Why single out the Bengalis (Death of a Bhadralok, September 4)? Is it a crime if they are not good traders? Which other state has cent per cent output from its government employees? You talk of a decline in Bengali literature and cinema, but pray where are the Premchands and Mahadevi Vermas of Hindi literature? Has other regional cinema reached its creative zenith?
Nihar Mukherjee, on e-mail
Communism may be sound as an ideal, but is inappropriate for governance. No industrialist dares to enter Bengal; entrepreneurship and enthusiasm have gradually waned, leaving in their wake unemployment and chaos. Unless there’s scope for creation of wealth, how can anyone think of its distribution, however unequal it may be? And of what use is intellect if it can’t be put to good use?
K.R.S. Swamy, on e-mail
Outlook’s editorial team seems to be in an indecent haste to write the obituary of the bhadralok and its culture. Like many others, you too seem to have been caught in the trap of crying ‘wolf’ at the sight of the feeble ‘body’ of the bhadralok culture, forgetting that its spirit is very much alive and kicking.
Vidura Gupta, Delhi
Your cover story was outrageous. I showed it to a Bengali friend of mine, whose response was: "Chalta hai yaar, I don’t care." It’s not only a decline of a people, it’s a decline of their pride. Had you said anything about my community, I’d have burnt your magazine.
Arun Ram J., Chennai
The process of degeneration that set in Bengal earlier gained momentum during the prolonged stint of the present regime at Writer’s Building. They could have stemmed the rot but we all know who gained the most in that time.
S.P. Pramanik, Calcutta
The Bengali bhadralok has now been reduced to a common lok. They might cry themselves hoarse against your article, but it’s time they faced up to the truth.
Arup Banerji, Mumbai
It’s unfair to say that only those who’ve moved out of Bengal have flourished. This phenomenon is not typical of Bengalis; Indians have largely done well once they’ve moved outside their country.
Partha Dasgupta, on e-mail
Sadly Bengalis no longer have control of their own state. In the last one and a half decade Bengal has hardly produced any ias or ips officers. He’s being edged out of admissions at iits and iims. The economy is in the control of Marwaris. Even football, alas, is no longer his domain.
Monica Das, on e-mail
It takes more than a corrupt, myopic government to destroy the potential of a great people. Bengalis are known the world over for their intellect and gentility and if they are to be termed decadent, I dread to think what one would call their neighbours in Bihar or the Aryan races in the north, with their unenvious record of corruption and nepotism?
Captain S. Majumdar, on e-mail
Soutik Biswas soars high over lesser Bengalis and takes a bird’s eye-view of the pathetic state of Bengal. He points out the problems of Bengalis with ease. But does he offer any solution? No sir, that’s not his job.
Arijit Chatterjee, Calcutta
The Marxist government has been blamed for a lot of things that have gone wrong in Bengal. But the fact remains that people get a government they deserve. They have to stop living in the past and reinvent themselves. Stereotypes have to be jettisoned and work ethic cultivated. Otherwise many like me will be forced to believe that the rise of Bengal was nothing but an artifact brought about by historical confluence.
Kaushik Raha, Pennsylvania, US
What else can we expect when we have old and senile geriatrics to run our states and the country? Compare this with a young Clinton who has lifted the economy of the US in the last eight years. Or closer home, look at the way young CMs like S.M. Krishna, Digvijay Singh, Chandrababu Naidu and Ashok Gehlot are managing their states.
Brig K.S. Chhokar, Delhi
How come you mentioned no women in your list of Bengalis who’ve done well outside Bengal? Do the achievements of writer Jhumpa Lahiri, film director Aparna Sen, actress Sharmila Tagore, social activist Dr Mithu Alur or Dr Lotika Sircar of the National Commission for Women not count?
Nikhil Chib, Mumbai
In his eagerness to paint a bleak picture, the author fails to see the spirit of Bengal during Durga pujas, the willingness of the Bengali to help a fellow human on the streets, the respect the Bengali has for its women or the burgeoning of software companies in the spanking new facility built at Salt Lake? And though the average Bengali’s lack of enterprise is cause for concern, the Bengali bhadralok - that wise, well-read and large-hearted gentleman - is still very much alive.
Raghuvir Mukherji, on e-mail
Today the meros (Marwaris), khottas (Biharis) and the ures (Oriyas) have beaten the Bengali in admission to the iits and the iims, medical entrance examinations and CA courses, but he continues to languish in his false sense of pride.
Gautam Mandal, Delhi
I was amazed to read your cover story. I agree with many things you say, but fail to see why they’re unique to Bengal. It’s unscientific to accuse a race about the decline of its industrial culture. Multi-factorial causes come into play in the decline of a state.
Arjun Dasgupta, London
Today’s Bengali is lazy, introverted and smug in the misguided belief that he’s superior to others, little knowing that the rest of India has overtaken him a long time back.
