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ELECTION 99
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'If she loses her virginity, even in fiction, that means the culture is spoilt'
E-mail from readers the world over
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Sun, 14 Nov 1999 12:54:09 -0600 Mr Banker, I do agree with part of what you say about these terrorists, but I don't think they are doing this only for the advertisement of their organisation. These people are not anyone else but Pakistanis, who will and always indulge in terrorism. Everyday, we read about terrorism in the Kashmir valley and India does nothing, I repeat nothing, to stop it. Why are we always afraid to cross the Line of Control and hit the source of all this trouble -- Pak Occupied Kashmir? We are always talking peace to everyone, especially with Pakistan, which is never going to withdraw its hatred of India, even if Kashmir is handed over to them on a platter. Never forget that China and the United States will support Pakistan always. We Indians have sat on the fence for too long and have condemned the US for their involvement elsewhere -- whether it is the Gulf War, Kosovo etc. Pakistan, on the other hand, never hid its cards. Even now, the US seems to support General Musharraf by not condemning him outright though he supports the Taliban and Osama bin laden.
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Sat, 13 Nov 1999 13:17:22 -0800 (PST) I read with curiosity and interest the interview you posted about the controversial Sardar Sarovar Dam. It is great that you got Minister Jayanarayan Vyas to speak on the issue. However, it would have been even more great if the interviewer had taken the time to actually study the issue before discussing it. There is a HUGE environmental disaster in the making. The World Bank could not substantiate its involvement in this project and withdrew. However, it is also a business and after making the mandatory noises, it is quietly back into the project. Same with the Japanese government. A slightly more learned interviewer would have had the guts to call the minister's bluff. When the Gujarat government cannot even rehabilitate its own villagers, how can it make claims of resettling all and sundry? There are graver issues. The conveniently termed Project Affected Persons number in millions. Who is the Gujarat government kidding? I am even more incensed at rediff.com for getting the chance to nail the minister and missing the opportunity. More people will be misled by your journalism than be helped. Sorry to say that, but it's true.
Yash
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Sun, 14 Nov 1999 19:57:09 -0500 The Bible belt in the United States has the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in that entire country, according to an article published recently in the Journal of American Medical Association (available at www.jama.com). They are the ones living in the dark ages. Sudhir
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Tue, 16 Nov 1999 11:58:58 +1300 Well done Vazhappadi Ramamurthy for your frank and correct views on Rajiv Gandhi's assassins. Murderers do not deserve any sympathy.
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Tue, 16 Nov 1999 12:59:23 -0500 Won't Annie Lam understand the simple fact that when you talk about conversion you are implying that the religion of the people you wish to convert is inferior to yours? At the same time you talk about 'intolerance' towards you from the people you wish to convert? What else could be expected when your own attitude smacks of arrogance? But then you are so totally brainwashed that the argument is most likely wasted on you. I hope the next millennium will see the demise of all the arrogant religions of the world and all of us will be happy to keep to our own religion without ever trying to convert others.
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Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:38:45 -0800 I do not agree with a couple of assumptions in this article. Assumption 1: Donation colleges are bad colleges. In almost every non-donation college the costs of higher education are heavily subsidised either by the government or by private industry. In other words, the donations are from the government or the industry. Their fees are low and they do not rely on 'donations' from students. Donation colleges, instead, rely on students' money. What is wrong with that? Private universities in the United States charge exorbitant amounts for tuition compared to the state universities. Does this mean Stanford University is corrupt? Assumption 2: Students in donation colleges are cheating the system. The system, in the US or in India, sets up a few institutes that subsidise education. These institutes take only the top x per cent of the student population. Does this mean a guy at the bottom x per cent of the population does not deserve higher education? The number of students the government decides to subsidise does not determine the number of bright students in the country. A student who cannot get into the state-funded institutions and who cannot afford the expensive private universities in the US is not cheating the system if s/he can afford a private institution in another country. J Kasaraneni
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Thu, 14 Oct 1999 01:04:49 -0700 Shobha Warrier has put K S Radhakrishnan in a spot. How can someone be so stupid like Radhakrishnan? He is named after Lord Krishna who was fond of teasing the gopis by hiding their clothes on the top of trees when they were bathing. In a country where women are killed every day by their husbands, in-laws etc he should find a meaningful way of fighting the abuse of women. If Khushwant Singh writes a story for his own "mental masturbation" then it is his problem. A reader exercises his/her choice about a book by purchasing the book or by not purchasing it. If Radhakrishnan finds such books in poor taste then let him not buy the book. Cheap rhetoric is not the way out.
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Sun, 7 Nov 1999 23:33:54 +0530 K S Radhakrishnan is just one of several of our countrymen who seem to think it is their prerogative to regulate what everybody else can or should do. If he is so offended by Khushwant Singh's writing, there are other fora to express his disgust. I have read the book too, and while I don't really think much of it on purely literary grounds, I don't see any reason why others, like me, should be prevented from forming their own opinions on the subject. I certainly do NOT think Radhakrishnan or his ilk have any right to prevent others from forming their own opinions in the way they think fit. The sad thing is that it is politicians like KSR who create controversies -- like this one -- where none exist. It is typical of their double standards -- the Indian Public is "mature" enough to decide on its own whom it should elect to various posts, but when it comes to music, literature, art or cinema, it needs to hold on to the little fingers of worldly-wise men and women like KSR or Asha Parekh lest it stray on to the "wrong path." How ridiculous!
