Stagnant city
“Denizens of darkness” by Bishwanath Ghosh was a great article! As a former student of IIT Kanpur, I was always amazed at how, when the bigger cities of India were seeing huge growth and big changes with metros, flyovers and malls, Kanpur almost did not change in the five years I was there. True, the Rave mall came up with fancy coffee places and multiplex, but in sharp contrast to the BMWs and SUVs parked inside, the cycle-rikshaws outside were as poor as ever, still charging only Rs.12 to pull three passengers more than a km. There were no buses in the city, only old tempos running on fuel adulterated with kerosene, emitting black fumes. What kind of government is it that cannot even provide the bare minimum public transportation? The article hits the point.
Anand Ramanathan
On the website
Bishwanath Ghosh sees us “Kanpurias” as “denizens of darkness”. I wonder why he did not see a vibrant city of four million plus and their indomitable spirit to succeed despite years of political and bureaucratic neglect. True, the large textile mills have shut down, perhaps for good, but other sectors like leather, plastics, chemicals are doing well, and for your information Kanpur ranks number 10 in terms of GDP. We are thriving and successful, because in the words of Iqbal: Kuch baat hai ki hasti mitati nahin hamari, Sadiyon raha hai dushman Daur-e-Zamana hamara.
Avinash Gupta
On the website
Let the readers decide
As a writer, Taslima Nasreen has a right to express her views, whatever they are. The readers can accept them, reject them, disagree with them and debate them. No one has the right to ban the book. It is the readers who decide whether the book is worthwhile. On that score, Taslima is a successful writer. It is the height of folly to call for the death of a writer. It is very disturbing that she and Rushdie are subjected to this threat. The late Christopher Hitchins wrote the book God is not Great. No one called for his death. Bertrand Russell wrote his famous essay “Why I am not a Christian”. No one called for his death. E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker led processions beating Rama's image with sandals. He attempted to rewrite Ramayanam as Keemayanam where Ravana was the hero. No one called for his death. Let the spirit of freedom prevail. Let Taslima's writings be a matter between her and her readers. She is motivated to uplift the downtrodden and the suppressed. She deserves support not hate.
K.V. Nagarajan
On the website
Refreshing example
I felt really proud and pleased when I read about the two youngsters who conducted the experiment of living with the average income of Rs. 26 per day, which is in fact the average income of the Indian poor(“The other side of life” by Harsh Mander). This should indeed serve as a motivation for today's youth ,who get influenced by the media and other peer pressures and spend lavishly, blinded to the stark reality surrounding them. In fact, after graduation if it is made compulsory for every student to go and live in their preferred rural areas, work and understand the pulse of our nation, it could bring about a great transformation.
Kala Chary
Gurgaon
