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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 23:50:41 -0400 This seems to me as the method in madness. Good work Pritish. Sachin
Date sent: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 17:13:55 PDT Pritish Nandy's interview represents a classic case of playing with words to justify one's action. It also shows a classic case of "How to get somebody to accept one's point of view or How to silence a critic?" Let me imagine a scenario. Imagine Varsha Bhosle getting a Rajya Sabha ticket from the Samajwadi Party/Congress/Muslim League or Dilip D'Souza getting a Rajya Sabha ticket from Shiv Sena/BJP. In such an eventuality, I guess you will just have to interchange their name on their articles in your archives!!! Pritish Nandy, a non-Maharashtrian, selected by the party that rose to champion the cause of the Marathi manus and Mumbaikars to represent the "interests" of Maharashtra and Mumbai, come on Pritish do you think readers are so naive to accept this explanation?
Date sent: Fri, 12 Jun 1998 12:17:49 +0800 This is an in-depth report on the deep frustrations faced by the Punjabis. More such reports will be greatly appreciated. Thanks a million.
Date sent: Mon, 25 May 1998 12:46:03 +0530 I have been a regular reader of Rediff on the NeT for the past several months. I like Pritish Nandy's column "Wrong Harshad Mehta!" very much. I admire Dhirubhai Ambani and Harshad Mehta. I also read the original article by Harshad Mehta on the performance of Reliance. However, I disagree with his last statement on software companies and wholly agree with Pritish Nandy's column. We have a large talent-pool in our country. We should encourage to create knowledge shop-floors to move away from manufacturing. However, as a country with a lot of uneducated population, we cannot ignore manufacturing in the short run. The financial institutions and the government should create venture capital funds to invest in high-tech start-ups where the assets are not tangible. Subra
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 09:37:11 -0400 The article is excellent. Quite informative. Cannot believe the government has ignored this idea so far.
Date sent: Thu, 21 May 1998 14:35:20 -0700 (PDT) I'm sick and tired of these criminals, yes criminals, who keep disrupting any and every step we make towards making India, and in this case Kerala, a modern state. The situation is such that people take load-shedding and even unofficial power cuts as a fact of life while the elected representatives play ego games to prove to themselves that are doing something of worth! We have to understand that any such power project is going to affect people's lives both positively and negatively. On the positive side of course the economy will grow with more industries being set up and more productive hours available due to the end of power cuts. On the negative side will be the ecological/environmental damage that will be done. But we cannot use this as an excuse to stop all kinds of progressive activities. The public sadly is reconciled to its fate and doesn't take any interest in these debates. The media is now a powerful weapon, at least to spark a debate and bring the attention of the opposition to these matters. I feel the media should take charge of such matters to bring opinions to the public instead of bland reporting. It should dissect the problem, offer possible solutions and gun down attempts made by illiterate goons-in-power to play political games at their whim and fancy. But, from the Mariam Rasheeda tragedy, it seems even the press is least bothered about doing something responsible. God help our country! Das
Date sent: Wed, 20 May 1998 22:48:34 -0700 I'm a newcomer to this column, but not to Ms Das. I hold her writings in great esteem. I would, however, like to point out that the techniques used to enhance beauty naturally, even in India, are not confined to Nair women. As this column is read by people who may not know or perceive as much, I would suggest a note or an introduction to place it in the right perspective.
Lakshmi Seshadri
Date sent: Sat, 16 May 1998 20:49:39 +0530 I think this an excellent site. Rahul Sharma is the answer to the younger generation for the popularity of Indian classical music in India. We look forward to hearing more from the father-son combination.
Mayuri
Date sent: Tue, 19 May 1998 11:13:08 +1200 I was pleased to read this column, which was beautifully written. I am studying development issues, and was searching the web for information about slum housing in Indonesia when I found it. I found it rather sad, but also hopeful somehow. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read it. Cath
Date sent: Thu, 28 May 1998 07:49:41 -0700 As a person involved deeply in the computer industry, all I can say that sales is only 10% of the challenge, the other 90% is service. Compaq makes computers that are hard to improve on or repair at low cost, some of the spares when available are sold at exorbitant prices. Initially, the customer may go for the low marked prices and eventually will find out that he cannot upgrade the machine as new technologies arrive in the market. Some of the most proprietary parts are put in these machines which makes it less attractive to people who like to upgrade their machines instead of throwing them in the garage. Most of the big companies sell to the federal and state governments and make most of their money from those sales. Watch that man before he hoodwinks you.
Date sent: Wed, 20 May 1998 20:16:57 EDT Vinod Dham is a great engineer, the brains behind the Pentium, understands the details of it. Can manage a complicated project. He loves detail (no wonder the comment devils in the detail), but seems he missed the big picture. He is not a strategic thinker. He questioned getting stuck with a number like $ 5 billion: If you can't quantify it and can't put a time frame to it the business plan is useless. TARGETS must be clearly defined and performance continuously measured to achieve anything major, (guess not if you have Intel's budget). India does need goals like those set by MAIT. I agree with the fact that if you pay less you get less. India's approach should be to attract individuals who have spent about 8 to 10 years abroad and provide them status authority and power to attract them. These are folks who have hit the western glass ceiling or are struggling against it. Find the ones who have the brains, the experience and a reason to quit and compromise on money.
Date sent: Sat, 13 Jun 1998 09:29:13 +1000 I agree with MAIT -- that India can position itself as a major hardware design destination for the world. Indians have the skill and it is up to the industry to capitalise on this. There have been success stories earlier in the areas of design, subsequently followed with a marketing failure. The world's thinnest lap top designed by a Bangalore company is a case in point. Wipro to a certain extent has made a success out of this concept. Godrej at one point in time had the expertise to make it happen but did not pursue it. The caution is how our companies would work out the commercial arrangements and make it work over a longer term. The other issue would be that our companies should be prepared to work in any area including sub assemblies without letting ego get in the way. Krishna Gopal
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 23:15:53 -0600 I read with great interest your feature on Dwarka. It was well written and made for fascinating reading! However, I must bring to your attention a factual error therein. The author states: "This 'Sunset Point' is approached along an avenue lined with Vedic artifacts known as mortars, distant relations of the idli-making machine. These great granite cups were used to grind up som ras, the 'drink' of the Gods from a grass that the modern society is still trying to identify. To judge from the boisterous tone of some of the hymns that access to this fermented mead produced, there can be little doubt that it achieved a satisfactory level of intoxication. However in modern Gujarat it appears that officers have been instructed to fudge Vedic history and our expert on fermented juices insists that the effects of som ras were nonalcoholic. Sadly, these noble comments on ancient habits, stand contradicted by real life." Unfortunately, the author seems to have made a grave error. There is a vast body of literature both traditional and western about the identity of soma. There is widespread consensus that soma is a non-alcoholic drink. The presence of alcohol is dependent upon fermentation. The extraction of soma is more or less like extracting sugar cane juice, and does not involve fermentation. Many scholars hold the view that soma is actually a hallucinogen. Some scholars have suggested that it is extracted from the mushroom "fly agaric." In vedic yagnas today, the soma is an unfermented extract of the reed Sarcostemma brevistigma. It is a common misconception among Indians that soma rasa is alcohol. Alcohol is maadya. Soma is a hallucinogen. I will be obliged if these points can be conveyed to the author. I shall be happy to provide the relevant references in the literature that support what I have just stated. Alternately, please be directed to the list of references on page 1 and the vedic yajna section of my web site at http://home.earthlink.net/~ravi/iyer.html Ravi R Iyer
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 13:50:59 -0800 Pictures please. Great article.
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