Politics has degenerated to such a level that even the poll to our highest constitutional post looks, sounds and smells like a rat race (Ashoka Hall of Mirrors, Jul 2). Presidents used to command an institutional awe and honour, but now the initiation rites have all the elegance of a municipality poll. Only, the aspirants are more ambitious.
Anusha Singh Saharan, New Delhi
Now that her ascendancy to Raisina Hill is imminent, let’s hope Pratibha Patil would have a big bearing on women’s empowerment. I think she could impart a new meaning to emancipation of the fairer sex. And to the sceptics, I say: never underestimate the power of symbolism.
Salil Gewali, Shillong
Pratibha’s choice carefully factors in all the elements—only, they’re all irrelevant: gender, region, caste, loyalty to a particular family etc. Her experience in public affairs seems to be a mere incidental bonus. In fact, add the whiffs of moral and financial impropriety, and she has an unbeatable combination.
M.H. Rao, Hyderabad
Light years away from being a nuclear scientist, the new occupant at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be one who speaks to ghosts. Vande mataram.
Sulochana Anand, on e-mail
First, the unsavoury interpretation of history. Then her recount of a godman’s prophecy. I only hope Pratibha would be wiser in her comments—both general and personal—once she assumes office.
G.S. Rao, Kolhapur
Clearly, Pratibha not only has skeletons in her cupboard, she has also spirits in her closet.
B.V. Shenoy, Bangalore
Science-tempered or superstitious, man or woman, it’d have been good if our president were physically fitter. Like we see in the US most of the time.
Rashmi Kant Kanji, Lisbon
Why accuse Pratibha alone? Even her rival candidate, B.S. Shekhawat, is no match for Abdul Kalam. Kalam would be remembered as an affable president, and yet he acted tough—more often than not—when the situation so warranted.
Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore
There’s no point listing the demerits of the presidential aspirants and lamenting Kalam’s impending exit. Instead, blame the bjp and co. For it’s the reluctance of the nda—the very alliance that had proposed his name in 2002—to give Kalam a second chance that brought about this situation.
Sarajeet Kanungo, Calcutta
I was shocked when I read, "For Kalam, ‘certainty’ is possible only if some from the upa switch sides, or if big money comes in". It sounded as if he would even promote horse-trading to ensure a second term. This is just mischievous.
H. Rajagopal, Mysore
We already have a puppet prime minister. And now, a rubber-stamp president!
N. Radhakrishnan, on e-mail
Pratibha as president would, most likely, spare Afzal Guru the noose. That’d be one good act—even if it may be merely at the behest of the Congress.
Adnan Nawaz, Seattle
Whatever was the result of your nationwide poll among women, it only amounted to dolling up the gender factor. The questionnaire carried no uncomfortable question.
Radesh Rangarajan, Chennai
A nationwide poll based on a sample of just 1,238 women! You have taken selective, partisan journalism to new heights.
Amar Alam, Delhi
If you want to muster support for Pratibha, come out openly. Don’t rely on sham surveys.
Akash Dutta, Hyderabad
It’s not just a puppet PM that Sonia Gandhi has, she even has a puppet magazine.
Utkarsh Singh, Lucknow
I suspect if Sonia is as powerful as you may want us to believe (Draw Your Lines). After all, she was forced to ignore her presidential candidate, and yield to the Left’s diktat.
Vinod, Bangalore
More than the gender issue, it’s enmity between the two big Left parties that checked Communist leader K.R. Gowri from becoming Kerala’s first woman CM. In fact, the cpi(m) leader was forced to stay away from her husband T.V. Thomas, a cpi minister. So much for the liberalism of our commies.
B.V.S., on e-mail
It isn’t lcm, hcf or sms that’s to decide presidential victory (Mirror Image). It’s gcf—or greatest sycophancy factor.
Prabhu Ram, on e-mail
Of course, Vinod Mehta did yearn in his March 3 diary for a woman president, and said, "...I can think of half-a-dozen names who would add lustre, grace and feminine wisdom to Rashtrapati Bhavan". But then, had he ever thought of a certain Pratibha Patil then?
J. Khandwalla, Surat
RAW seems to have joined the long list of whipping boys for Outlook after the bjp and the armed forces (Inside, Raw, Jun 25). Isn’t this how one wins psychological wars with the enemies?
Rajeev, Delhi
Ex-officer V.K. Singh’s revelations about raw are shocking (‘We shouldn’t have given the secret Kargil tapes to Pakistan’). Intelligence agencies have to be made accountable. At least their financial irregularities can be examined by the cag.
