UGH, what ostentatious exhibition of wealth in a country with a huge gap between the haves and the have-nots (Bunty Weds Babli in Bali, Feb 26)! Such weddings only bring a false sense of fame to the hosts. Surely, the politicians, cine stars and other public figures attending them should be shameless people. Channeling the money spent on a couple of such weddings alone can wipe out India’s whole population of destitute mendicants.
K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
Lavish, they are, but fat weddings do help quite a few people earn a livelihood. And don’t forget, they belong to the lower-income group wanting to lead an honest life.
Akhil Rahul, Chicago
I’m the daughter of S.P. Lohia, and your story hugely stands on my wedding. I am an nri, and would like to share a few things that hurt me on reading it. First, the title, Bunty Weds Babli In Bali, was inappropriate as it sought to portray the wedding couple in a silly way. Second, let me point out that my parents have always been known for throwing stylish theme weddings. We haven’t been inspired by my cousin’s (L.N. Mittal’s son) wedding in France—let’s be clear. My brother’s wedding in Delhi in 1999 had Shahrukh Khan performing. A year ago, the couple celebrated the birth of their baby by throwing a similar bash in Indonesia. Now, I’m the only daughter of my parents—they wanted to host my wedding on a grand scale. It’s just an expression of happiness, we weren’t showing off. In fact, my father has kept a low profile unlike most nris.
Shruti Lohia, on e-mail
Outlook replies: We covered Ms Lohia’s wedding because we were invited to do so, and even generously provided free air tickets and hotel stay in Bali. Until then, we were unaware of Mr S.P. Lohia’s penchant for throwing stylish theme weddings and parties. Thanks to Ms Lohia’s letter, we are now more fully informed on the subject. Finally, the intention of our title was to convey the story of the wedding of a glamorous young couple in an exotic locale. If it has caused any offence to the bridal couple, that was not our intention. Indeed, Outlook takes this opportunity to wish them much happiness together.
Has the I-T department ever probed the amount of black money involved in such weddings? I wish a part of it went to charity for the compatriots.
G. Natarajan, Hyderabad
Why keep writing on vulgar people? Let’s do stories that concern the common man.
Shailesh Kumar, Bangalore
The socialist viewpoint on fat weddings borders on the point of being tasteless. Should the world perpetually see India as an abjectly poor nation?
Abesh Choudhury, London
Earlier, weddings meant an amalgamation of two families—at times two traditions—now it’s more of a business venture. What’s worse, even the middle class is trying to imitate business tycoons when it comes to marriages—despite knowing that it can upset their budget.
Vineet Bhalla, on e-mail
Prices are soaring, and you’re talking of big, fat weddings!
Ajit Tendulkar, Seattle
Despite their bluster, people like Babu Bajrangi are actually cowards (Cowboy of the Faith, Feb 26). They are just bullies who pick on the weak. I wonder if he can ever enter the portals of an iim, nid or a mica in Gujarat, and enforce his kind of moral policing.
R.K. Dhanvada, Hyderabad
We pay scant attention to "repressive regimes", "poverty", "lack of education", "job opportunities" and the interminable Hindu/Muslim misgivings that create people like Babu Bajrangi in our society. The "root causes" of their anger must be addressed without bias, so that we know what "hurts" their "dignity" and makes them act in a certain way. The only way to avoid making more people like Babu Bajrangi is to deal with them "humanely".
N. Malhotra, Nashville, US
Every religious community has its fundamentalist Osamas, and Babu Bajrangi is one such from the Gujarati Hindu community. It’s the responsibility of the respective communities to keep these stray elements in check, to prevent them from tarnishing the image and hijacking the agenda of the community they claim to be the sole representation of.
Hari Kumar, Coventry, UK
"How different is Babu Bajrangi from the Taliban?"
Ranjana Manchanda, on e-mail
Bush would call this (Three-Pin Bowling, Feb 26) the "axis of the wannabes"—one has-been (Russia), one could-be (China) and one desperately seeking-to-be (India) power. I don’t know what India is thinking, but in any of these arrangements, it will be the juniormost partner. Russia is probably searching for some relevance, China perhaps is keen on being the next superpower or one among two or three superpowers. In which case the US will probably be the better superpower for India than China in a present or future scenario. If for no other reason, it’s tough to live next to a superpower unless you can be like Canada to the US.
