Arena
E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 07:45:54 +0530
From: "M S Gore" <msgore@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in>
Subject: Visit to what I call the India site
I liked the feature. I am old enough to have lived during the
times that Nehru and CR faced each other across the political
table. I did not see the importance of what CR was attempting
to do then. I would like to visit this India site more often.
Thanks
Date sent: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 12:12:01 -0800
From: Manisha and Anay Panvalkar <anay@home.net>
Subject: Excellent article!
The news story on ISRO was absolutely excellent. I cannot say that
enough. Please do continue to keep us informed of
successes like these. Although far and few between, they
serve to illustrate what is possible.
Thank you.
Anay
Date sent: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 05:07:50 -0600
From: "M.C. George" <mgeorge@uwf.edu>
Subject: English as the linguafranca of India
Congratulations Mr Diwanji. Languages become popular not because of
quality and
content of its literature, but because of the political power and
the economic
opportunity it provides. If Hitler had won World War II many
nations would have
encouraged the teaching of German.
It is true that English is not the
easiest or
richest language in the world, but it meets the conditions stated
above. Any effort to displace English from its present role will be
comparable to the move that late
Purushotham Das Tandon wanted to do with the railways in India by
replacing it with
bullock carts!
M C George
Date sent: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 19:31:29 -0800
From: <jfern@usinter.net>
Subject: Che Guevara
Dilip D'Souza has no moral sense. It amazes me that anyone can celebrate
a man whose greatest achievement was to strike heroic poses and spout
revolutionary rhetoric. Che's guerilla wars were all failures and his
violent tactics foreclosed the possibility of achieving a peaceful change
in Latin America.
Dilip praises Che's convictions. The history of this
century shows the danger and idiocy of uncompromising ideologues.
Hitler, Stalin and Mao were all leaders whose passionate convictions
caused the death and suffering of millions of people. In the end all of
Dilip's eloquence cannot hide the plain truth -- Che was nothing more than
a murderous thug.
Joachim Fernandes
Date: Monday, October 27, 1997 11:27 PM
From: Krishnan Ramachandran <ramachk@nationwide.com62
Subject: Top 10!
I really liked this article. This is especially good for people living
abroad, who can get an idea about an album before buying it. It would
be nice if this is made as a regular feature and also add the rating for
movies.
Good Job!!
Date sent: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 18:10:01 -0600
From: Deepak Narsipur <dnarsipu@zianet.com>
Subject: Computers can kill!
While it is indeed tragic to hear of the death of an officer in the
Andhra Pradesh government, to attribute it to overwork due to computers
seems astonishing, to say the least.
The computers were, after all, being used to streamline and lessen the
burden of chores resting upon the shoulders of the government employees.
They were not asked to do programming or design work. So, either the
systems (s/w and h/w) they are using are terrible, or they are not being
trained properly (as the article suggests).
Living in the USA, where computerisation is ever-present from the
gas-station and grocery store to airports and offices, it seems to me
that Mr Naidu's efforts to bring AP to the forefront as regards
technology is laudable. The officers and staff should realise that in
the long term, their interests will be served and quit any resistance to
his efforts.
Padmaja Narsipur
Date sent: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 13:06:19 -0500
From: S Roy Chowdhury <srcgreen@wichita.infi.net>
Subject: R Venkatraman and the Constitution
Constitutions in and of themselves have little to do with the problem.
It is the people who interpret the Constitution who can make it work or
can make it ineffective. A fine example of a person who made the
Constitution work is our current President, K R Narayanan.
S Roy Chowdhury
Date sent: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 09:31:01 +1000
From: Ravi Shanker <ravi@magna.com.au>
Subject: President's rejection of advice to dismiss UP government
Excellent report and excellent performance by the President. Wish more
strength to the President's hands. Hope the whole of India rises in protest
against such behaviour of the Congress,
the UF and other anti-BJP parties.
Does this report get wide coverage
in India and abroad?
SGV Mani
Date sent: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 03:27:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: <RaviAron@aol.com>
Subject: War by other means
Mr Srinivasan's column (once again) was an enjoyable morsel on the web. Not
quite the literary coup that it usually is, it nevertheless was a neat
"heres-the-state-of-the-discord and some prehistory to go" piece for
latecomers on the scene.
