Numero Uno
_____________

Big City Blues
The way Rajeev Shukla has suggested a permit system for regulating entry and stay into the metros shows the shrewdness of men who split the very ladder they climb on after it outlives its utility (‘Metro Policies’, Front Foot, September 17). Have others of the author’s ilk not migrated to Delhi from a small town in search of greener pastures? Having availed of the opportunities provided by the metro to the fullest, they now have the cheek to suggest a bar on the entry of others. Moreover, if a smooth car ride for Mr Shukla can be a ground for curtailing the fundamental freedom of citizens to move about and settle down freely anywhere in the country, I’m afraid Indira Gandhi had far greater reasons to justify the suspension of fundamental rights during the Emergency. — Mehmood M. Abdi, Mumbai

Metropolitan Blunder
RAJEEV SHUKLA gives only one side of the coin (‘Metro Policies’, Front Foot, September 17). It is quite understandable that being a resident of Delhi, he has looked at the matter as a problem only for the metros, and has no first-hand experience of life as it is lived elsewhere in the country.

However, he has not analysed the root of the problem. After Independence, the government laid focus on the development of urban centres alone. Consequently, disparities between urban and rural areas have grown, and rural areas, especially in the states of Rajasthan, UP and Haryana, still don’t have access to electricity, education or health care facilities. Obviously, people from the villages are leaving their homes, their land and their families in the hope of better lives in cities.

Issuing permits to migrants will not solve the issue. On the contrary, it will lead to another avenue for corruption, since the officials in charge of issuing permits may be tempted to take bribes. It’s hard to imagine what criteria Shukla has in mind to check the migration problem. He should analyse the issue in depth before offering such bizarre solutions.
— Samrat Sengupta, New Delhi

Waste Bengal
WHETHER September is the last month for West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu or not, one thing is crystal clear (‘Communist, Manifest’, September 17). During the past 24 years of his chief ministership, Basu has turned West Bengal into a ‘Waste’ Bengal. Till date, hundreds of households in his constituency don’t have electricity — ‘Jyoti’ doesn’t seem to have lit up the lives of many.
— A. B. Purushotham, Chennai

BILL GATES is the Big B in the world of computers, Amitabh Bachchan in Bollywood and Jyoti Basu is the Big B of West Bengal. The quiz in political circles in West Bengal is Kaun Banega Mukhyamantri? West Bengal Assembly elections are to be held in April next year. This is good news for Mamata Banerjee but not for the CPI (M), which has had an unbroken run of 23 years in power. But 23 years of rule is not a healthy sign of democracy, because stagnant water gets polluted. Especially when all over the world, politicians are getting younger — Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin are three examples.
— Nikhil Sharma, Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh)

‘COMMUNIST, Manifest’ sou-nded like an obituary of communism in West Bengal. The inevitable had to happen, sooner or later. Leftists in India have been flogging a dead horse in the vain hope of winning a race which they have already lost. They cannot continue to fool the masses with an outdated ‘imported’ ideology, which has been universally rejected. In India, in any case, it never had a chance of succeeding, because it doesn’t conform to ancient Indian culture or ethos. As a matter of fact, Marxism will be soon consigned to the dustbin of history.
— A. K. Sharma, Chandigarh

WITH the exit of Jyoti Basu, communism in West Bengal will slip away into oblivion. It was because of the presence of this icon that communism stayed on in the state for so long. Now, it remains to be seen how Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, his successor, can retain the status quo, especially when Basu’s bete noire Mamata Banerjee’s klaxonic voice is now more appealing to the masses.
— Sajit Nambudiripad, Malappuram

Sport A Thought
KHAZAN Singh’s sports career is yet more proof that there is no dearth of talent in India (‘Aiming High, Looking Low’, September 10). Milkha Singh, P. T. Usha and Karnam Malleswari are some of the other examples of people who would have brought even more laurels to the country had they been given the best training at the beginning of their careers.

India can also produce medal winners at international sporting events if it starts a sincere talent-spotting programme, grooms the talented and offers them no-holds-barred training, without regional biases and regional preferences.
— Aasif Iqbal Khan, Rourkela

Prince Amid Paupers
n LETHA JOSE’S article, ‘King’s Mansion’ (Homing In, September 17) serves no purpose except satiating the king-sized appetites of snob sahibs. While millions live in slums without access to any basic amenities, here is an article about a man’s ‘taste’ for regal living. And the biggest irony? He is an MP, a so-called servant of the people.
— V. S. Thomas, Madurai

Canonising Mother
NAVIN CHAWLA’S ‘Mother Care’ (September 10) reminds me of the callous attitude of our bureaucracy towards women and mentally disabled girls, hurled into pigeon-hole prison cells. Some prisons are even turned into prostitute dens for politicians and officers. Compare this with the home for destitute and mentally disabled girls started near Calcutta by Mother Teresa, managed only by four sisters. Long live the memory of a humanitarian like her.
— S. S. Raichur, Pune

WHAT mentally disabled men and women need most is empathy, compassion and understanding, and Naveen Chawla’s experience bears testimony to that. Only women like Mother Teresa, who have faith in their guiding spirit, can amply show this.
— Anand Bhagwat, Pune

Small Screen, Big Presence
IT IS amusing that some film actors are vying with each other to anchor and appear on TV channels (‘Kaun Banega TV Star?’, September 17). Perhaps they believe that television appearances are an easy way to increase their popularity. If the sudden attraction towards TV is because of Kaun Banega Crorepati and its charismatic anchor Amitabh Bachchan, film stars should remember that being the Big B is not that easy. After all, contestants have been reported to prolong their ‘show’ next to Bachchan — sometimes, just to be close to the idol, and not to become a crorepati.
— P. M. Gopalan, Chennai

An Abject Lesson
IT IS correct to call India a failed state, at least in the context of the exodus of Indian students to foreign countries for higher education and service, but what is worse it that there appears little hope of an early redemption (‘Touching Foreign Soil’, Top of the Line, September 17).

It is really unfortunate that even after 53 years of Independence, anything Indian is looked down upon. A degree from an obscure foreign university is considered better than a stint at one of India’s universities.
— V. Sagar, Delhi

Back | Next