Letters to Editor

On a positive note
This refers to “ A positive step for positive children” (TSI, Dec 25). Children are like flowers. The children carrying deadly virus of HIV should not be neglected or prevented from taking part in social activities. HIV positive children often experience social ostracism and discrimination. The helpless children affected with HIV not only from Rajasthan but from all parts of India should have a roof of their own. The bold efforts of Brajesh Dubey of RNA+ who takes care of these children is highly appreciated and I would like to praise the noted personalities like Raghu Rai, Noel Mac Pereira, Shashi Sahay, Jatin Das, Manu Parekh, Bikash Poddar, Ashish Poddar, Himmat Shah, Gopi Gajwani, Trithankar Biswas, Anoop and Ritu Kamath for their great support. The Award Winning photographs and paintings of the great photographers and painters and the work of the film producer will certainly help bring a change. I wish ‘Positive Art’ programme success.
Manas Mukhopadhyay
Chinsurah, Hooghly

Winning virtues
Apropos “The 7 winning virtues of political leadership” (TSI, Dec 18), once again a nice piece by Arindam Chaudhuri at a crucial time when India is missing the real spirit of political leadership and vision. Credibility is the most important factor which is missing in our leadership and most of our politicians are under the scanner due to their wrong and shameful actions. Compassion is also a pillar factor which has now totally faded from our political leadership and this is the reason why India still suffers from poverty, starvation and malnutrition. Clairvoyance must also be pumped in our political system to get rid of illiteracy, racism, regionalism and various other social and economical odds which are dragging our country towards collapse. Our leadership must be equipped with commitment to cope up with our dream for a better and developed India. Finally Charisma and Competence must be brought to Indian leadership.
Gopal Singh
Ballia, UP

Gregory peck of bollywood
Apropos the cover story “Gata rahe mera dil...” (TSI, Dec 18), Devdutt Peshorimal Anand, popularly called Dev Anand, was my beloved actor. It would be no exaggeration to submit that he was the Gregory Peck of Bollywood. Of the troika, Dev Anand was the most flamboyant, charismatic and readily loveable. For all his charm and winsome smiles, embellished by the famous missing premolar, Dev Anand came to represent an intellectual gawkiness that was to become the hallmark of a vast segment of the Indian middle classes from 1950s to 1970s. His world was replete with cops and robbers, crooning vacuously around trees, with rock 'n' roll thrown in as 'item' numbers. In other words, there was a noticeable lack of evidence of a link to the monsoon, which embodied an entire Indian culture of dance and music, not to speak of a socio-political idiom associated with the annual life-sustaining event. They say Dev Anand was an urbane actor. The fact is that if we did some of the things he did to emphasise his urbanity we would be locked up under the Goonda Act.
Jayatheertha, SA
Hyderabad

A nice piece
This refers to your editorial  “The 7 winning virtues...” (TSI, Dec 18). Although  for most politicians your editorial may taste as a  bitter  pill to swallow, it carries a tinge of philosophical touch with unbiased frankness. A great political leadership is what India requires at this point.
Sathya Murthy
Kakinada

Time to get competent
The editorial “Go the Korean way…” (TSI, Dec 11) by Prof. Arindam  Chaudhuri presents the whole FDI conundrum in a rational perspective. Mere protectionism would not help the Indian manufacturing sector, rather it would be crippled down further. Sooner or later the foreign retails would be a reality in India. So, it is better to make our own manufacturers and retailers competent enough to compete with other global brands. Otherwise they would meet the same fate that Hindustan Motors and Premier Padmini met when our automobile sector was liberalised. In this global economic market, only the fittest would survive.
Nirupam Hazra
Santiniketan

Spread  'amoebiasis'
Apropos “The winning losers” (TSI, Dec 25), there couldn't have been a better time than now and better way than this to carry this morale-booster when a very large number of CBSE/engineering/medicine/law aspirants have reached the extreme edge of the diving board to take the plunge. The undue, tremendous pressure on today’s kids is taking a heavy toll on them which often results in  low self esteem. I fully agree to your statement that there is no point in life when you can term yourself a total loser because nobody has seen the future. I think the possible reason of the stress on our kids is our lack of understanding their true potential. Through your esteemed weekly I call upon every kid of the country who considers himself as a potential loser to take a lesson from ‘Amoeba’ and break the boundaries of these big names to spread ‘Amoebiasis’ and set new benchmark for others.
Rajneesh Batra
New Delhi

Boycott dow olympics
This refers to the article “It's a Dow Olympics” (TSI, Dec 11) by Prasoon Majumdar. Dow chemical has defiled the ethos of Olympics by sponsoring it.  Prasoon has rightly condemned the Dow representation. Boycotting the games would be one solution. I think India should participate in the Olympics with black flags. Sports kits and track suits can be marked with anti-Dow slogans. We can use this opportunity to burst the balloon of Dow's advertising campaign to revamp their tarnished brand image. This news also depleted the image of Olypmic committee for having a very casual approach.
G. Singh
Sultanpur Lodhi

Anna has the 7 Cs
The seven winning virtues of political leadership or the 7 Cs of leadership as propounded by Arindam Chaudhuri (TSI, Dec 18) are exactly the virtues that are needed of our current politicians. World over, politicians are supposed to work for the development of society and for the welfare of people. However, it seems most politicians are in politics only for money and power. Even some who start off as good men with intention of cleaning up the mess in the corrupt system eventually fall victim to the same. Leaders like Anna Hazare, who are neither hungry for power nor for money, are the need of the hour. In spite of being powerless, as he holds no position of authority, he brought the all powerful government on its knees over the Lokpal bill. This I believe is the victory of one of Anna’s winning virtue – that of his credibility over non-credibility of the government. Anna has all the 7 Cs of leadership and that’s the reason people throng in thousands wherever and whenever he calls on them. It’s sad that the country that produced revered leader Mahatma Gandhi is also the land that produced the likes of A. Rajas and Kalmadis.
Jambay Gyaltsen Chetan
Arunachal Pradesh

Imbibe the seven virtues
This refers to the editorial “The 7 winning virtues of political leadership” by Arindam Chaudhuri (TSI, Dec 18). Effective political leadership is an important aspect on which the country's development depends. The author's differentiation between corporate leadership and political leadership is good and the seven virtues mentioned by the author and their correlation with the seven sins of life is apt. But as a matter of fact, any man can't avoid the seven sins completely. To become a good human being, we need not completely avoid the seven sins of life, but we need to have some control over ourselves. In the same way, our politicians must also try to inculcate the seven virtues of leadership even if they could not completely follow all of them. They have to be mindful of the fact that their duty is to benefit people to the maximum extent.
S. Priyatham Swamy,
Hyderabad