I do have a quibble though. Any talk of Microsoft's
dominance or Windows 95 riding on the slipstream of DOS, is incomplete
without a mention of Network Externalities. While philosophers and politicians were
in a battle to interpret or change the world, economists won the match and
collected the trophy 20 or so years before Win 95. A pinch of math and
sprinkling of demand side benefits nicely explained what happens to the
looser in the presence of Network Externalities.
Ravi Aron
NJ
Date sent: Mon, 20 Oct 1997 16:03:22 -0700
From: Rajesh Juluri <juluri@lsil.com>
Subject: Education in India
This is a extremely one-sided view of the issue of education. An
unbiased article would look at the percentage of the population mass
that is educated or otherwise. It also needs to be borne in mind that
mere numbers do not signify a country's dominance in a field. The
quality that these 'numbers' depict is what should be concerned.
We should start by asking ourselves, how many of the educated masses are
able to think independently and not be yes-[wo]men. For a nation to
grow higher than other nations it needs persons with independent
thought and faith/courage to act on their decisions.
What India presently lacks is the inner strength and/or desire to be
a leader. Until this is achieved all numbers are just more writings
on the wall.
What made India great in the past is such people and not a herd of
cattle following the path decided by the herdsman (if he knows where
he is going!!).
Let's work for India's acceptance as an equal among world leaders.
Thank you.
Rajesh
Date: Tuesday, October 14, 1997 5:42 PM
From: Chaitanya Kuber <C.Kuber@student.anu.edu.au>
Subject: My father Kishore Kumar
This article is brilliant, and a real tribute to Kishore Kumar's talent.
I hope other Indians realise the talent of Kishore Kumar,
especially the one's who live overseas.
I'm only 16 and totally into
Kishore Kumar's songs. My favourite is Zindagi ka safar; even though it is
a sad song, I still love it.
Keep up the good work.
Kaivalya
Date sent: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 14:48:58 +0000
From: <lazarutx@aramco.com.sa (Thomas Lazarus %166.87.57.89%)>
Subject: Veerappan
Very good article. Walter and I were class mates at the Madras Christian
College, Tambaram and I know him personally. If he says he can do it,
he means what he says knowing all the risks involved. I only hope that
the government will have the good sense to entrust this challenge to
him.
Thomas Lazarus
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 20:42:30 -0700
From: MOHIT <msaran@erols.com>
Subject: Comment about MP page
It's a great site!! Probably when describing MP, you should also mention
about what Khajuraho has to offer with its history, beauty and its five
star hotels!!
Mohit
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 15:28:14 +0500
From: Guru D Chopra <gchopra@jp1.vsnl.net.in>
Subject: Interview with Meghnad Desai
Let us have more such interviews with eminent Indians abroad, in various
fields. It would be an excellent PR project to make their views reach at
least the middle-classes --- somewhere lower down than the elite drawing
rooms.
Date sent: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 21:04:48 -0400
From: Venkat Mylavarupu <bujjy@bellatlantic.net>
Subject: Curtain Call by Varsha Bhosle
After I read your article,
I began to wonder whether the masses in India are actually being
represented in a true democratic way. The forming of the government by
the 13 party coalition is one such example. How many people in India
actually wanted this to happen?
It is a clear fact that BJP was the
single largest party and I would assume that in such a situation, the
majority should be satisfied rather than a coalition of minorities. What
is wrong here? Is it the parliamentary system of democracy where numbers
seem to be more important than the wishes of the people. No wonder that
people are disillusioned with politics. The leaders that they vote for
don't come to power and someone like Deve Gowda and I K Gujral who
are certainly not the people's choice lead the country!
It is certainly
not fair to the Indian voter who has consistently and patiently
exercised his democratic rights even in a violent and dangerous polling
environment. But I also in turn put the responsibility on the press,
and intelligentsia for not debating with required gusto and sense of
urgency.
Why are the people quiet? Does the democratic duty of a person
end after s/he casts his vote. I would have expected a mass
movement after the BJP was not allowed to continue in governance. Do
we need a change in our political system? If yes, then why is there not a
debate on this? Why is the press so obsessed with personalities and
stories rather than the underlying problems in the social and political
scene?
A very concerned and pained Indian. (But I still believe in democracy).
Venkat
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