house was a photograph of him and his wife with Pele". The photograph published alongside shows the Don and Sachin with a portrait of Sir Donald in the background!
Jasbit Singh, Bangalore
The photograph of A.B. Vajpayee and Nelson Mandela (Nelson’s Roving Eye, September 14) embracing each other brought this thought to my mind. Here are two heads of state, one the towering president of South Africa who fought for the freedom of his people and spent 27 prime years of his life in prison, and the other, the meek prime minister of India with no remarkable role in the freedom struggle of his country, instead, who has the credit of saving his skin from a prison term by apologising and later revealing the names of real freedom fighters to the British.
Hafiz N. Shaikh, received on e-mail
Where can I find Prem Panicker? I want to hug him, for he has said what I have been thinking about for a long time (Spoiling the Sport, September 28). Punitive action should be taken against these self-styled cricketing gurus. They don’t know how much they’ve hurt the sentiments of millions of cricketing fans in this country. Who the hell is Lele? Who the hell is Kalmadi? Who the hell are they to decide who should be played where? Is BCCI a democratically-elected body? Is it a circus or what? These jokers have messed up things to such an extent that today this stigma cannot be wiped out with words or explanation.
Dinesh Sharda, received on e-mail
The story Dangerous Condiments (September 14) mentions that the presence of asbestos in juices can cause stomach cancer. However, extensive studies by the WHO and other authorities have proved that ingested asbestos can’t cause any health hazard. If ingested asbestos fibre is dangerous to health, then beer and wine drinkers, as well as consumers of antibiotics, should also beware.
Asbestos fibre can be hazardous only if inhaled in large proportions over long periods—they can cause respiratory problems. But under controlled emission, even asbestos can be used safely. If fire from a safety match and petrol which is inflammable and arsenic as a medicine can be used safely as a thousand other substances, let us learn to be wise and careful in whatever we use. But deliberate adulteration is a crime and should be punished.
S.N. Iyer, Bangalore
