|
|
|
|
|
| HOME | NEWS | COMMENTARY | SNAFUspheres | |||
|
October 29, 1998
SPECIALS
|
How Readers reacted to Varsha Bhosle's recent columns
Date sent: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 19:05:23 +1300 Wow! Great thoughts, excellent clarity (though I had to read some lines many times over to understand them -- that was due to my limited knowledge of the language) and man, what guts! Keep writing Varsha, we want more!
Date sent: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 11:45:46 PDT
Varsha has been such a delight to read, and it is indeed gratifying to find a writer who speaks her mind in this country where the print media has been penetrated by apparatchiks brainwashed writers, closet socialists and minority writers with secular pretensions (never once do they condemn their own religions). I wish Varsha also exposed how the church exploits children for rallies, protests marches against Hindu festivals (cracker-less Deepavali), if this is not child labour what else is? I wish she would investigate the details and expose what the church attempted in 1979 in Arunachal Pradesh, which fortunately the Indian Army crushed. These would explain to Paul Mallier our dislike for missionaries -- its white-antism. If they really have a superior philosophy, let them convert people by debating their points. Would they? Definitely not, as this would result in an exodus from their own flock. (Is it not for this reason they brandish the sword of excommunication). Mr Mallier knows very well that people getting converted to Hinduism in the US do so out of conviction, not because of sops like jobs or bread. Besides the US is not entirely free from bigotry -- what about the KKK or the Thallium poisoning of Acharya Rajneesh in an Oregon, US prison to stop his ever growing popularity. (It is to be noted this was done after asking him to come there by Ma Sheela of German descent) etc. Mr Mallier wants to know why Varsha has not commented upon the rape of nuns, I turn back the question to him and the other church goers, why has the church yet to condemn the sex deviant priest John Joseph from Kanyakumari or the other deviants in Tamil Nadu? I have seen with my own eyes when I was studying in a missionary school (run by the followers of "The Miracle Man") how the 'Brothers' and 'Fathers' behaved. One chap Anthony became so unbearable, even to the clergy (as they feared collective disrobement) that he was disrobed. People like Muskan can of course read the Chinese sponsored Marxist journal from a capitalist family in Madras -- even magazines in China have yet to write that China is land of milk and honey -- to feel at home. His verbal vomit stinks. And please let me remind Paul Mallier that the US president is not the head of the world. Don't try to preach the US dharma to us. How was US or for that matter Australia built? By ransacking and destroying the native culture, as was done through Americas in search of El Dorado. It is only because of the collective guilt of genocide that the US talks of human rights today. Why was the bomb dropped only on Japan and not on Germany (it was only because of the Christian blood). It is only when India again becomes the supreme power it once was, will the world become a better place to live in. To other readers I would like to present an alternate view point of the caste system. It was a system like the modern division of labour. Recent anthropological studies confirm this. Heredity helped hone own's skill and it paid dividends till we were raided repeatedly for over a thousand years by Muslims and Christians, this obliterated the good aspects of the caste system and only the evil aspects got amplified. As for the outcasts, even an ignoramus who has watched Indian movies would note that outcasts were the people who did not follow the rules of society like law and order, hygiene etc. As was expected, over time the bad outnumbered the good. This could have been avoided, if only the offspring of such characters were brought up separately. Krishnan
Date sent: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 06:49:15 PDT I have always read your column with great interest and sincere reverence since I think you are a good writer. But your statement in the "One of us..." article opposing the so called "opposition of the Nehruvian parody of secularism" is highly ridiculous. I think you, being educated should talk about such issues with respect. India is, and has always been a respected secular country with Hindus, Muslims and Christians living peacefully together like brothers. How can you talk about "promoting an aggressive, Hindu awareness?" This is nothing but sowing seeds for trouble. Already with the rape of four nuns, I think we have shown the world how intolerant we are about religion. Let us not make a mockery of our secular system by promoting separation based on religion. At least a good writer like you should abstain from making such comments. You have to know that not all Muslims are bad and not all Hindus are pious. So please mind your words. I myself am a Hindu Brahmin, but still I'm dead against such words. Advait Kulkarni
Date sent: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 19:36:42 -0400 (EDT) Finally, Varsha has publicly lifted the veil and revealed herself to be not the hard-headed ideologue which everyone seems to either hate or love her for, but a human being with moral dilemmas like the rest of us! I applaud this show of courage. Good going! Abhijit
Date sent: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 22:42:13 PDT I am an avid reader of Varsha Bhosle's columns. I congratulate her for expressing her views fearlessly and standing up to them even in face of constant criticism from so-called secularists, who in reality are Islamic fundamentalists. I fully agree with all her views regarding the Bombay riots. Her views are shared by countless patriotic Indians who are agonised by the actions of the so-called secularists, who consider it their sacred duty to appease Muslims. They will not even stop short of declaring India an Islamic country. The problem actually is the large number of traitors in Hindu religion. No one in the Muslim religion talks about the rights of Hindus. But the Congress, leftists etc. have made a career out of promoting Islam. When Pakistan was carved out for Muslims, we gave away our land for them, but still we have Muslims in India who refuse to salute our motherland and have sympathies for Pakistan. Coimbatore and Bombay blasts are glaring examples of this. I once again congratulate Varsha Bhosle and I am looking forward for more columns from her. Bravo Varsha! Nikhil
Date sent: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 15:04:44 -0500 It will be greatly appreciated, if you can write all that you wanted short and sweet, instead of forcing the reader to go through the entire long page to find the little matter you are trying to say!! All your columns, one way or other project extreme views. I wish columnists were little more sensible, little more comforting to people who are suffering. Above all, if they had love for mankind, they wouldn't see them as Hindus or Muslims!!