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 09:28:18 -0700 (PDT) I think K S Radhakrishnan does not know what he is talking about. It looks like there are motives behind the affidavit he has filed in a court that are not purely moral.
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:38:31 -0600 I don't know what people like K S Radhakrishnan think of themselves. They give all this crap about equal rights to women etc. They are saying all this to gain popularity. My question to them is who are you to give us freedom? Who are you to tell us how we need to be treated? The claim, that our culture supposedly worships women etc, is a joke. We do not want to be worshipped. We want to be treated as normal human beings with faults and other warts. When you say our culture is great because it worships women, that doesn't mean any kind of woman. You are implying a kind of GOOD woman. That word GOOD means different things to different people. A woman needs to be respected for what she thinks is good to her, like any other man. Indian movies portray women only as housewives or as a child-producing machine. Not a single movie has been made in India where women are shown working in a spaceship or a scientific research centre. People like K S Radhakrishnan are not bothered about all that. They are worried only about a woman's virginity. Because that is the only precious thing for a woman, in their view. If she loses her virginity, even in fiction, that means the culture is spoilt. This is simply men's ego. Women have nothing to do with this. Rama
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:38:23 PDT I read Radhakrishnan's interview with great interest. As he has already read the book, he must know its contents better than I do. I came across a review of the book in one of our most respected news magazines. I was aghast at it. The magazine had put out an explicit extract from the book in one its main pages. The protagonist's "encounter" with a Sri Lankan woman deserves to be read by adults with a penchant for a certain kind of novel. How could it ever be printed in a magazine that a 12 or 13 year old has easy access to? However, simply pushing for a ban on the book is not going to solve anything. Our past experiences have shown that banning only promotes a commodity and it generates a host of other negative feelings, always divisive and working to no good end. Our experience with The Satanic Verses has shown us that a similar ban can whip up unnecessary passions. Even the controversy about Fire could have been resolved without the protests, and accompanying hooliganism, that was on display at the theatres in New Delhi. The only solution to such tempting commodities is to restrain oneself. That is the only remedy and nothing else can work. Parents need to impart our samskar even more forcefully to offset the influence of MTV and other vehicles of hedonism. We have a beautiful and rich culture. Make use of that instead of some arcane laws that will convince no one. Meanwhile, rediff.com could at least have shown Radhakrishnan some courtesy by not publishing his interview on the same page as the one that advertises this novel and tells the readers that they get to save Rs 80 by buying it there! You have, I hope inadvertently, offended a well-meaning man who is pained by the delusional writings of a great writer. Even the argument put forward by Shobha Warrier that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution is a clichéd one. If Khushwant Singh admits that the book is his fantasy, is it not proper that his fantasies remain in his head and not in a book where they can be read by his own grand children? His argument that only he has the courage to air his fantasies is also hogwash. If humans were given the explicit right to express all their fantasies there would be a rape every minute since every male has this latent instinct of inflicting bodily harm to a woman. There is nothing shameful about it -- it's simply a matter of genes. All in all, the book should not be banned but be marked as an adult commodity. Whatever effect that will have is anyone's guess but at least it might prevent a 12-year-old from reading it. It might prevent the acrimony that accompanies every banning act. Ashish Chandra
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 14:46:41 -0700 Freedom of expression at any cost is an unacceptable Western trend. I am not blasting it because it is Western, but because it is irresponsible of those who propound it. What if I were to say that Mahatma Gandhi was a womaniser? What if I were to say something equally bad about Mother Teresa? If people have to express their opinion they must think of others's feelings and beliefs also. That is what constitutes society. I feel if this book is written in bad taste the author must be fined; so too the publishers. I know there will be some organisations which will raise a hue and cry supporting the book but I urge they should be dealt with strongly. Freedom comes only with voluntary responsibility. Subramaniam
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 20:46:14 PDT I fully agree with Shobha Warrier. All these so-called "free and creative thinkers" should keep their obscene and ugly thoughts to themselves. They have no right to influence others. If they are so enamoured about freedom, let them come to the United States and see how culturally devastated the Americans are -- all because of their "freedom of thought and expression." Everyone has evil, ugly or lewd fantasies but that does not mean one has to share them and affect others too. If you are rotten, please keep it to yourself. Amit
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Sat, 16 Oct 1999 12:53:06 +0500 This gentleman only wants publicity. He is like a politician in this respect, looking for some reason to create a hungama. How many people read books in India? How many read such books? This will only create more publicity for the book and indirectly help the publishers to sell more. I read this book and it is like any other book, probably with a little more sex. It is not a great book. It needn't be banned. It will die on its own. K S Satanand
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 16:21:17 -0400 Excellent article. Khushwant Singh should be ashamed of writing such prurient stuff. Mahendra
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 23:53:40 +0800 What a hypocrite this Radhakrishnan chap is! He should mind his own damn business instead of tainting other Indians. Piyush
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Wed, 13 Oct 1999 16:38:42 PDT Mr Radhakrishnan, please understand that the women of India don't need your protection. What does freedom of speech mean if you are willing to compromise it at the first hint of disagreement with your sensibilities? You are welcome not to read the book if it offends you... Kamal
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