K.P. Andavan, on e-mail
The gathering and distribution of intelligence in the right way is an integral part of national security. Lack of accountability and an infirm leadership can lead to disastrous consequences and compromise national interest. V.K. Singh has done well to emphasise the need to manage intelligence agencies and their activities now rather than wait for another dumb fiasco to hit us.
Vaun Loomba, Kearny, US
Will Outlook ever give up? The nda has been long out of power. Yet, as soon as an opportunity presents itself, Outlook grabs it to malign its governance. Did raw never bungle during Congress rule? What about the Chinese invasion of India, the start of insurgency in Punjab and the promotion of Bhindranwale? The ‘Janata’ days too saw the release of the then home minister’s daughter in exchange for terrorists and the start of insurgency in Kashmir, and last but not the least, the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Why chronicle only the events of 1999-2004, the time when nda was in power?
G. Rao, on e-mail
The nda gave the secret Kargil tapes to Nawaz Sharif as a last resort. It was a desperate stratagem by India to alert the fragile democratic regime of a rogue neighbour about another imminent coup. Now it’s being projected as something we shouldn’t have done. Only because the bjp did it.
Narayan, Zurich
How come there is a plethora of organisations in the US crying hoarse against marital abuse on women but no law to protect men, or organisations to help men in distress (An Alien in Your Home, Jun 25)? A lot of women come to the US expecting a lavish lifestyle, with no work to do and dreams of travelling to exotic places. Back in India, middle-class women are used to having servants doing all the cleaning, washing, cooking. When they come to the US, they can’t come to terms with the harsh realities of life, where everyone has to work and no help is available. They don’t realise the pressure their husbands have to go through to make a living in an alien country and start throwing tantrums. All this ends in accusations of abuse and violence—real, exaggerated or imagined. Unfortunately, in almost every country, such women are automatically seen as victims, regardless of whether they were the ones inflicting mental torture on the men. Helping them in their cause are opportunistic feminazi organisations which are funded by public money and backed by institutions no less than the UN. Misguiding these already confused women to presume that they are victims of abuse, they teach them the loopholes of the system which can be used to advantage. Thus, laws enacted to help genuine victims of marital abuse become tools to extract easy divorce and easy money by way of alimony. Even the media, which is supposed to be objective, rational and unbiased, has no sympathy for abused men. Look at Outlook, its article doesn’t even mention abuse of men by women.
Manoj Rawat, on e-mail
Whether it’s the media, liberals or conservatives, everyone sides with the women on the issue of marital abuse. It’s a politician’s silver bullet—more than caste, gender issues are raised routinely before elections and more draconian female-favouring laws are enacted. The only way someone marries a chain-smoking, liquor-guzzling and boyfriend-changing girl is when she cleans up for the "arranged showing" the morning after into a pallu-draped bharatiya nari and then takes the guy to the cleaner’s the day after marriage—with nari-saving organisations in tow.
S.N. Dani, San Francisco
It’s not just violence but even indifference on the part of the husband or his family that can make a woman feel an alien in her home.
Sushma Jalan, Calcutta
Why blame different castes for having their own maths (Mandal for the Soul, Jun 25)? Even in the US, there are at least a thousand churches, one for this saint, this parrot, that cow and so on. Based on no particular ideology, most are notorious for child abuse. Even the churches for blacks are divided on the basis of country of origin.
Hemanand, London
This is Sanskritisation and it’s great news for Hindutva. Now these groups need to get together and Karnataka may yet have a Hindu empire as great as that of Vijayanagara.
Tarun Ghosh, on e-mail
Your cover story for the Jun 25 issue—Friends are the New Family—and the article One Kid, Doubly Pleased in the following issue are related (pun unintended). If you have only one child and if you yourself were also a single child, then your kids have no siblings, aunts, uncles or cousins. What choice do you have then but to have friends as surrogate relatives? However, it remains to be seen how strong such ties are. Perhaps the adage "blood is thicker than water" will undergo a dilution yet.
T.R. Ramaswami, Mumbai
An only child does not have to be the only option. It works fine at the individual level perhaps but not so for the society as a whole. Dependable bloodline relationships is what makes Indian society so unique all over the globe, sacrificing these can only spell disintegration for us. We already have brain drain, with ‘only children’ our intellectual and traditional lineage will dwindle only further. Besides, it’s only the urban upper and middle classes which are opting for this norm, the uneducated lower social strata, for whom the Congress basically generated the ‘Hum do, hamare do’ slogan, is still a long way away from doing anything like this.
