Undoubtedly, it has been an excellent year for Bollywood, one of its most successful ones (Bole To...It’s Dhoom Time, Dec 4). A flurry of blockbusters that brought in handsome monies to producers and directors, at an unprecedented level. The list of superhit movies figures not just pleasing ones like Krrish, Fanaa, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Don, but really inspiring ones like Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Rang De Basanti. We saw depiction of Gandhian ideas in unmistakably modern contexts, we had the youth getting spurred to fight corruption and strive for a change of system. All the same, it’s sad that starvation deaths, unemployment, red-tapism and terrorism in our country are on the rise. Cinema, as the most powerful mass medium, can boast of success only if it can help radically change the world.
Shailesh Kumar, Bangalore
There are two or three bits that you failed to tally in this monster year for Bollywood. One, 2006 had several bigtime directors—like Karan Johar, Rakesh Roshan and Sooraj Barjatya—making movies. Two, some of the films earned huge collections in the first few days of their release (thanks to huge TV-aided hype), but they did not run in theatres for long.
Amar, Michigan
Sure, this has been an excellent year for Hindi films, but then it mostly showcased Indian culture in unreal ways. Though Indian society is getting westernised over time, it shouldn’t be exaggerated like this on celluloid. A basic cultural honesty must remain intact in our popular films.
Mahesh Kapasi, London
Bollywood rules, yes. Here in Holland, a reputed theatre regularly shows Hindi films like Don and The Rising. In neighbouring Germany, Bollywood films are shown on commercial TV channels. Their dvds are available in departmental stores. Turkish and Moroccan girls living in western Europe adore Hindi films. I myself became charmed with them a few years ago, and my affection is only growing!
Ingrid Jonker, Amsterdam
The conversion of many old-style theatres into multiplexes has something to do with this revenue upturn. Watching movies isn’t just a three-hour dose of entertainment inside air-conditioned halls anymore. Put it down to the extra-cinematic effects.
Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
There’s no point hiding the fact that clever packaging has helped some movies make it big. For example, Gadar amassed over Rs 70 crore because of the controversy it generated.
Shilpa Banerjee, Howrah
Going by the sheer scale of films and revenue, none would dispute that it’s been a historic year for Bollywood. But that’s money talking. Will there be a comeback of classic movies in Hindi? Or, at least, will Outlook admit that today’s souped-up classics are a big fraud?
Saraswati Bang, Mumbai
Admitted, what you get today is "mostly downright drivel" cinema, but then there had been many bad films in the past too (Thirsting for Pyaasa). Try making a Pyaasa now, and watch theatres go empty. The quality of films depends on demand, isn’t it?
Ishtyaqye Ansari, Bharuch
Tarlochan Singh’s piece The First War Ever? (Dec 4) was more a paean to Sikh heroics. What the Sikhs, Rajputs, Marathas, Tipu et al did was restricted to specific regions of the country. What happened in 1857 happened across the length and (almost) breadth of the country and involved people from all religions, ethnic groups and political affiliations. If this fact doesn’t qualify 1857 as the First War of Independence, what does?
D.V.R. Rao, Pune
The First War Ever? Well said.
Srinivas Jasti, Bangalore
An interesting nugget of history. Bhiwandi and Malegaon came into existence after 1857. After sacking Delhi, the Brits started killing entire Muslim populations in village after village in Delhi, Meerut, around Lucknow and Kanpur. Muslims came as refugees to the Bhiwandi-Sahpur-Malegaon belt. So, a transmigration did take place in 1857, much before ’47.
A.K. Ghai, Mumbai
Tarlochan Singh’s write-up tends to ignore historical facts and sacrifices them on the altar of emotional space. What is his criterion for anointing wars as of independence or otherwise? 1857 is a watershed year, an insurrection if not unifying then certainly giving a unity of purpose against the British. The Anglo-Sikh wars were battles between the Sikh and British empires, I say Sikh empire, as the Sikhs did not have, and were not fighting for, a pan-Indian vision or cause. Singh is all praise for Tipu Sultan but denigrates Mughals as invaders. Why? Because of their mixed race or the religious bias of a few of its emperors, something the Sikh armies themselves were not immune to and exhibited at every instance of their campaigns? To set the historical record straight, it was the Mughals who secured the western flank of India from the raiders across the Hindu Kush, and it was the decay of Mughal power that paved the way for the resumption of the same (like Ahmed Shah Abdali sacking Delhi and Punjab). If the Mughals had the wherewithal, and were not decaying, would they have hesitated to resist and check the growing British foothold and power? It was the Sikh army, in fact, which became the janissaries of the British in 1857 and were instrumental in suppressing the revolt. The only non-Mughal group which had a pan-Indian vision was the Maratha confederacy. And had they not been so overambitious and arrogant to first antagonise the established feudals, especially Indian Pathans, and then foolhardily marching into Attock and being so ill-prepared as to be massacred twig and branch by Abdali’s Afghan army in Panipat, it’s difficult to visualise Britain’s easy colonisation of India. The 1857 story needs to be told not just from its politics or its armed campaigns. The trials and tribulations of that time, Mr Singh, can start with the letters of Mian Ghalib.