Arun Maheshwari, Bangalore
V. Sudarshan appears to be very exuberant about the last meeting of the three foreign ministers of India, China and Russia. When it comes to balancing a potential unipolar system, Russia’s plans are not very different from those of the US. Russia, having missed the sole superpower status for itself, wishes only to restore the erstwhile bipolar system. Around the same time that the meeting took place in Delhi, Mr Putin announced in an EU meeting in Germany that Russia was a European country, and reiterated his stand to be closer to EU. Both Russia and the US do not wish EU, or any other third power centre to develop, and use the Asian and European countries only as their surrogate power centres. While, thankfully, European nations are uniting themselves to end the US hegemony, there appears to be no visible effort in Asia. It is time the Asian countries, in this century of Asia, formed their own power bloc to balance the exploitation by the West, than be merely satisfied with a surrogate status. History tells us that the bipolar system hasn’t worked too. India, in particular, should shed her "non-aligned" glory, and take initiative in creating an Asian union of power and influence, instead of trying to be strategically close to the US, EU and Russia. We must choose our destiny now.
Harsh V. Jain, Coonoor
Apropos your article A Silence So Shrill (Feb 26), most parents don’t hurt or neglect their children intentionally, many themselves are abused or neglected. Circumstances that place families under extraordinary stress—poverty, divorce, sickness, disability, lack of parental skills—sometimes result in child abuse. Understanding these root causes can help us better determine the best methods of prevention and treatment.
Ashish Jha, Pune
And this is the country that celebrates a Children’s Day!
Ray, Chicago
Two major contributors to the current power crisis in Maharashtra are Gopinath Munde (and his political friends) and Madhav Godbole (Fetch the Firewood, Feb 26). The first, for political reasons, opposed the Enron/Dabhol project, and forever killed interest in any new project. Godbole, as chairman of the committee to review the ‘revived’ Enron project, arrived at the surprising conclusion in 2000 that the state did not need "so much of power". Heeding this advice, the current dispensation has shown no inclination to initiate any further project.
Nitin Thatte, Mumbai
Subir Raha should be brought back as the cmd of ongc. He made the company profitable despite all odds. Such is the power of underhand persuasion that the Indian government handed over ongc’s discovered fields to Reliance. Reliance has no explorations to its credit, it just preys on profitable public assets thanks to a little help from politicians. Since Raha would have posed problems for any future takeover by Reliance, he was eased out and replaced by an ineffectual R.K. Sharma (Wanted, A Slicker Skipper, Feb 26). But Sharma is just an officer of the revenue service, people like him have ruined ongc in the past. He couldn’t stand up to the whims of the different ministers either, hence his fate. What ongc needs is a qualified professional, not a manager from the public sector who has neither the qualifications nor the experience of running an oil company.
Dipak Bose, Calcutta
I read with interest your article Grape Expectations (Feb 26). While it’s great to see backpacking take off in India as well, I must say that Rs 2,500 is quite a fat chunk of money for a two-day trip, even if it involves free wine. Out here in Southeast Asia, we can easily do a similar excursion for at least half the price.
Akshay, Hyderabad
Can’t Forget the Party. How can you, Mr Mehta. You are on its rolls. Sonia’s letter opposing fdi was dumb and Vinod Mehta’s defence of it in Delhi Diary (Feb 26) even dumber. What is wrong with a Wal-Mart if you can allow a Reliance in retail? Was Sonia’s missive aimed at protecting the interests of the poor or Reliance’s?
Srinivas, Lucknow
Nigeria grows hardly any exportable coffee. Ethiopia does. Starbucks does face some protests from folks who believe it is not doing enough in Ethiopia. Not true. It is doing a lot more for access to water and education for Ethiopian farmers than the Ethiopian government. Jholawalas have only one thing in the right place—their heart. One wishes their minds, too, were in the right place. Don’t get swayed by their claims about Nigerian coffee.
