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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 12:34:30 -0800 We are two women, on the verge of an emotional breakdown due to the myopic perspective of society and relatives. The article was like deja vu. This was our story! We both belong to the same family and despite the riches that overflow... we aren't able to pursue our dreams of a good career and, more importantly, that of independence. The marriage stigma is eating us hollow and making us more and more averse to it by each passing moment. We love our parents, and we love ourselves too. Can't hurt either. We have both acquired admission into fantastic colleges abroad to pursue higher studies. But have no permission to go till we get married. And after we get married, society will not allow us to study, have an active career, anything. Talk about "Catch-22!" Your article was very inspiring. We feel we aren't alone and there is nothing wrong with us! Mahima and Ankita
Date sent: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 12:46:50 EST Good work. Please do more pieces like this one. We expats need to learn more about the constructive work going on in the country. It helps us examine specific situations where our assistance, alas only monetary at this distance, might make a difference. Your voice, with its reach and spread, is an important one. Once you check out their legitimacy, you can be an invaluable fund raising tool for good causes in India. A cheque is on the way to the Army Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Pune. Thank you so much for journalism of the best kind -- one that helps people realise their shared humanity and for, Indians overseas, to make common cause with our far away country and its people. Siddhartha Banerjee Wilmington, Delaware
Date sent: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 17:50:10 -0500 Neat. Great article, sad state of affairs. Had to tell you about an experiment I once conducted... I have never been the "drop-dead-figure" person, except once when after hearing too many taunts on the wasted potential of my "looks" from a certain gentleman, I decided to take matters in hand and lost those pesky 10 lbs. That made the difference from, nice to "o-mi-god" and the results of the experiment... (note: the gentleman and the "o-mi-god" are history, both by choice!) It's one thing to imagine yourself as Venus, it's quite different to deal with the attention you suddenly draw to yourself. Not the people who 'like-you-as-you-are,' and look straight in your eyes when they talk, but these weirdo guys who all want to suddenly patao you, or simply be seen with you, the really nice folks are too scared/intimidated/ prejudiced (syndrome) to talk to you. Women spew venom after a while..oh..so threatened, and no one looks at you as they speak. All the aunties want to set you up, folks like to be seen with you for no other reason than the "bod", junta thinks you are the disco-hopping, mini-skirt shopping babe.. and it's a hilarious, albeit sad affair! I have learnt that the "acceptance" we are craving for is not from others but ourselves. If I cannot accept myself thin, or 20 lbs overweight (as of now) I have a problem.. If others can't, THEY have a problem! The funky thing is now that I am no longer "stunning" (as it were often said), I am enjoying life more. No more sycophants, but people who genuinely care. One of the people profiled complained that others didn't want to see what's inside. Frankly, I say it's their loss, not mine or yours! You can live life on your terms or another's, you can live happily enjoying the sun on your face and the fudge-nut sundae, or you can be stressed out and throwing up in a bathroom. It is simply a matter of choice! And though society and media may say that we don't have one, buddy we do -- it's your life, not the Gladrags editor's. The gentleman who wants to have a "model" you versus a healthy you, can look for another "model." No matter how the media and society markets it, love is still not confined to the Baywatch babes. More often it passes them by -- (please take a close look at "Bold 'n Beautiful, Bollywood or Hollywood") I have too many friends and cousins wanting to look like Sushmita Sen (or whoever) and ruining perfectly healthy bodies. Weight often reflects more deeper issues, both in relationships and our own psyches. It is perhaps more important to resolve those than to blindly run after mirages that never happen. It's the last frontier -- our mind and it's time to stop and face the fears. What is our obsessive society running away from? Why won't we stop and look ourselves in the eye? Why do we choose to hide behind curtains, when there's a wonderful world to explore...both out there and in ourselves? I don't advocate obesity, being overweight is NOT good. Any half rational human being can see that. Being thin is also NOT good. I am the first to acknowledge that a healthy body is a pleasure to live in. So I'm going back to one, by choice! Sonal
Date sent: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 15:51:04 -0400 I have just seen this Indian column, and newspaper on the Net. I found it very interesting, and entertaining. I have always been an admirer of the Indian people, especially women -- who I have not been able to figure out how almost all of them are beautiful. Although I have spoken to a few in this country, most are doctors or wives of doctors, and keep more to themselves. I have met one in a small Nova Scotia town, who runs a small restaurant. In the fall we celebrated the 'festival of lights,' and both our daughters's birthdays were very close to the festival day. It would be interesting to correspond with a 40 to 50-year-old woman, if allowed to discuss views, culture, recipes etc. I look forward to many more interesting articles, and will try to have time to read them. Jim Martin New Brunswick, Canada.