Nirad P. Pandya, Vadodara
With both parents working and earning enormous pay packets, children in urban families can demand even the moon, and get it! Unless guardians bring up children responsibly, teaching them what is good and bad, we could well be producing a generation of superbrats.
S. Lakshmi, on e-mail
Perhaps I’m from an older school of thought. But I can’t imagine my growing-up years without my sister being a crucial part of them. All the undivided parental attention and money cannot compensate for the relationship you have with a sibling. They can be the best combination of a relative and a friend. Siblings are special and I pity the children who don’t have one.
Kiran Bagachi, Mumbai
It might be worthwhile to recall this UN slogan: An Only Kid is a Lonely Kid.
Ashwini Shetty, Bangalore
Only God knows whether the petroleum ministry is siding with the elder Ambani, but the fact remains that the government sector is short on efficiency and the private sector is overwhelmingly greedy (Viscous Ties, Jun 25). Monopoly in basic infrastructural services leads to unfair practices but at the same time too much competition in capital-intensive projects leads to unviable, half-finished projects. We need a middle way if we have to get things moving.
Sudhir Kumar Bisht, Delhi
The IIFA awards function at Yorkshire (So Why Put On An Act?, July 2) is nothing but an empty spectacle. Instead of wasting time, money and resources on such a useless gathering to gain publicity, the industry could have made films that would help actors, directors and animators gain credibility. Despite being the world’s biggest producer of films, only a handful meet international standards.
S.S. Dhull, Delhi
Thanks for Shilpa Shetty’s lovely picture that accompanied the article. Why, even after an important, relevant, film like Phir Milenge, is she disparaged by Indian critics? Is she too beautiful to be taken seriously?
Carlton West, Conyers, US
I couldn’t agree more with Jaishree Misra’s opinion on Bollywood scripts (Talk Naturally!). Bollywood seems to be caught between two demanding roles—a good script in/around/on India that has a global appeal or a script that builds on the masala genre (seen as a dependable option for audiences in India).
Punit Modhgil, London
Hype, hoopla and rubbish! That about sums up Indian cinema, especially Bollywood, ruled and run by the useless Bachchans, Khans and Kapoors! Even Iran makes better movies than we do. Some 800 movies a year, and hardly a handful worth mentioning. Such a shame and disgrace!
Madhan, Bangalore
If Bollywood is all about Indian movies, how come all its locations are foreign? Why, even their awards ceremonies are held not in India but abroad, whether South Africa or York. Just goes to show that everything in Bollywood is about money and marketing, quality be damned.
Pranav Sarkar, Delhi
I wish I could write like you, Mr Mehta! What I feel, you put down in words (Delhi Diary, Jul 2). I am a fan of yours, have followed your writing since the Sunday Observer days, and think after Behram Contractor, you write the most lucid prose.
Lakhu Khushalani, Mumbai
That was a touching tale, Mr Mehta. Hopefully, Outlook will pay more attention to crores of Indians who battle on despite the odds against them.
Vivek Pradhan, Bangalore
The tragic tale of your friend touched my heart. The heartening thing is there are still people who care for other, less privileged ones.
Goutam Das, Katni, MP
Having read about this Capital Canine for a long time, may we know what he looks like? A picture would be nice.
Rauf Ali, Pondicherry
Your diaries are as interesting and educative, and at times as controversial, as that of the famous Sikh of ‘malice’ fame. Keep up Editor (and this to your owner too).
V.N. Gautam, Delhi
Our cover story on stem cell therapy (Miracle Cure, Jul 9), mistakenly gave the average cost of cornea transplant with limbal stem cells as Rs 1.5 lakh. It’s actually between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000.
Your obsession with the crimes and misdemeanours of Amitabh Bachchan makes for fascinating reading (Big B’s Plan B, Jun 25). Few people have achieved the kind of success the Big B has had in their chosen profession, and he goes about it with grace and dignity. On the other hand, you, a failed film critic by your own admission, a failed author, a failed editor, have become what you have only in the last 10 years. So sit back, Mr Mehta, a glass of premium Scotch in hand, and reflect that it’s more about arriviste you than about Amitabh Bachchan. And pray what is AB’s fault? That he has fudged a few records to better invest his money? Others have done worse. Why, even our neat and clean prime minister is allegedly a permanent resident of Assam!
G. Pradeep, Pondicherry
