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Magazine
Whose history?
Kalpana Sharma’s interview with the Kluge Prize winner, Romila Thapar, exposes the travesty of facts in our history books (Magazine, January 25) Romila Thapar tells about the linkages that are being made with the past “frequently drawn from political agendas”. We are reminded of the politicians who are keen on dominating in history also. So we have “left history”’, “right history”, “central history” etc. The future generation is being misled. Impartial academicians should have the prime role in preparing history texts.
U.K. Atiyodi,
Payyanur
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Romila Thapar has rightly said that acceptance of the Hindutva ideology by a large section of the Indian middle class is really a grave matter of concern in our pluralistic society. India has been a secular and democratic country where different cultures coexist and grow simultaneously. From ancient times India has been a land of religious and cultural diversity and this should be appreciated and followed today too.
Kiritsingh C. Rajput
New Delhi
In denial mode
Harsh Mander’s column about the war against begging (Magazine, January 25) was disturbing. Thank you for bringing this subject to the attention of readers. If we as a society are not able to see how we are all implicitly responsible for every homeless, disempowered person in our country, then naturally our elected representatives and lawmakers , who are from and of us, will not think any differently.
In fact, it has always pained me that, not just the beggars, we criminalise even the struggling, working poor in so many ways. Half of our city dwellers, who contribute to the economy, but who live in slums, are illegal; all our hawkers are illegal, our street dwellers are illegal, yet the very same government gives the middle class a free hand to break rules and bylaws when building our homes, helps us get them regularised. We can bend laws when opening businesses, paying taxes, keeping our books, then flaunt our wealth and even be admired and awarded for it. Till we are in denial of the connection between our “respectable” lives and the embarrassing way it eventually manifests in the wretchedness around us, I am afraid we will continue to criminalise half our fellow Indians.
Jenny Pinto
Email
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The article was thought-provoking. Are beggars the only section of society which seeks alms and causes traffic jams? Most political parties meet their expenses from the money that is literally obtained from door-to-door begging. Also, they cause traffic jams by organising unwanted processions that do nothing but show their muscle power. The Social welfare department is hostile towards beggars. Aren’t beggars a part of Indian society? The department should work for the welfare of beggars also.
A. Ibrahim,
N. Parur, Kerala
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I was profoundly disturbed on reading the article by Harsh Mander, which spoke of the inhuman way we treat the beggars in our capital. After all the claims and policies of the Delhi Government like “My Delhi, I care” and the “Bhagidari” sytem, this is a blot on their functioning and also on the very soul of the capital. How can we allow ourselves to be mute spectators —and even drivers — of this procedure? What needs to be done, and should be done, is to build proper shelters for the poor. Let them have proper sanitation and access to healthcare and vocational education. Every human life is precious in itself, beggar or not. If you can’t increase their standard of life, at least don’t bring down your own moral standards! As a 12th standard student living in the relatively unknown town of Bhilai, in Chhattisgarh, this article has been very disturbing, to say the least. I hope, and I pray, that some day, even beggars may try to lead a respectable life.
Shivalik Daga
Bhilai, Chhattisgarh
A billion stars
The article “A billion stories now” made interesting reading. Having seen the film and been highly impressed with its beautiful portrayal of what is the stark reality of life for the majority of the population of this multidimensional country, I disagree with the writer’s query whether it is a put down of sorts of a nation on the rise. The film reminds us that the slums and the “slumdogs” that emerge from them, are the result of a collective failure of the welfare State to provide for its people.
No amount of nuclear arsenal or forays into space can propel us to our dream of being a super power, without giving those in these slums the basic rights and dignities as enshrined in the Constitution. That they survive and one could even say, flourish, is through their will against overwhelming odds, and their ability to look beyond the garbage toward the stars. They represent a triumph of the human spirit to withstand anything that can be thrown at it, and each and every member is a hero and a heroine.
As the writer quite aptly pointed out, the stoicism of the Hindustani has made rising Phoenix like from ashes, into an art. The pain of the slums has been immortalised in celluloid, and it begs the question: Is anyone listening and will anything ever be done?
Sanam Latif,
Mangalore
Imagining the nation
This refers to the article “(Imagi)nation without the subaltern” by Prashant Kadam (Magazine, January 25.) While the article methodically and critically deconstructs the “ambiguous erasures”, it somehow succeeds in leaving just the opposite feeling in the mind of the reader. The fleeting mention of the Buddha and the superimposition of imagery of Gandhi and Bose speaks volumes of the pluralistic bent of mind of the writer-singer-actor team. In a lighter vein, I refuse to subscribe to the clinically simplistic logic of Prakash Kadam simply because when I hum this iconic song at the age of 50, the various names fade from memory, only to be replaced by a supreme feeling of pride in my (Imagi) nation.
Dr. Neeta Kochar,
Jaipur.
Correction: In the article “What about ‘Never again’?” (Magazine, January 25), the writer had mistakenly stated that in 1992 India was “BJP-ruled”.
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