K. Saeed, Colchester, UK
Apropos Irfan Habib’s critique of The Last Mughal (Indian Historians Are Not Lazy, Nov 20). Whatever flaws eminent historians may find in Dalrymple’s book—factual, event-based or situational—he does present a dry subject in a reader-friendly manner, so that people actually ‘read’ history, a subject universally detested in schools. In the ’50s and ’60s, Bengal had a prolific writer of historical novels in Saradindu Bandopadhyay. Seeing his popularity among the masses, noted historian R.C. Majumdar had quipped that people were at last reading history because of the lucidity and charm of historical novels. In fact, another Bengali writer, Pramathanath Bishi, wrote a historical novel called Lalkella in the ’50s based on the 1857 mutiny and Bahadur Shah Zafar’s role in it. Sadly, its reach remained limited as it was never translated and even the Bengalis have forgotten it.
B.S. Chatterji, Aurangabad
I read Prof K.C. Yadav’s letter upholding Irfan Habib’s review of Dalrymple’s masterly book. While I haven’t read Prof Yadav’s book, I was spellbound by Dalrymple’s engaging account of the last days of the Mughal empire. The professor’s complaint that Dalrymple has recited facts without exploring ideas shows his cursory reading of the book. Dalrymple has offered a coherent and closely-argued thesis explaining the gulf that opened up between Hindus and Muslims post 1857. I suggest Prof Yadav have another go at the book.
Irfan Husain, Lahore
Some K.C. Yadav putting himself on a par as a historian with William Dalrymple! Nice joke.
Riyaz Khan, Faridabad
Many talented bureaucrats suffer because they’re anchored in posts for which they have little or no interest, passion or commitment. Your article The Lost PhDcrats (Dec 4) brings this out very well. However, as people who’ve seen Srivatsa Krishna’s work, we’d vote him as the ‘poster boy of ias’. He took on the land mafia in Delhi, for which daring act he was dumped in cats. Undeterred, he went on to make it the success it is today. Sent to Andhra Pradesh, he brought in many successful IT and infrastructure investments. Sad that he should now be at the World Bank when India need officers like him.
Rakesh Wadhwa, New Delhi
Higher education overseas in any field gives ias officers a decent exposure to "efficient processes" in more developed nations. They can always implement what they’ve "learned" rather than bring their "education" to bear on the positions they are in.
Mukesh Tomer, Washington
Many iitians, some with multiple degrees in the field of technology, end up doing an mba, then go into finance or some business-related field, laying to waste a good tech education someone else might have put to better use. An advanced degree is just a means towards getting a well-paying, high-stature, secure job, it has nothing to do with your interests. Why, I’ve even read of folks with medical degrees applying for basic railways jobs.
B. Ramdeo, Springfield, US
Any sympathy to the babu can only be misplaced. Most make it to the ias because their parents can afford to feed them while they are slogging for the entrance exams. Once in service, they lord over whatever ‘realm’ they are in. When they need a break, the government gives them paid leave (and as you point out, additional taxpayer money) to study abroad. Most would leave the civil service if they were boxed in any one department or area of work (will that health PhD you mention be willing to give up getting a posting outside of the health sector?). Why do we need the ridiculous system at all? Why can’t we have sector-specific, task-specific, limited duration recruitment to fill government vacancies? And do away with age bars so as to include professionals from all walks of life.
Jaipat S. Jain, New York
Politicians play havoc with bureaucrats. Nowhere is this more evident than in the office of the district collector who wields enormous power and responsibility. Is it humanly possible to do justice to that office with all these laidback and lackadaisical assistants? It is nothing but a big joke and the very antithesis of decentralisation.
