We Indians are so besieged by the personality cult in all walks of life that our media deems it fit to concentrate only on them. At the drop of a hat, danger signs begin blaring louder and louder out of the media. And things blown out of proportion only add to the confusion. Your Reliance story (The House Dad Built..., Dec 6) is a case in point. Let us not forget that the Reliance group, though held widely, is in fact tightly controlled by the Ambanis and their closest friends. And the feud is like any other property dispute that could erupt in any household anywhere in the world. Why the fuss then? India is not just about Reliance that it will plumb to the depths of the Indian Ocean if the brothers keep fighting. Just keep off them and let the duo resolve the issue among themselves.
R.K. Sudan, Jammu
Your magazine has plunged to such abysmal lows that you have become nothing more than a sleaze-selling rag. Your cover story was absolute baloney, not one source was mentioned by name, the Sushmita Sen-Aishwarya Rai linkup with Anil Ambani was a very clever figment of the imagination. The way you are going, maybe you should compete for a best fiction award somewhere.
Sandeep Ramesh, on e-mail
The present feud between two powerful businessmen and brothers has sent ripples not only in the business world but throughout the nation. The economic impact of this rift in India’s biggest corporate house apart, this feud can lead to the polarisation of the nation—whether it is shareholders, politicians, film celebrities or businessmen—into two camps. The only thing one hopes won’t be divided is Dhirubhai’s name and legacy.
Sameer Hashmi, Bangalore
The Ambani feud which comes close on the heels of the rift in the Birla family points only to one thing: that the government should restrict the shareholding of a single family or a person in companies that have wider ramifications for the investors and the economy so that they no longer remain the sole arbiters of the fate of hundreds of stakeholders.
Siddhartha Raj Guha, Jabalpur
The Ambanis are again in the news, though for the wrong reasons this time. Reliance is the story of a great business house built with tact and reason on the foundations of credibility, trust and great political manoeuvring on the part of the visionary Dhirubhai. It is indeed sad that the media, in the garb of unearthing cracks in the multibillion dollar conglomerate, is encroaching on the private lives of individuals. What the brother duo is engaged in is common to all such enterprises. The least the media owes to the beneficiaries of the company is not to make a mountain out of a molehill. The Ambanis are smart enough to get out of this.
Jinu Matthew, on e-mail
I am bewildered to read about the Ambani brothers. They have nearly Rs 1,00,000 crore. Yet they are fighting. Reading about them I realise the greatest legacy I can leave for my children is not wealth but a sense of unity and love for each other. That’s where I think Dhirubhai failed.
Murali Krishna, on e-mail
Moral of the story is: beware of your wives. Don’t be their slave.
Ahmed Shaikh, Mumbai
Now, that’s what you call drama in RIL life!
Nitin G. Panchal, Mumbai
Jayendra Saraswati has not only brought disrepute to his august institution (10 Minutes in a Life, Dec 6) but also discredit to Hindu society as a whole. A congenital extrovert, he trespassed beyond the path ordained for a sanyasi. A Shankaracharya is supposed to only preach the dharma, not indulge in political activities. This rule was laid down by the Adi Shankara, who also said the Shankaracharyas should not own any assets. Kanchi was in any case not among the four original peethams (Sringeri, Puri, Varanasi, Dwarka) and came up mysteriously later in history. This seer had in fact run away from his post in ’85, and since his return has been running a parallel economy. Sans hard evidence, even Amma wouldn’t arrest him.
S. Ganesan, Mumbai
This report, if factual—which I believe it is—is shocking. Humility, non-materialism, truth—the acharya violated all these basic creeds. Worse, he’s done violence to the love and faith ordinary Hindus reposed in him. If he is a criminal posing as a saint, he should be awarded nothing less than capital punishment.
Rajesh Chary, Brighton, UK
Whether the pontiff is guilty or not is for the court to decide. But it’s obvious that he’s using the math’s money to defend himself by engaging high-profile lawyers like Jethmalani. The Shankaracharya certainly doesn’t own the Kanchi math. If asceticism and renunciation are all about wearing saffron and having crores in hand, then a good number of us are willing to ‘renounce’ civil clothes and become ascetics.
R. Venkatesan Iyengar, Hyderabad
The string of allegations could (or could not) be a politically orchestrated symphony. Still, it goes to show how injurious popular faith can be. Spiritualism is a nice career for social misfits thanks to our unquestioning submission; even citizens of much accomplishment are prone to it. I wish Indians use the pristine messages of their religions to be conscientious and stop seeking the pageantry of false religiosity.
Vijay A.C., London
Had Balbir Punj read your report, he wouldn’t have penned the vitriolic Hanged Before Hearing in defence of the tainted pontiff. If a godman of his stature couldn’t use divine powers and had to resort to the supari route to eliminate his tormentors, how can he offer solace to tormented millions?
