PICTURE SPEAK
"Art Gets Smart", India Today, September 27	"Privacy for Sale", September 27

"Art for art's sake has now given way to art for economy's sake. With artists putting price tags on their creativity, materialism has invaded even the world of aesthetics. Nowadays every object of pleasure comes at a price."

Manisha Mishra, Cuttack

"Loss of privacy is the price we are paying to keep up with the hi-tech world of gizmos. Spamming is here to stay, thanks to the overwhelming number of people who use computers and various other gadgets."

K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore

Public Domain

The Information Technology Act 2000 has a clause on Breach of confidentiality and privacy in Chapter XI under the head "Offences" ("Privacy for Sale", September 27). But law is an effective deterrent only in an ethically sensitive society, not in a society obsessed with materialistic pleasures and making a fast buck. Technology, which is supposed to be a facilitator for a comfortable life, can also be a major irritant.

-Suresh Behera, Ranchi

Sheer misuse has reduced a good system to a painful experience. Marketers are not just showing a lack of ethics, but they are also being myopic and losing out on money they could earn if they understood the true value of database marketing and used it to help customers. If a marketer collects personal and shopping data from customers with their permission, and offers products and services based on their preferences, people would definitely like it.

Abeer Chakravarty, Kolkata

The absence of any stringent privacy laws has resulted in confidential information being leaked out to various direct selling agencies. It is high time the Government introduced measures to deal firmly with such unscrupulous practices.

Rahul A. Kulkarni, Mysore

When mobile phones were launched they were regarded as a boon but they have now become a bane due to misuse. The lack of integrity and trustworthiness on the part of the database dealers is creating a lot of unnecessary trouble.

K.S. Thampi, Chennai

When almost everything is on sale in the era of globalisation, why should privacy be left out? Some people seem to believe that the policy of openness applies to everything-whether it is the economy or personal information of individuals.

Deepak Kumar, Begusarai

The invasion of our privacy is dangerous as our personal details can be used for nefarious purposes.

Lt-Colonel (Retd) Nageshwant Roy Vaid, Delhi

The Delhi election database, which contains information about age, address and even election id of voters at the website rolls.eci.gov.in, is an example of how our details can be accessed by anybody on the Internet. The data is neatly organised according to locality and can be easily downloaded by enterprising marketers.

Vivek Khemka, on e-mail

Abuse will surely follow the launch of any technology. The younger generation needs to be educated not to misuse it.

Richa Sharma, on e-mail

Name and Shame

Recipients of the President's Police Medal for Gallantry are entitled to a host of benefits ("Roll of Dishonour", September 27). That is why they are the most sought after medals in the police force. Your article reveals the rot that has set in the entire process of awarding these medals. Not only are they now given to undeserving people, they also lead to the killing of innocent persons.

Anil K. Singh, Patna

The medal scam has taken the sheen off all gallantry awards. They will soon become mere pieces of ornamentation adorning the uniforms of police officers.

Omkar Chakraborti, on e-mail

Small Lessons

The minority communities in India could learn a lot from the Parsis ("Fading Away", September 27). Despite being a small community, they have set benchmarks of excellence in various fields-be it industry, law or literature. Another remarkable facet of the Parsis is that they have hardly ever clashed with other communities. No wonder they are so highly regarded.

Abhilash Thadani, on e-mail

KEEPING TRACK

If Laloo Prasad Yadav had evinced interest in technology and modernisation earlier Bihar would have been a totally different state ("Laloo's Dual Track", September 27). T.S. Pattabhi Raman, on e-mail People tend to be cynical about everything Laloo does. But he has taken some good measures-from introduction of kulhars to trying to ensure that employees reach office on time. Siddhartha Raj Guha, on e-mail The Railways needs a total overhaul, not the perfunctory changes that Laloo has made so far. Alok Srivastava, Delhi

Running the Show

Unlike sports administrators like K.P.S. Gill or Priya Ranjan Das Munshi Jagmohan Dalmiya has run the show as well as taken interest in the growth and progress of the game ("Cricket's Master Player", September 27).

Bal Govind, Bareilly

Dalmiya is the master manipulator who controls the game from the background. He ensures that the game is played according to his game plan.

Arta Mishra, Cuttack

A Success Story

Most state governments come up with the ready excuse of financial constraint even when it comes to projects that would serve public interest ("Smooth Takeoff", September 27). If there is political will, raising resources is the least of the hurdles as the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has shown. The successful completion of the project in record time is due to innovation and sincerity of purpose.

H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana, Mysore

Out in the Open

It is time for Indians to shed their inhibitions and stop feeling squeamish about discussing issues related to sexuality ("What Men Want", September 20). Not only would this substantially reduce hypocrisy and frustration it would enable us to focus on significant issues like aids, population explosion and gender discrimination.

Girish Bablani, on e-mail

The cover story was impressive because you managed to get the usually conservative Indian men to break their silence on sexuality. I feel that sex is not merely a physical activity. It is meaningful only when there is a bonding of minds and the woman fully participates in it.

Senthil Sarang, Pondicherry

Your cover story speaks volumes about your paucity of ideas. When you collect subscription for the whole year and then bring out such issues, the average reader feels cheated.

Lalitha Iyer, Mumbai

Clarification

The B-school ranking published in India Today ranks Symbiosis, Pune, as the fifth best management institute ("Multi-tasking", October 4). Since the rankings were based on a brand-based survey Symbiosis-which runs more than one management institute-was ranked as a group and not for any one of its institutes. The author of the column on Symbiosis is an alumni of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and not of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, as mentioned in the column.

-Editor

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