J.V. Reddy, Nellore
The involvement of eminent, educated personalities like Dr Sharif in reports like the Sachar Committee’s no doubt gives a truer picture of Muslim issues in the country (Meet the Deputy, Sharif, Dec 4). Rather than clamour for quickfix solutions like quotas, highlighting the very real plight of their community could perhaps compel the government into taking action. To begin with, the wide network of madrassas, which now evoke terror factories, could be channelised to impart contemporary education to Muslim children. Next on the agenda should be the self-employed poor Muslims, for whom a long-term strategy should be drawn up first to identify their problems and then government assistance sought in tackling them.
K.J. John, Vadodara
Is it not true that the state has generally failed a large number of its citizens; Muslim poverty is not any distinct from Hindu poverty?
Bindu Tandon, Mumbai
Apropos The Missing (Dec 4), maybe these people have secretly "voted with their feet". And the current Pak regime has only encouraged it.
A.N. Banerjee, Newcastle
Apropos I Am Macaca in Daniel Lak’s Washington Diary (Dec 4). Jews throughout the first part of the last century were in the position the Indians, Chinese etc today are in. They had achievements and financial security, but had to put up with slights (public or private) by the dominant European culture. It made them very self-conscious about their identity. However, they seem to have overcome this by now and are open about who they are. Sid’s reaction—"I’m Macaca"—is going the same way.
Akhil, Chicago
Stephen Alter’s Classroom Shopping (Nov 27) is a rare admission by an academic of the commercialisation of education. Being a part-time teacher myself, the piece was an education for me.
Arman Oza, Ahmedabad
The new Judges (Inquiry) Bill does nothing but give constitutional status to the existing Inhouse Procedure adopted by the Supreme Court in Dec ’99, and not used even on documented complaints (Draw the Blinds, Dec 4). What we need instead is a National Judicial Council of retired SC judges as member-nominees of the President, PM, Leader of the Opposition and the cji, with the cvc as an ex-officio member. Retired judges as well as the cji should come within its purview. The last because given the present seniority system, even a corrupt person can reach the top. The public should be made aware of the code of conduct for judges in the ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life’ adopted by the apex court in ’97 through websites and court publications; any avoidance of the code may be taken as misconduct.
S.C. Agrawal, Delhi
Like politicians are protected by fellow politicians, bureaucrats by bureaucrats, lawyers by lawyers, doctors by doctors, judges are protected by judges. In the past few years, I’ve come across a peculiar response from litigants. When they lose a case, they say it’s because of an incompetent lawyer. But when they win, they say it’s due to their efforts in influencing the judge. Judges are only too eager to be influenced. It may be because of their low salaries or because they do not enjoy the work they’re doing. The judiciary is also going the executive way. We shall have to wait for it to reach its nadir before the cleanup begins.
N.K. Singhal, Rohtak
Your article Wax Is Not Wasted (Nov 13) demonstrated exactly how public opinion can force action as in the Priyadarshini Mattoo case. Rural India sees far more barbaric, and more frequent, incidents, but they do not figure in the national consciousness. The brutalities one once heard of in UP and Bihar now happen in Maharashtra too, but no one seems to be noticing. Most recent was the brutal massacre of the Bhotlange family in Khairlanji village here. The reason was caste discrimination and it saw the killing of four Dalits, two of them women who were also raped. All of Maharashtra is burning. Despite the extremeness of the act, one heard little of it in the media. Why? Because the victims were from a lower stratum of society?
Nirajkumar Ambadas Thool, Aurangabad
Apropos For a Foster’s or Two (Dec 04). Yes, Foster’s is available in Pondicherry. But is it original? Friends of mine who have gone for liquor to Pondicherry say the ‘Original’ Scotch Whisky served in bars there is anything but. And the Foster’s? It apparently tastes worse than VM’s humour!
Srikanth Seshagiri, Chennai
I’ve always admired Rahul Bose, but his ngo sounds a con job (10 Q, Dec 04). Rs 2 crore on six kids! In the Andamans! This money could educate hundreds of kids in decent schools in our big cities. Who’re the sponsors? How rich and how stupid are they? Or is this some elaborate money-laundering scheme?
Somik Roy, Montreal
What’s Outlook’s compulsion in posting an item girl each week on its ludicrously named Glitterati page, accompanied by text that can only be euphemistically termed drivel? Does the magazine get paid for this or is it just good ol’ Vinod Mehta betraying his erstwhile Debonair colours?
S. Mala, Mumbai
Aw, c’mon. I can understand other magazines trawling the depths of page 3 sycophancy, but Outlook? What is so newsworthy about Kamalahaasan’s daughter inaugurating a show of paintings?
S. Srikandath, on e-mail