K.P. Rajan, Mumbai
Why does Punj have to drag the Shahi Imam into the Kanchi controversy? Or talk of Muslim prisoners’ dietary requirements? Didn’t the last poll prove to the bjp that its divisive politics don’t work? India is for all Indians, not the personal property of the rss.
Arif Jameel, Dubai
Punj accuses Outlook of basing its story on pure propaganda and zero evidence. But what of Punj himself? Where is his evidence? A thug goes to jail—why waste precious public time by coupling party agenda with the whole Hindu religion? I am a Hindu and don’t need demagogues like him.
Samrat Mohanty, Chicago, US
First, you carry reports with a liberal seasoning of namak mirch. Then you give space to people like Punj. Bull’s eye.
Ishtyaque Ansari, on e-mail
I agree in toto with Punj on the media’s Hindu-bashing. I am a Hindu, a Brahmin to boot. I’m not orthodox, nor a blind follower of the Kanchi worldview. But it pains me to see the law "taking its own course" while the likes of Laloo enjoy power.
M. Viswanathan, on e-mail
Apropos The Hundi Abyss (Nov 29), all Ramakrishna Mission centre accounts are audited by renowned CAs annually and published openly. If the writer wishes, she can obtain a copy from any of the mission centres or from Belur Math.
B.K. Chowdhury, on e-mail
In Top Ten Temple Collections, you list a certain ‘Harmasthala (Karnataka)’. The temple is actually Dharmasthala and is in Dakshin Kannada. While on the subject, why omit churches or mosques that operate in a system of overflowing coffers and zero accountability?
G.L. Karkal, Pune
When will the common man realise that we don’t need middlemen between God and us; our relationship with Him is personal?
Vishnu Menon, on e-mail
Your article Is Oesophagus the Pharynx? (Dec 6) pointing out glaring inaccuracies in Class XI ncert biology and physics books was long overdue. As the principal of a renowned school in Calcutta, I’d written to the NCERT director and director (academic), cbse, about it but to no avail. It is very difficult for me to answer parents who ask me why a school principal would prescribe texts with errors. Telling them it is obligatory for every CBSE-affiliated school doesn’t help.
Basudeb Bhattacharya, Calcutta
I don’t know for sure if Ram Guha is "sour and embittered" as William Dalrymple points out (Letters, Nov 29), but the evidence so far tilts strongly in that direction. I’d have thought that after his misguided, unwarranted and baseless tirade against Arundhati Roy was shred to bits by academics, nba activists and her own brilliant, devastating rejoinder in an interview with N. Ram, Guha would’ve been more careful and constructive in his criticism of Dalrymple.
Hari Chathrattil, Syracuse, US
In Now, Fear is the Right Key (Nov 22), Prem Shankar Jha says the far right neo-Nazi party has captured "almost one-fifth of the vote" in Germany. Fact is, in recent elections in the German state of Sachsen, one such party did capture 9.2 per cent of the votes. But fact also is that out of Germany’s 16 states, there is only one more where such a party has managed to enter parliament (Brandenburg with 6.1 per cent). In all other elections for regional parliaments as well as in the last election for the national parliament, neo-Nazi parties have fallen far short of the required 5 per cent to get into parliament. So, even as we’re all concerned over the Sachsen result, we don’t have 20 per cent neo-Nazis in our government yet.
Stefanie Fischer, Bamberg, Germany
Rahul Singh’s Goa Diary (Dec 6) was fairly instructive. But the Goa Municipal Corporation building (a heritage site) which has been tastefully restored, in fact, initially housed the Goa Medical College and Hospital—Asia’s first. And yes, Panjim does look beautiful with its broadened roads and timely constructed multiplexes, but the beautification is only in areas iffi delegates will be using. While it’s all very well to host iffi, surely some of the Rs 200 crore spent on it could have given Goans medical, educational and infrastructural assistance.
Derek F. Sequeira, Panjim
Out of the 82 pages in Outlook, there is just one page that is always heartwarming: Making a Difference. It inspires the readers to do something for the needy and discover inner peace for themselves. This is the true path to nation-building and service to the cause of humanity. The rest of Outlook is nothing but gossip which does nothing but feed the voyeuristic instincts of people. While the first inspires creative thought, the second only lets imagination run wild. This creates schisms among your readership, which spills on to your Letters pages. The tragedy is gossip attracts more readers than any meaningful writing.
Kalyan Ajagia, Valsad, Gujarat
A postman is even today an eagerly-awaited man in many parts of the country (Carrier of Words, Nov 29). And it’s encouraging that India Post is adding value to the services it’s been rendering for 150 years. But I wish someone would heed Ruskin Bond who says a letter still takes 12 days to travel from Meerut to Calcutta.
Keshav Prasad, Patna
