 | | PICTURE SPEAK | | | | | “Smart and Sassy”, April 16, 2007 |
“Women, today, are out of their cages. After staying behind curtains for centuries, the woman has awakened not only to realise her potential, but to find an identity.”
Piyush Tiwari, on e-mail
Women’s Era The woman of today is enterprising, ambitious, focused and excessively confident (“Living the Dream”, April 16). She is emerging as the true champion of the 21st century given the way she has evolved with the times and the pivotal role she is playing in our nation’s economic boom. K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore Today’s young Indian women, not only deserve to be seen, but to be heard as well Navneet Dhawan, Delhi Of all the women who appeared in the issue, only 15 per cent were clad in a sari. It makes an impression that if an Indian woman wants to look (and, perhaps, be) “Smart and Sassy”, she must discard the sari. Arun Vaidya, Ahmedabad Living in Cosmos It is the culture of metros like Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and even Pune that allows young single women to live as they want to (“Her Own Space”, April 16). But Delhi cuts down the freedom of women and does not let them be what they can be -Pallavi Chelluri, Delhi It is only a small section of urban women who are richer and better educated today. For a majority of women in urban areas, life still revolves around slum clusters and saving every penny to eat two square meals a day. Prabhjot Kaur, on e-mail Bold and Beautiful Today’s woman can be seen everywhere—schools, hospitals, news rooms (“Daring to be Different”, April 16). She is not only smart and sassy but also sweet and strong. But beyond your presentation, there may be hundreds of achievers in the country. A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram Eves Glorified Your Women’s Special has merely drawn attention to the ladies who have touched new heights in big cities either in their individual businesses or as successful leaders of big companies (“Will & Grace”, April 16). It has not been able to highlight the women in government service in smaller cities who have been a great source of inspiration and innovation. Vijay Chaudhry, Jodhpur Though it is heartening to see a large number of women going the unconventional way, there is still room for women entrepreneurs. Hopefully, the next Women’s Special will feature them. Sneha Pillai, Chennai No Cooperation SAARC has not been doing well because it has been dogged by an undercurrent of hostilities amongst its member countries (“No Runs on the Board”, April 16). These countries need to overhaul their thought pattern so that the organisation can register some progress. -V.K. Tangri, Dehradun Since its inception, SAARC has only indulged in big talk. It would be better if the execution of the tasks agreed upon was given more importance and challenges faced to complete these tasks were shared. Such a measure would help in overcoming the gap of trust between the member nations. Rajith Rajappan, Chennai Game for Money The justification that cricketers try to cash in on a short span of 10-13 years by endorsing a number of brands is a sham (“Ad Nauseam”, April 16). In this “short” span, they end up making money for at least two generations. H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana, Mysore Tata Steel’s famous slogan “we also make steel” is much more suitable for the Men in Blue. The Indian cricket team should put this logo on their blue shirts “We also play cricket”. Kamala Balakrishnan, on e-mail Why is cricket the only sport in India? It is our fault that no other sport in the country enjoys as much adulation as cricket does. Due to this, it has reached its zenith of commercialisation leading to fiascos at platforms of international significance. Paurush Verma, on e-mail Adieu Chappell Greg Chappell’s tenure as a coach will be remembered for its controversies and intrigue (“The Man Behind the Mask”, April 16). A coach breathes enthusiasm and confidence into a team. Chappell, however, instilled fear and insecurity. S.K. Aggarwal, Amritsar Rather than removing Greg Chappell’s mask, we will do well to remove our cricketing heroes’ mask of invincibility. Our senior players are a spent force and have not been honest enough to accept the facts. Greg Chappell and Australian cricket is more forthright in that respect. Bhupesh Narain Singh, on e-mail Bell Tolls for BCCI The flotation of Indian Cricket League is in a way privatisation of the current public sector of Indian cricket (“In a League of his Own”, April 16). If the BCCI has to survive, it has to change its style of functioning, detach itself from politics and have a cricketer as its president. Sanjay Sharma, Bangalore Foolhardy Experiment By terror and tyranny no communist country has been able to usher in a civilised state (“Stalinist Capitalism”, April 16). If the Marxists feel that by unleashing cadres and encouraging a civil war in Nandigram, West Bengal shall prosper, they are living in a fool’s paradise. Asoke C. Banerjee, Kolkata Library of Liberalism The members of Mumbai’s Awami Idara are doing excellent service through this library (“Booking Urdu Lovers”, April 2). It is indeed a matter of pride to know that the Idara is trying to spread knowledge and remove religious intolerance. Mumtaz Z. Sayyed, Pune POLITICAL SPEEDBREAKER Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s speech was an eye opener (“Is Politics Overtaking the New Economy?”, April 9). It is indeed a miracle that something gets done in the country considering the Government’s obsession with caste and religion. Manmohan Singh must support his reformist team in the Finance Ministry. Shishir Jaipuria, Mumbai It’s a shame that the people’s representatives have not been able to fulfil their duties. Chidambaram’s assertion that the Parliament makes few laws these days makes one wince with pain. This is not what Mahatma Gandhi had fought for. This is not the India that Nehru had dreamt of. Sumit Goyal, Delhi
30
Years Ago in India Today
MAY 1-15,1977 Get Rich Without Trying Maruti’s phantom “people’s car” is still virtually on the drawing board. However, the politically powerful son of the prime minister, with the guiding hand of his benign “Godfather” Bansi Lal, then chief minister of Haryana, Sanjay has developed the vision of becoming a business tycoon. Aided by servile sycophants in bureaucracy and in political structure, Sanjay has found no difficulty in obtaining large-scale contracts for building bus bodies. Vying closely with the bus contracts as a massive money spinner is Maruti’s debut into the field of road roller manufacturing. Maruti Heavy Vehicles Pvt Ltd, one of the company’s subsidiaries, is a wonder of technology as it is able to produce and sell heavy road rollers when it owns only medium-sized machines situated in a small portion of the Maruti factory premises.
—By C. Joshi, T.N.N. with Dilip Bobb
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