The self-immolation of a youth in Lucknow is very tragic indeed , but it cannot be attributed solely to police high-handedness (Hard Arm of the Law, January 31). Consider the picture published alongside the article. It shows that when the youth was afire, there were only two policemen trying to help. The passers-by ignored him, let alone lend a helping hand. It only shows the insensitivity of our society of which the policemen too are but a part.
Vivek Maheshwari,
Bhopal
In your business feature, Talking Small, Thinking Big (January 31), you quote an expert saying that the 11 per cent interest on PPF is way above the ‘real interest’ rate of nine per cent. He’s also, helpfully, explained ‘real interest’-it’s interest minus the rate of inflation which is two per cent at present. But what he’s forgotten to enlighten poor souls like us about is ‘real price’-price minus inflation rate, at which a shopkeeper is willing to sell. If indeed there is such a thing, the small investor shouldn’t be unduly perturbed. We all want to save the country, don’t we?
C. Govindan Nair,
on e-mail
Yours was a lucid account of the situation the UP State Electricity Board finds itself in (The Switch is On/Off, January 31). Electricity is vital both for industry and agriculture. And given the Rs 3 crore investment for every megawatt of power generated, it is preposterous to allow nearly 80 per cent of it (42 per cent due to transmission and distribution losses, including theft, the remaining in free supply to farmers) to become unremunerative as is happening in UP.
K.R. Rangaswamy,
North Carolina
The lifting of the ban on its employees participating in RSS activities is another example of the Gujarat government’s surrender to the Sangh parivar (Test Flights of the Hindutva Dream, January 31). This is bound to communalise the state police, which already has a poor record of protecting minorities. Whatever the CM’s claim, he is causing great harm by blurring the line separating the government and the RSS, which has been banned thrice in 15 years.
Ahmad Ali,
Aligarh
We feel betrayed that the media (including Outlook) are confounding the Karmapa issue (A Monk’s Passage, January 24). An overwhelming majority of Buddhists in the world feel there’s no contention whatsoever over Ugyen Trinley Dorje being the true and only 17th Karmapa. Thaye Dorje has neither the recognition of any of the high lamas of the Kagyu lineage (except for Shamar Rimpoche whose prodigy he is) nor the support of one significant Buddhist organisation in Sikkim, the Himalayas, Tibetans-in-exile or worldwide.
Tashi Wangdi,
Gangtok
Your cover shows the travel route taken by the 17th Karmapa. Should you have shown a divided Kashmir? When have you recognised the PoK?
S.N. Rama Raju,
Rajapalayam, TN
The article Bodies to Nobodies (January 24) saddened me. I suppose the move to have only ‘fair’-skinned actors was inevitable, given the premium Indians attach to white skin. Too bad that we’re generally a dark-skinned people who cannot change that, ‘Fair and Lovely’ and other ‘beauty’ products notwithstanding! The dichotomy between how we like to portray ourselves in movies and how we actually look will never vanish. Maintaining the fiction in movies will only result in feelings of inadequacy, a contrast to the self-image the people of a great nation should have.
Prashant Rao,
Michigan
The article Corridor of Power (January 17) shows the extent to which the ‘world’s only Hindu kingdom’ has gone in glossing over, if not abetting, the steady growth of the ISI’s subversive network. This when RSS chief Golwalkar went to Nepal in 1963 to affirm his solidarity with the Hindu monarch there. Members of the Nepalese royalty have been honoured invitees to the RSS’ annual Makar Sankranti festival. Nepal’s leniency in allowing Pakistan to use Kathmandu as a base therefore amounts to a gross act of betrayal.
K.R. Sundar Rajan,
New Delhi
We regret Sandeep Shouche’s remarks against Dr Abdul Kalam in his letter in the January 24 issue.
I was saddened at the patronising tone of the article, A Buffet for Buffs (January 24). Somehow, even a full 100 years after its invention, and despite its powerful impact on human civilisation, movie making is considered a lesser art than say, writing, classical music and dance, or painting. Thus, society would not hesitate to honour a person who claims to have read all of Shakespeare’s 36 plays, but an equally erudite lover of good cinema is labelled an ‘oddball’, a ‘junkie’ or ‘freak’.
Satyajit Ray didn’t become the master he was merely by reading good books or by his deep appreciation of Western classical music. He was also a prolific movie watcher who scrupulously took notes. And while there may not be any potential Rays, it’s for personal enrichment that these people are regulars at IFFI.
Georgy Thomas,
Bangalore
To campaign for the skipper’s removal on grounds of "preserving the world’s best bat" seems a pursuit of self-interest at the expense of the happiness of the one man who raises this country’s morale with a swing of his shoulders (Sack Sachin, Save Sachin, January 31).
Joy Matheiken,
Delhi
It’s ‘paaji’, not Sachin, who’s responsible for our debacle Down Under. Kapil’s personal vendetta against Azhar and Mongia has cost India dear. And if the ‘powers-that-be’ really care about cricket, they should sack our coach when they announce the team for the Challenger series.
