The article “Indians great, greater, greatest?” (July 21) was interesting. But in my view, Mahatma Gandhi is not the greatest Indian. There are many who devoted their entire life to independence and worked for the development of the newly formed nation. Every individual who worked for or is working for the country is a great Indian. The superlative “greatest’ has no significance as one great person cannot be compared with another.
K. Anand,New Delhi
May I thank Ramachandra Guha for two things: one, for putting A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s merits and claims in some objective perspective. Second, and more important, he does well to problematise ideas and evaluations of “greatness.” Many that the world has through the years declared “great” challenge more than a few noble principles of human thought and endeavour; and many others may have had extraordinary qualities in some spheres of cognition and practical contribution, but often embarrassing fault lines in other areas of equal importance.
Might it not be apposite to say that the greatest Indians have been just the ordinary Indians who have proven to be the chief bulwark of our democratic dispensation and republican ideals?
Badri Raina,Delhi