Date sent: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 23:38:34 PST Read the article on your web site. Excellent!! SHUBHI
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 1997 14:13:28 -0500 Enjoyed it immensely. Keep up the good work! Would love to read about more destinations such as Diu that are lesser-known. Vijay Rajamani
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 14:17:04 -0500 Good article. Wish I had been there too, to see the flowers, etc. Barbara Noble
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 11:49:31 -0800 In the small pictures the lake still looks quite lovely. Nicely written but if you've never been in an Indian temple, then how do you know what it looks like? Jackie
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 14:48:46 -0700 (MST) I enjoyed reading your article on Splendid China. It would have been great if you'd included a map showing the route taken by Nilesh Korgaonkar while touring China. As the cliche goes "A picture is worth a thousand words." Guru
Date sent: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 10:55:42 -0800 In his response to a question as to why the non-BJP parties did not come up with a pre-poll alliance, Mr Chavan states that if Mulayam Singh had made a pre-poll alliance with the Congress, he would have lost the Muslim votes. Does it mean that it is perfectly correct for Mulayam to get into an alliance with the Congress after the election? With this statement, Mr Chavan emphasises the opportunism exhibited by all non-BJP parties. If the Jain Commission was not an issue with the Congress in the election, why did they pull the UF government down, costing the nation billions of rupees and now wants to ally themselves with the same gang again? Srinivas Murthy
Date sent: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 18:41:27 EST Great election coverage. Keep it up. Latest and the best on the Net. Tarun
Date sent: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 14:17:53 -0800 I think it is a very good article. Keep it up Rediff!! Yaji
Date sent: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 18:41:27 EST Dilip has done a well researched article, but at the same time we don't need Shah or Sen to tell us where we are going wrong. Education should be standardised and tests should be conducted fairly. This way we can do away with the special quotas for disadvantaged people, who incidentally outnumber the upper castes. Every society has racism and India has it also. This does not mean that one should drop the standard of tests to accommodate one set of people versus another. Population control should have the resources and teeth to enforce a zero population growth programme. The poor whose only contribution in a global economy is making more poor should be confronted with this problem and preventive steps should be taken to forcefully implement family planning. Nehruvian policy has only helped their family hide enormous sums of money overseas under disguised names.
Date sent: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 15:38:14 -0500 I am dumbfounded at the suggestion of G V Ramakrishna, chairman of the Disinvestment Commmission. Protectionism at the expense of consumer!!! At this rate he should have first resigned as chairman and then talked about protectionism. Probably he should receive Adam Smith's The Hidden Hand. Rao Y
Date sent: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 13:51:55 +0800 This is the type of reports I would like to see you producing. Keep a good balance between social reports and politics. I tend to find that most Indian papers focus too much on politics and less on social issues. Issues that affect people's lives day to day are as important. Kashmir Singh
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 01:44:10 -0800 This article on Dr Swamy is something I have been waiting for!! I have been checking The Hindu, Express....you name it. As a youngster who has just started taking interest in politics and politicians, I look forward to more such articles or profiles of our politicians. Thank you very much. Rajiv Parthasarathy
Date sent: Wed, 01 Apr 1998 22:45:10 -0600 The Congress is always full of irony. On one hand Sonia is challenging the non Congress parties to prove Rajiv's involvement. On the other hand are the Congress party members, jittery (with the beat around the bush attitude) about the whole issue (particularly the top brass). If none of the allegations are true, why can't these Congress members stand up with one voice. All this shows the nature of the Congress. The Congress should have been rightly dissolved after Independence -- a suggestion supposedly to have been made by Gandhi himself. This issue becomes an irritant when we think of the fact that COMMON MAN'S MONEY IS BEING SPENT ON SOME WORTHLESS THING. Time to close this and get to other pressing issues in the country. How Readers reacted to Pritish Nandy's earlier columns
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