Contentment Pays"A Rolls-Royce deserves to be on your cover but not the man who flaunts it. For, our scriptures hold the man with inner contentment superior."Mounanand Theerth, GurgaonSocial Misfit After reading your article on the megarich, I am convinced that I am an absolute social misfit ("New Tastes and Toys", November 10). Going through the social climber's guide, the horror dawned on me that out of 15 virtues listed, only two seemed to apply to me. Yes, I do pick my crowd but no, they don't include Richard Gere or Goldie Hawn. Nonetheless, they are exclusive for, you see, nobody else picks them anyway. And of course, I have loads of attitude and pizzaz thrown in. There was, however, one point which your article failed to clarify: just how does one pronounce Longchamps?Deepa V. Iyer, DelhiWith liberalisation, our super rich are now licensed to shed any pretence they might have had about being socialistic. By flaunting brand names and other status symbols, they are only trying to ape the rich in developed, capitalist countries; and also wipe out the stigma of belonging to a Third World country. Theirs is an attempt to attain an elusive self-esteem and earn social acceptance both at home and abroad.Nalini Sudhakaran, Thiruvananthapuram.preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}In a country like India, beset with political and economic problems, there are better things to write about than the lifestyles of a few in the super-rich bracket. Your article told people how to become snobs instead of showing how money could provide a better quality of life. There are many well-to-do Indians abroad who are more down to earth than you would believe.Kamal Prasad, Sunnyvale, CaliforniaFor the RecordI am writing this letter under the directions of Justice M.C. Jain, chairman of the Jain Commission. In the India Today issue dated November 17, 1997, two photographs of Justice Jain have been published. The first, on page 1 ("From the Editor"), shows Justice Jain, along with Executive Editor Prabhu Chawla, with a portrait of Rajiv Gandhi which forms part of the interim report. The second, on page 29 ("Damning the DMK" by Chawla), shows Justice Jain displaying one of the volumes of the report.Justice Jain feels that the way the two photographs have been published gives the impression that the excerpts from the report were leaked by him. He states he did not divulge or disclose any of the revelations or extracts to Chawla. All that he told Chawla was about the scheme of the report, the number of parts and volumes of each part and the approximate number of pages, number of witnesses examined and number of hearings held. The two photographs were taken by the photographer who accompanied Chawla when he met Justice Jain last fortnight.Since the two photographs have created a wrong impression, Justice Jain has asked me to request you to issue a clarification. D.R. Luthra, Secretary to the Jain Commission Party System Must Go The recent fracas in Uttar Pradesh shows that party affiliations have nothing to do with the manner in which politicians in our country conduct themselves ("Stooping to Conquer", November 10). In a situation where political parties do not govern on the basis of any ideology, it would be in the larger interest of the nation to do away with parties altogether and go in for a presidential form of government. Perhaps then we will get a chance of being ruled by people with some sense of direction. It may not be the ideal solution but in times such as these, it is good enough. At least, we will not have the spectacle of the Central Government being constantly held to ransom by one clique or the other.Rajesh U. Shenoy, New YorkBy giving ministerial berths to all breakaway members of the Uttar Pradesh Congress and other parties, Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has done exactly what former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao did at the Centre with the help of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs. The BJP's tall claim of discipline and clean politics took a beating when Kalyan literally gifted away berths to supporting legislators to stay on in power. What the BJP considers a victory may soon prove to be its loss. Clearly, Congressisation has set in.D.V. Malhotra, GurgaonThe Uttar Pradesh drama is a sad reflection on the state of democracy in the country. Stringent legislation to check defections is imperative. To begin with, defectors should be made to seek a fresh mandate within six months of the date of change in their political status. But above all, the Indian voter must become wiser and more mature. Until that happens, he will continue to have incompetent, manipulative and corrupt politicians presiding over his destiny.B.S. Aggarwal, Chandigarh"While Indian doctors keep losing their VIP patients to foreign hospitals, the country's suffering millions are losing patience with them."Manjit K. Mazumdar,GuwahatiBreaking a Norm It is unfortunate that literary circles in Arundhati Roy's home state don't seem thrilled that an Indian has won a prestigious international award ("Eyecatchers", November 10). The criticism of The God of Small Things stems from the fact that it portrays the influence of Christianity in Kerala. Malayalam literature, which is dominated by Hindu interests, has so far preferred to conceal the prominence of Christians in central Travancore, Muslims in parts of Malabar, Thiyyas in Thris-sur, Kozhikode and Kannur, Ezhavas in Kollam and Nadars in south Travancore. Nair dominance in parts of Travancore has been portrayed as the norm. Even Malayalam writers from among Muslims, Christians and Ezhavas haven't deviated from the trend. It is here that Roy deserves a pat on the back.Mahesh Kandangath, BangaloreWho's an Anglo-Indian? Sophy Mol in the god of small things, being the offspring of an Indian father and an English mother, cannot be called an Anglo-Indian ("Why we Chose Arundhati", October 27). Jason Cowley errs on this count. By definition, that term denotes people of mixed origin with a European (not necessarily British) ancestor on the paternal side. This was the meaning of the word Eurasian which was changed to Anglo-Indian during Lord Curzon's time. Rahel's cousin would be Indo-English.S.V. Ramakrishnan, Hyderabad"If more and more Indians went in for adoption, it would ensure that thousands of homeless children in the country would get a decent living."Sudhir Krishnan,TirupurTeenager at 64 Asha Bhosle may be 64, but she is still a teenager ("Reinventing a Diva", October 27). That is why she won the MTV Viewer's Choice Award which is usually given to the younger breed of pop singers. Always experimenting, Bhosle has a vast repertoire of songs, including cabaret numbers, ghazals and pop, to her credit. Her style and voice are suited to different kinds of songs. What is more, she has sung in all the major Indian languages and in English too. Bhosle began singing more than five decades ago and that is also when she recorded her first film song. Even now she gives stiff competition to the new-age singers.J. Paul Singh, PatialaHollow Morality The role - as ambassador - of former foreign secretary J.N. Dixit in the Sri Lankan imbroglio is about as honourable as that of Governor Romesh Bhandari in Uttar Pradesh ("The Making of a Failed Pact", October 20). Considering the tendency of our diplomats to reveal only that which their leaders want to hear, Dixit's skill in omitting inconvenient facts from his book - Assignment Colombo - is hardly surprising. Jawaharlal Nehru's exasperation with the Sinhalese leaders' refusal to pay obeisance to him was to colour our relations in the years to come. The island's ethnic conflict presented his dynastic successors with an opportunity to get even. The way the conflict was dealt with exposes the hypocrisy and the hollow morality that is characteristic of Indian foreign policy.K.R. Shenoy, ShimogaPublished By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 24, 1997--- ENDS ---