Date sent: Thu, 22 Oct 1998 16:02:57 -0400 So far whatever I have read from Varsha is full of fanaticism. All her earlier columns are irritating. Just by holding the pen in hand, one can't write or point out his/her thoughts. Not everybody has bad experiences with Muslims. As a matter of fact, I have two very good Muslim friends who are real gems. Varsha should first think about the Hindu community before digging into the Muslims. Everywhere, every religion, every country has it own drawbacks. Can Varsha give a reason why the people of the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu are killing each other? Even though they are all Hindus, they are fighting in the name of caste among themselves. This is not happening there alone. It is everywhere. What is the reason for this? What the is value of human life there? What has the Hindu religion done so far for the common Indian living in a village, other than suppressing him in the name of caste. As a matter of fact, many people from my village don't know who is Ram. For them, their Hindu god is the local god like Kathavarayan, Sudalaimadan or whatever. I will be happy if Varsha could do something like spreading the good things of Hindu religion, which has been denied by the forward community for years and years to all in a soft way, instead of spreading fanaticism. I do like the Uniform Civil Code if it is based on humanity and human values, not on Hindu logic. This is my humble request to Varsha: please never and ever spread fanaticism. We, the citizens of the world have had experiences of history. Just because of Hitler, millions of innocent Jews lost their lives. Fanaticism will never give life to anyone. Instead it will take lives. Please forget the past. Look ahead to a bright future for India.
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 16:05:01 -0400 Excellent article Varsha. Go girl! We want more of such stuff.
Date sent: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 11:25:10 -0400 The fact is, we need more people like Varsha for social reform. I have been in USA for the past seven years, and I see that every religion follows federal and state laws, but in India -- the world's largest democracy, we cannot have a Uniform Civil Code. All this is because of the great Indian National Congress, Gandhi and Nehru. In my opinion, Gandhi's interpretation of non-violence meant nothing. Any animal if attacked by forces tries to fight back, we do that in every day life. Fight for our rights first calmly then violently, but Gandhi was against retaliation and hence we still see the issues with Hindus and Muslims. Muslims can stay in India as long as they follow Indian laws. They can practice their religion, we all will respect their beliefs and customs provided they do not use them to get special status. Muslims will not dare to close streets for Friday prayers in the US. It all started in the 1940's and was continued by the Congress for political motivations. The real issue is we need to put a stop to this and concentrate more on economical stability. I think we have the first great PM and the first good government. It is the only government that has the guts to stop all the nonsense that has been going on for the past 60 years. But some people will oppose them and we need to deal with such individuals. Mandar Chitale
Date sent: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 23:03:58 -0400 It is an excellent article! It was very amusing, the way you have addressed each reader of yours who wrote a response to you. I guess this is the first time I'm seeing a columnist who believes in keeping a personal touch with his/her readers. Excellent idea! I was laughing my stomach out while reading your responses. Especially the one who tries to give an example of two boys and their mommy. What logic or what type of similarity does this person see between two boys and two large communities in India, or is it that s/he is trying to trivialise the matter to such an extent that it sounded absurd. Anyway, the bottomline is keep it up!!! Sanjay
Date sent: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 10:14:04 +0530 One more mail in your support. After a long time I feel proud to say that at least there is one person who cares about the majority. Who worries about their feelings. I am really proud of you. I am really surprised how Rediff bares you, because as I know, it is a secular site where all pseudo secular activities go on. One day you might be removed from this site for hurting the feelings of the minorities. Don't worry about that, keep up your pace. I know as usual, like my other mails, this mail will also reach the dustbin instead of reaching you. But I will continue my effort to reach and support you. Of course minorities may bombard against you, still we (majority) are with you. Raghu
Date sent: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 13:32:00 +0100 I liked this article very much and also firmly believe it, as it says nothing else but facts. Rediff should encourage such articles. I am really not a blind supporter of any party, but I believe that if such facts are suppressed, they are ultimately going to create lot of problems for us, all Indians. I agree that there are some problems with the BJP states, but the facts are never hidden like those in case of BSP, SP, RJP, CPI/CPM as journalists in India have always been proactive when it comes to the BJP. But articles like those written by Mani Shankar Aiyar are many times biased and should be thoroughly inspected before carrying them. Sandip |
| Tell us what you think of these letters | |
|
HOME |
NEWS |
BUSINESS |
SPORTS |
MOVIES |
CHAT |
INFOTECH |
TRAVEL
SHOPPING HOME | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK |
|