Samir Mahajan,
New Delhi
It’s too early to doubt Kapil’s ability or leadership (didn’t he get us the 1983 World Cup?). Every world-class team goes through bad phases. The Indian team too seems to have reached its ‘lowest ebb’ and can only move ‘northwards’ from here, provided we can pull up our socks and sagging morale. And Kapil’s the person to do it. This is not the time to hang his boots-but pump in the last available iron.
Gaurang Jalan,
Calcutta
Bravo to Krishna Prasad for his drastic blueprint to put Indian cricket back on the rails. It’s something lovers of the game have been telling the deaf in the BCCI. May I add one more proviso: prepare hard, bouncy tracks all over the country. It’ll develop backfoot play, the hook and the pull so sorely needed to counter the Brett Lees, McGraths, Shoaibs et al.
H. Balakrishnan,
Chennai
I write this a night after another humiliating performance by our cricketers. As a diehard cricket fan, I suggest a few things that might save the only game we’re internationally competitive in.
l Stop the hype around ‘Saviour’ Sachin. It’s irritating to see the media blindly supporting him and making excuses for the mess he’s got the team into with his unimaginative captaincy.
l Show the door to cricket ‘politicians’. The treatment meted out to Azhar and Mongia, the exclusion of Sunil Joshi and T. Kumaran, persisting with Agarkar and absolute non-performers like Kanitkar and Sameer Dighe-smacks of favouritism.
l Make the BCCI transparent and accountable. Throw out the amateurish officials who can’t even hold their tongue.
L. Ganapathiram,
Coimbatore
Three cheers to our brilliant coach and Bhagwan Sachin. Though the team has lost, they have succeeded in their designs to keep Azhar, Jadeja and Mongia out of the game. These two have done what Gavaskar once did to the great Mohinder Amarnath.
Faisal Jamil,
on e-mail
Cricket’s a team sport and the captain’s only as good as the team he leads. Of our batsmen, only Tendulkar and Ganguly have performed close to their career average. Among the bowlers, Srinath and Prasad have shoulder problems, Agarkar has a new fitness problem every match and Kumble has taken just five wickets in three matches. With performances like these, if one still expects Sachin to win matches or save them, then something’s wrong with our expectations.
Shrirang Purohit,
on e-mail
On an earlier occasion, Sachin had candidly admitted that captaincy adversely affected his batting. In the entire Australian tour, his performance has been from mediocre to poor. His team management too has been average. Why does captaincy have to be thrust upon him?
Madan Gupta,
New Delhi
It looks like too much of Pepsi and too much of Colgate has made Sachin a bad bat, and so is the case with Kapil, just "real picture, real sound" and absolutely no action. As with Dravid, he is plain "jammed". Here is an Indian team weighed down by sponsors.
A.K.Y. Sayed,
Bangalore
Your views in the cover story were partly correct and partly illogical. No other game in India evokes as much public response as Indian cricket does. And particularly, when the team fares badly. But Outlook’s sensibility comes into question if people like the Nawab of Pataudi (whose average is a mere 32.00 in Tests), an ex-selection committee member, Shivlal Yadav (whose partiality and inefficiency earned him more stigma than respect as a selector), and non-players like Tom Alter and Krishna Prasad (who never played a single ball at the international level)-express their views in an article that doesn’t know which way to swing.
N. Raja Sekhar,
on e-mail
Your cover story reflects the current trend of quickfix journalism which borders on knee-jerk reactions to difficult situations. Instead of finding scapegoats in Kapil and Sachin, let’s admit that all youngsters we have tried on the basis of their batting record have failed. Seasoned bowlers like Kumble and Prasad have failed to get wickets. We are a third-rate team with two (not three) world-class batsmen. Even Steve Waugh or Hansie Cronje would struggle to do anything with this team.
Ashok Karnik,
on e-mail
Your cover story was deplorable. Why, for heaven’s sake, can’t the tabloids leave the poor man alone? Here he was, all geared up to be hailed as the world’s best batsman after Don Bradman, and suddenly the press pulls down India’s ‘Only Hero’ (the very words you once used), all thanks to his failure in his new role as skipper of an Indian team in a shambles. And wasn’t it the same Outlook which did a fantabulous cover story on Sachin two years back proclaiming him as God’s gift to Indian cricket?
Neelima Menon,
Kochi
Sitting in a restaurant I overheard a heated discussion on cricket and what your last issue said. The last remark stopped the debate mid-air. And that was: "We have the best cricket team in the world, but we just can’t play!"
Navroze Contractor,
on e-mail
Poor, poor Sadia Dehlvi (London Diary, January 31), carrying her minority baggage all the way to England and trying oh-so-hard to prove her patriotic credentials by doing a spot of wild Paki-bashing, much like a ‘70s skinhead. Her crude generalisations about the Pakistani community in Britain would be unprintable in the UK as they could be legally termed as ‘racist’. Perhaps, Dehlvi is not modern enough to understand that British Asians now live in a multi-cultural society which respects every community. I am surprised that a liberal magazine like Outlook has published such self-serving gibberish and I hope that it is not going down the path of that saffron pamphlet which is its weekly rival!
Francis Louis,
New Delhi