Rohit Dahiya, Calcutta
We’ve been surprised and dismayed to read recent articles in the media on Crossroads, completely misconstruing why it has begun the redemption coupon scheme (A Pall at the Mall, August 28). We have to maintain high-quality, world-class safety standards. For this, escalators, steel bridges, fire exits and toilets cannot be overloaded. It becomes difficult to manage the large numbers (between 35,000 and 40,000) that visit the mall on holidays. The redemption coupon scheme was introduced only for crowd control, and not to create a "class system" as is alleged.
Jaydev Modi, MD, Piramal Holdings
Your correspondent has obviously not been to Crossroads on a weekend or public holiday at peak shopping hours. She’d know that the security personnel are far outnumbered by hooligans on such days and it becomes impossible for ladies and genuine shoppers to be at the mall. The new entry policy is just a preventive step before anything untoward happens.
Ria Rane, Bangalore
"But how do you argue with these tabalchis?" Irfan Habib asks (The Past Master, August 28). Well, Habib and Co have been using exactly the same argument to kill any debate which threatens to bring newer perspectives to the understanding of our past. The most pioneering works in the last decade, including the deciphering of the Indus script by Natwar Jha and .S. Rajaram, are dismissed as "stupid propaganda".
Vijaya Krishna, Bangalore
What moral authority does A.C. Muthaiah - who hasn’t played cricket even at school level and who’s bcci chairman only because he’s a big businessman - have to ask Kapil to quit? There is no fir, prima facie evidence, or legal case against Kapil whereas Muthaiah and his company spic (along with ex-CM Jayalalitha) has an fir filed against him for money-laundering by the cbi.
Bal Ram, on e-mail
Has any ‘patriotic’ Indian ever declared that ‘in the interest of my country let me sacrifice my kin held hostage, but the Indian government not leave terrorists /murderers/kidnappers at any cost’? We don’t have what it takes to die (or kill) for our country and believe it’s the duty of the police/armed forces - who’re hired and paid to do so - to lay their lives for the country.
Ananth Gupta, New Delhi
India is a soft state not because it yields to its external enemies, but for its inability to punish scoundrels like match-fixing cricketers/officers; corrupt politicians, tax-evading film stars, extortionists and gangsters.
Umesh Joshi, Pune
How ungrateful can we get? First we forgot the sacrifices of our jawans at Kargil by freeing terrorists in the IC-814 blackmail, now we are going to disappoint the relatives of those who laid down their lives fighting against Veerappan.
Kumar Sinha, on e-mail
Given the circumstances, the chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have no choice except complete surrender before Veerappan. But having secured Rajkumar’s release, their first priority should be to nab and bring the outlaw to book.
T.S. Chawla, Mohali
It’s sad that the sole sensible voice of Abdul Karim is being criticised. At least Karim has the guts not to let Veerappan have his own way, even if it means being alone. Rather than tracking down the brigand, Rajkumar’s fans are engaged in meaningless protests in which innocent people are getting hurt and public property is being damaged.
Shyam Tiwari, Georgia, US
If a journalist can reach Veerappan, why can’t the police, with all their ammunition and sophisticated weaponry? He continues to spread terror. It’s high time Karnataka and Tamil Nadu surrendered to the Centre and asked for military intervention to nab Veerappan.
Dr Padmaraj Hegde, on e-mail
Dr Rajkumar could either take the easy way out, like Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Saifuddin Soz, or K.
Doraiswamy (Indian Oil); or take a stand like a real ‘hero’ and refuse to be a medium of blackmail. The first will earn him release but cost him the respect and admiration of most Indians. The second option will mean personal discomfort and painful separation from family, but will elevate him from a mere ‘icon’ to the exalted position of ‘god’.
K.S. Bhalla, New Delhi
As the reviewer of Siddharth Dube’s book, Sex, Lies and aids, I am outraged by the title The Doomsday Book, and the accompanying picture and caption (August 21). The title misses the whole point - that Dube’s book is far from being a doomsday book. Considering that both the book and the review emphasise the need for a non-discriminating response to hiv/aids, Outlook’s editorial inputs are in terrible taste.
Radhika Chandiramani, on e-mail
I saw Grandpa’s Outlook. Sadly, there’s nothing in it for me to read. I am seven years old. Do you think you could start a comics page?
Sachith, on e-mail
I’m rather amused to see the outrage pouring in the media against the weakness of the Indian state in the face of blackmail. But why blame the few outlaws who have had the courage to pick up a gun instead of swindling the state exchequer and then emerging scot free by aborting the process of law?
Remember Harshad Mehta’s multi-crore securities scam? Didn’t the then finance minister, Manmohan Singh, allow some of the foreign banks, involved in the swindle, to go unpunished? And lately finance minister Yashwant Sinha has been issuing warnings against initiating "action" against the rich and mighty who haven’t returned loans to nationalised banks, to the tune of a staggering Rs 53,000 crore. All Sinha has done is to write off the mounting interest on the npas of these banks!
Devinder Sharma, New Delhi