Salil Tripathi, London, UK
If Sonia is truly worried about the small kirana shops, she should have opposed the entry of Indian businesses as well into retailing. Indian companies like Reliance and the Birlas have bigger plans than foreign companies. It’s very clear that Sonia and Congress are on the take with one set of business houses which wants to scuttle the entry of a second set of businesses. So much for Sonia’s crocodile tears, is Vinod Mehta too on the take with the Congress?
Sridhar, Bangalore
Thank you for putting fdi in perspective. The rush to "open up" the economy without thinking of the majority of the population is World Bankish in concept and an invitation to a Narendra Modi-run government next time around.
K. Pasara, Mumbai
When will Mr Mehta get this? Sonia Gandhi is no saint, she only climbs the moral high ground every now and then to exercise power without accountability.
S.D. Kulkarni, on e-mail
So Editor eats imported biscuits (Vladimir Dogsky). And yet Vinod Mehta can say three cheers for the populists protecting those who can’t shop at Khan Market.
Sudhir Kumar Bisht, Delhi
Can’t Vinod Mehta see beyond his dog or Sonia Gandhi?
Rajeev, Delhi
Sheela Reddy’s insight into the President Abdul Kalam-Khushwant Singh rendezvous (Fan Meets the Bulb, Feb 26) was a treat. I loved the conversational tone of the writing, which made us a part of their parley.
Bakhshinder, Chandigarh
The President of India meeting Khushwant Singh. The idea itself is intriguing and more so when the head of state oversteps official protocol to do so. The conversation that follows is interesting too. Seems like the ‘bulb’ initially refused to light up, befuddled as it was about the President wanting to meet him. He wonders if there’s a short circuit somewhere. When that doesn’t seem to be the case, he braces himself to receive India’s First Citizen. Initial conversation is stilted. Then suddenly Khushwant Singh comes into his own, and we know: great minds think alike.
H.R. Satyanarayana, Mysore
The bulb emerges an arrogant, egoistic personality while the fan comes across as simple and forthright.
Bharat Pandya, Pune
The fact that the First Citizen of our country, President Abdul Kalam, thought it fit to call on Khushwant Singh at his residence, discuss with him affairs literary and otherwise, shows his humility.
S. Ashwath, Chennai
I was as surprised as Khushwant Singh to know the President would want to meet him.
Mayukh Shekhar, New Delhi
Wonder why Khushwant Singh did not offer a glass of water or some tea or coffee to the President? Is such hospitality for the elite out of protocol, or was the Sardar merely being an impolite host that he often advertises himself to be?
Dr I. Ansari, Bharuch
I think Khushwant Singh misquotes the Ghalib couplet. It should go like this: Humko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin, dil kay bahlaney ko Ghalib yah khayal achcha hai.
Dr S.K. Vohra, New Delhi
I am a great admirer of Khushwant Singh and congratulate him on winning the Padma Vibhushan. May he live to be 100 and continue to wield his gifted pen.
G. Venkatesh, Dukhan, Qatar
President Kalam’s greatness is without doubt, but is there a man greater than Khushwant Singh? I mean, who can beat for sheer literary genius Khushwant Singh’s Joke Books? They contain perhaps the best of our worst jokes. Or his undying spirit. He has inspired three whole generations of Indians to drink more duty-free Scotch and chase more women. How many great men can say as much?
Parbat Laldeng, Denver, US
It is gestures like these that make Abdul Kalam so great. He has the humility to actually call on someone he admires, that too after taking an appointment. It only goes to show how great men never let any of the greatness go to their heads.
G. Natrajan, Hyderabad
Singh said it. "Why should the President waste his time on a pen-pusher like me?"
K. Mohamed, Tumkur
There is a small error in Ashok Jaitly’s otherwise excellent Lahore Diary (Feb 19). Rafi Peer was never the director general of All India Radio. He was friendly with Ahmed Shah Bukhari who was the DG right till 1946 (when Sardar Patel replaced him with Prashant Chandra Chowdhury, ics) and the other Lahori bosses like Rashid-ud-din. I was in the Delhi station of air in 1943-44 and used to meet Rafi Peer often and enjoy stories of his exploits in Europe. I cannot recall his designation but remember that his plays were frequently broadcast.
N. Khosla, Panchkula
