Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 26 March 2018 | Page 8
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FARIDABAD Bidyut Kumar
Chatterjee: You noted it right: “Her
movies are still remembered as ‘Sridevi’
movies, not those of her co-stars,
however big they might have been.”
Tam Brand
PATTAMBI V.N.K. Murti: In your
editorial comment The Tamil Country
(March 12), you write, “For me, Tamil
Nadu is the most fascinating place in
the country.” And coincidently, I am
reading this sitting in a flat in Madurai,
hot wind blowing in through the win-
dows. My host says this is the fourth
consecutive year since a full monsoon
last visited them. In this arid climate,
there is still the smell of jasmine. There
are many contradictions in Tamil
Nadu: rich politicians and the poorest
of the poor voters; villages where peo-
ple quarrel over water early in the
morning. The poor are happy about
‘freebies’ offered by politicians—and
that pink Gandhi note in exchange of
their vote. Also, let me point out one
error: it’s komannam (loincloth) in
Tamil, not konakam.
go the dynastic way! Another bastion
that is to be devoid of meritocracy.
DELHI Mahesh Kapasi: Dynastic
continuity is acceptable in every field,
provided that the offspring prove their
worth. It is widely observed that suc-
cessful parents want their children to
continue in the same profession since
they already have an established foot-
hold in it. It’s alright as well, since they
are not really doing anything wrong per
se by doing so. These kids grow up in
their parents’ world after all. And it’s
not really a cakewalk; think about it,
failure is liable to hurt them a lot more
since expectations from star kids are
sky high as the world is watching.
Ideal Dump
MUMBAI K.P. Rajan: With the
Tamil superstars’ headlong plunge into
ON E-MAIL J. Joseph: The English
media is notoriously ostrich-like in its
grasp of Tamil Nadu. At best, it makes
sense of Tamilians like a visually chal-
lenged person would do with an ele-
phant. Like the ‘national parties’, the
English media never knows (or bothers
to know) what Tamilness is. Karti
Chidambaram and the Kanchi seer are
lightweights in Tamil Nadu, but they
have access to big media. That’s your
problem, not ours. Also, our villages are
relatively well-off. Your visit during the
2004 general elections happened in
peak summer. I welcome you for ano
ther visit now. As for corrupt politi-
cians: they are everywhere, why single
out Tamil Nadu? That ‘corruptness’
ensures some intangibles and is unl
ikely to be traded off.
New Generation
ON E-MAIL G. Natarajan: This is
with reference to the story on how the
sons and daughters of cricketers have
also taken up the game and harbour
ambitions of playing for India (The
Blues Beckon, Mar 12). So, after the
legal, medical, business professions,
along with politics and the armed
forces, cricket in India is also about to
8 OUTLOOK 26 March 2018
ACT TWO Kamalahaasan, the politico
politics, it is once again proved that the
latter is more lucrative and rewarding
than working in tinsel town (Two
Heroes, Twin Roles, March 12). But I
don’t think an idealist like Kamala
haasan, who venerates former Pre
sident A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, will be able
to hold his head high above the cess-
pool of politics.
New Directions
ON E-MAIL P.L. Singh: I read the
article on Bangladesh with keen inter-
est (Balancing The Wheel, March 12).
BNP leader and former Bangladesh PM
Khaleda Zia’s incarceration on graft
charges closes a chapter in the country,
but opens a new one. It raises questions
on the future of her party that has been
unable to mount a serious agitation in
response. It’s obvious that with a weak-
ening BNP the beneficiary will be
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League.
Loot & Scoot
ON E-MAIL Chhanda Sarkar: The
column on corruption by A.K. Biswas
(Our Very Own Nadir Shahs, Mar 12), is
quite wonderful and aptly timed. It
talks about little-known bank scams in
India’s history and how they were
entangled with religion. Actually, nebu-
lous concepts like ‘morality’, ‘ethics’
and ‘value’ can all be twisted out of
shape. We now have to stress cast-iron
things like accountability, scientific
approach and the rule of law.
Lotus Buds
CHENNAI M.Y. Shariff: Actually,
there is no reason why the BJP’s land-
slide victory in Tripura should baffle
the Left (From Bud To Flower, Feb 26).
Actually, top CPI(M) leaders are to
blame for the state the party is in. They
have miserably failed to follow the
examples of their past great leaders and
surely lost the plot. It is apparent that
there was something wrong in the
Manik Sarkar government that forced
supporters to leave the party and the
common people to repose their trust in
the BJP, an ‘outsider’ party. Unless the
CPI(M) retraces its legacy, ideals and
ideology, this might just be the end for
it as a national entity.
Perfect Timing
ON E-MAIL B.N. Roy: This is about
the review of Sanjay Manjrekar’s auto-
biography (Honour In Imperfection,
Feb 19). When Manjrekar suddenly
retired at 33, it was whispered that
Sachin Tendulkar was behind his early
exit. Is this there in his book? If so, the
review doesn’t mention it.
Corrigendum
S. Venkatesan: I have come to learn
that a few facts mentioned in my hom-
age to Mr S. Manikandan, A Forest
Warbler’s Tale (March 19), which app
eared in your magazine recently, are not
correct. I wrote that Mr Manikandan
was the last person in the file to oversee
the burnt area but the fact is that he was
accompanied by many other people,
including fire watchers. Secondly, I
wrote that Mr Manikandan was wearing
a cream colour shirt when the incident
took place. Now, I have learnt that he
wore a camouflaged shirt when the
incident took place. I tender my
apologies for these mistakes.