This has reference to Hasan Suroor’s article, “Rhodes scholarship running out of funds” (Nov. 26). I will not presume to speak for the Rhodes Trust on financial matters. However, as an Indian Rhodes Scholar of recent vintage, I take exception to the claim that “Rhodes Scholars typically come from privileged background and, according to folklore, are selected not so much on the basis of academic excellence as on their personality and dinner table etiquettes.”
It is indeed a painful fact about social and economic inequality in India that many scholars come from the small class of people with the resources to engage in academic and extra-curricular activities success in which is part of the criteria for the Scholarship. However, there are regular and notable exceptions. It is an insult to their talent and hard work to put down their achievement to “dinner table etiquettes,” We need more Rhodes Scholars from non-elite backgrounds, and the Trust and the Scholarship’s alumni have their part to play in the process. However, articles like this spread precisely those myths which perpetuate the present state of affairs.
Nakul Krishna
Oxford, U.K.
