|
|
|
|
|
| HOME | NEWS | COMMENTARY | LIBERAL AGENDA | |||
|
January 11, 1999
ELECTIONS '98
|
'Maharashtra got what it deserved'
How Readers responded to Vir Sanghvi's last column
Date sent: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 13:24 -0500 (EST)
Good that you left Bombay and left it clean of Lefties. One can guess your leaning from the venom you have for Thackeray. You do not belong here anyway. We need more Varsha Bhosles to stop the pseudo-seculars like you and give us a clear picture of what the situation is. Please emigrate to China if possible.
Date sent: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 09:45:36 EST
I think Vir Sanghvi's column was amazing. He is a remarkable journalist and I have always enjoyed his work. I hope that he continues to inspire the next generation.
Date sent: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 00:31:41 -0500
Another meandering ho-hum about something. But WHAT? Let the Bombay Fuehrer and the Calcutta lover justly receive a medal of infantile honour each. But don't go away... We haven't heard enough from Sanghvi's stirring pot yet. Tarun Seam
Date sent: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 21:45:08 -0800
In a democracy, the voters get what they deserve. The voters of Maharashtra got what they deserved when they voted for the Shiv Sena. They have nobody but themselves to blame for the decline of their once great city into barbarism and lawlessness. Joachim Fernandes
Date sent: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 10:26:19 -0800
As an ex-Bombayite, I must say Vir Sanghvi has spoken my mind, and the thoughts of many people like me. It's absolutely shocking that this element is able to terrorise and communalise the people of this fantastic city. A quick look at the lack of progress during the Shiv Sena tenure is enough to make us hate him.
Date sent: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 10:59:15 -0800
Well thought-out and well-written. If only more of us think like this we would not allow such "thugs", as Mr Sanghvi puts it, rule us. These people who rule India and destroys its beauty, culture and economy should be done away with. These hooligans live in bungalows with hundreds of people serving them. What a joke! Keep up the good work of educating the Indian people about such leaders. MC
Date sent: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 10:14:03 PST
Why is it that Vir always soft-peddles Muslim-incited communal clashes? He mentions as a matter of fact the serial bomb blasts as a reaction to the "Sena-incited" violence. That means he accepts Muslim gangsters who not only kills people for money but also extort, mind you, money from even the middle-class! Is he gutsy enough to write on the underworld and survive? Even his best journalist friend Pritish Nandy proved his spinelessness by eulogising the mafia (please refer to one of his recent articles)! Can any of these anti-BJP journos at least write once on what is going on in Bombay? I am damn sure they will not. Because they are all afraid for their precious lives! They can only bash up the BJP because it not only serves their political causes but also gets them recognition as "journalists". And they are pretty sure that these "Hindu fundamentalists" would never kill them! Damn these hypocrites!!
Vadiraj M R
Date sent: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 10:37:52 -0500
I find it strange that when comparing the life in cities, Madras or Bangalore does not come into the mind of the author. Maybe the author might have thought those three (Bombay, Calcutta and New Delhi) were the only problematic cities, but when he concludes that Calcutta offers the best quality of life in comparison with all Indian cities, he is making a fool of himself.
Date sent: Wed, 06 Jan 1999 03:41:54 +0900
When you mention Husain's painting, Fire etc I notice that you deliberately forget to mention the ban on The Satanic Verses in India. Do you think it was justified -- that it will hurt the sentiments of the minority? If yes, the same holds true for Husain's painting. In your effort to paint a bad picture of the BJP try to lay down all the facts related to the subject you are talking about -- so that people can try to form their own opinion rather than see through your biased eyes. Salil
Date sent: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 10:33:27 -0700
Being a Bengali and brought up in Maharashtra, I used to be proud of the fact that Bombay was the most forward and outward looking city in India. Nagpur, my hometown, was so peaceful that when Indira Gandhi was assasinated, it was one of the few central Indian cities that had absolutely no anti-Sikh feelings. In fact one miscreant who tried to set fire to a Sikh-owned garage was thrashed within inches of his life by Hindu neighbours. Now when I visit my father during vacations, I am indeed saddened by the atmosphere. There is a distinct polarisation that wasn't present earlier. I still consider myself a Maharashtrian of Bengali descent, notwithstanding what Bal Thackeray has to say about "natives". He is no one to tell me what I am. When you refer to him as a dada, that is exactly what he is. As it is, India has enough problems. To top it, we have politicians like Bal Thackeray. Indraneel
Date sent: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 14:32:15 +0530
I admire your bold and fiery statement. I hope that the people awaken to what is going on.
Date sent: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 17:55:30 -0500
For all their world class brilliance, when will our analysts progress to real action? Translate their words to action, that is? I do believe that numerically our right-thinking intelligentsia may equal if not exceed the ones who are systematically destroying our great nation. So is it not time to get the act together and translate words into action? While the US government is busy handling one Monica Lewinsky, the American people are ignoring Washington and doing just fine. I think we have been overcome by a cancer that has numbed all of us. I wish there was some way we could separate the great and the ordinary, the powerful ones and the ordinary janta. Maybe a truckload of one-way tickets to the Moon or Mars distributed free to the various big shots would be very helpful. A really foreign "junket". (Junket is such an apt word - junk et al!) Mr Sanghvi, the examples you gave of life being stifled in Bombay are at best only of those who are famous and have already got a public voice. They don't need more publicity. The ordinary, every day quality of the very average man and woman and child on the street needs vast improvement in all matters of life. Why only moan the loss of nightlife? Is life in the daytime any better? When was the last time anyone had a comfortable day out on the streets or trains or buses of India? When was the last time any one had a satisfactory experience buying the basic necessities of life? Are we really satisfied with the standards of cleanliness in our various meat and fish markets? As for education, the less said the better. Public healthcare is a mockery of the profession. God help those who have to depend on it. But I guess, first we have to make sure everyone reads our views, and then get the leadership to take action. Meanwhile let the ink flow and the vocal chords flap. Some action is better than none whatsoever!! Happy New Year. Will our wishes for a wonderful India go the way of all our New Year resolutions? I hope not. |
| Tell us what you think of this column | |
|
HOME |
NEWS |
BUSINESS |
SPORTS |
MOVIES |
CHAT |
INFOTECH |
TRAVEL
SHOPPING HOME | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK |
|