The Hindu : New Delhi News : Readers' Mail

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 03, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Readers' Mail

Universal

Sir, -- In "Inside Delhi" (December 21) Mandira Nayar writes about a young college girl studying political science who insisted on writing "I love you" on the wall of Nai-ka-Gumbad in the over 400-year-old Humayun's Tomb World Heritage site, even after your correspondent requested her not to do so. On completing what she had begun writing, the girl argued that doing so was part of her right to "free speech"!

Your correspondent points out that despite the mandatory blue board outside every monument protected by the Archaeological Survey of India warning people that any damage to such a building will result in a fine or imprisonment, nothing is ever done, and most monuments in the city are losing the war to romancing couples desperate to make their relationship special.

If it is any comfort, it may be noted -- as pointed out in a detailed report in the double issue of The Economist magazine dated December 18-31, 2004, titled "The writing on the wall" -- that such public scribbling or graffiti are a worldwide phenomenon, to be found on any space where it is possible to leave one's written imprint behind for posterity. In fact, argues the report, the practice of writing on walls is so universal that it almost qualifies as a human characteristic -- found in every time period and every location, and cutting across all economic and other barriers.

We may, therefore, just have to grin and bear it when it comes to writings on the wall.

Vinod Chowdhury,

Head of the Department of Economics,

St. Stephen's College,

Delhi University,

Delhi - 110 007.

`Meri Metro'

Sir, -- Prof. Yogesh Bhatnagar is right in claiming (Readers' Mail, December 20) that Delhi Metro signboards proclaiming "Mera Metro" should be replaced by "Meri Metro". However, his assertion that foreign/borrowed words in Hindi always belong to the feminine gender is unconvincing. Consider, for example, the variable usage when we refer to "mera truck" but "meri car"; "mera TV" but "meri TV trolley"; "mera CD player" but "meri CD"; "mera college" but "meri university" and, as a clincher, "mera newspaper" but "meri magazine"!

Usage often devises its own rules, which can baffle even the linguists.

J.M. Manchanda,

C-95, New Rajinder Nagar,

New Delhi - 110 060.

Not all

Sir, -- Contrary to the belief expressed in "Mera Metro?" (December 20), not all foreign/borrowed words in Hindi belong to the feminine gender. A number of such words are masculine -- for example, postcard, bungalow, paperweight, newspaper, glass, ticket, internet, telephone, coat, cartoon, station, sweater, bag, suitcase, purse, bill, engineer, mobile, rocket, packet, radio, television, handle, switch, bulb, interview, mug, cup, tub, geyser, coupon, discount, number, paint, button, blade, telegram, atom, delta, toofan, zalzala, akhbaar, paimana, chashma, darwaza, aitraaz, hawai-jahaaz, armaan, afsana, angoor, inqalaab, aitbaar, ghazab, kaghaz, aasaan, qatl, khanjar, ghuzaara, chaabuk, kanoon, ameer, faqeer, kharch, madarsa, aaloo, pyalaa, padre, gamla, taulia, tambakoo, bigul, angrez, bawarchi, patakha....

Amitabh Varma,

(Hindi Newsreader and Translator),

All India Radio,

Parliament Street,

New Delhi - 110 001.

PanIIT-2004

Sir, -- The two-day "PanIIT-2004" held at Delhi's Pragati Maidan on December 24 and 25 was remarkable in many ways.

The theme of the event was "IITians: Empowering India". It was attended by about 2,500 IIT alumni from all over the globe.

Delivering the inaugural address, Sunil Mittal of Bharati Group, who is an engineer, said that although he was not an IITian himself, he very well understood the value of brand IIT. He gave his personal account of how he hired the first person for his company, an IITian, who prepared the blueprint of the company -- and the rest is history!

The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's presentation titled "What I can do for my nation?" was befitting the theme of the conference. It was followed by a question-answer session. The President responded to a volley of questions from the participants with a dose of wit and humour.

During the course of the conference various technical sessions were held covering topics ranging from global practices for sustainable success to harnessing Indian brain power and intellectual property rights to brand-building and reaching out to international markets. The Directors of the seven IITs chaired these thought-provoking sessions. Brilliant ideas were exchanged between IIT alumni and their teachers in consonance with the true IIT spirit that in IIT there are no students and no teachers; there are only minds, strong minds and stronger minds.

On Day Two of the conference, other issues of interest to the common man were debated. These included roads and transport, power, water and sanitation, rural development and environment.

The wrap-up session was chaired by Prof. M.G.K. Menon of IIT Delhi. In an inspiring address he emphasised that to sustain the quality of education in IITs in the times to come, there is a need to constantly replenish the depleting faculty at the IITs.

Rakesh Bhasin,

J-1, Andrews Ganj Extension,

Pinjra Pole,

New Delhi-110 049

No parties

Sir, -- There should be no New Year parties and mindless merriment or wasteful spending. Instead, the money so intended should be diverted towards the grieving families of the victims of the tsunami waves. Partying and celebrating when our fellow-Indians are suffering the pangs of devastation and loss of loved ones will be criminal.

Let each one of us contribute, in cash or kind, towards rehabilitation of the suffering families. India always unites as one whenever we are faced with a national crisis, forgetting caste, religion and party politics. Let us show to the world that we are a great nation with immense strength and resilience, and can face such challenges without outside support.

Anusha Singh,

B.A (Honours) Political Science III year,

Lady Sri Ram College For Women,

Lajpat Nagar,

New Delhi.

Wrong number

Sir, -- I have a dial-up eth.net account with DishNet. This past Monday night I was unable to check my e-mail in that account from two different programmes. On dialling two help desk numbers I was told that those numbers did not exist. There was a response from a third: "Wrong number." On the website I found that the help desk number had become 55500121. The service had not told me of this, just as it had not told me and, to my certain knowledge, three other subscribers, in July this year, that the access number had been changed from 55566350 to 172226.

DishNet was a rather good service until it was bought up by VSNL; and VSNL gave little trouble until it was bought up by the House of Tatas. To really show their muscle, the Tatas now should buy up all the telephone networks in the US, especially those which connect the White House with the Pentagon.

Mukul Dube,

D-504 Purvasha,

Mayur Vihar 1,

Delhi - 110 091.

Unruly buses

Sir, -- Most of the buses plying in Delhi and those connecting the National Capital Region appear to be run by private bus operators. Being a regular commuter of DTC buses, I find that the private bus drivers and conductors overtake and harass the DTC drivers and conductors all the time. Also, the commuters are overcharged by the private bus conductors and sometimes don't even get back the change. The Blueline bus drivers also stop the buses wherever they like.

The transport authorities must do something at once with the help of the police to help the commuters and protect the rights of all concerned, including the DTC bus drivers and conductors.

Mohita Bhargava,

A-11/A, South Extension Part-1,

New Delhi - 110 049.

* * *

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Readers' Mail".)

Head of the Department of Economics,

St. Stephen's College,

Delhi University,

Delhi - 110 007.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi