PICTURE SPEAK

“A Cup of Woe”, April 2, 2007

“Despite the fact that India has been ousted from the World Cup, I love our cricket team. Let us take the loss in a sporting spirit. Let us be true fans of the game.”

Piyush Tiwari, on e-mail

Death of the Game

The grand celebrations of the World Cup have now paved the way for a series of upsets in the form of a death and match-fixing allegations (“Tragedy, Mystery and a Cup of Woe”, April 2). This ninth edition of cricket’s most-celebrated tournament will forever remain etched in history.

C.K. Subramaniam, on e-mail

For cricket lovers, Woolmer’s murder is a matter of shame and has cast a pall of gloom on the World Cup.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

When commercialisation of this erstwhile gent-leman’s game had reached its zenith, could crime have remained far behind?

Navneet Dhawan, Delhi

What led to Woolmer’s death may soon come to light, yet the game’s real disease is its “overmonetisation”. When any creative pursuit becomes infested with too much lucre, it tends to degenerate, and instead of a “play” it changes into a “question of life and death”.

Virendra Kumar Tangri, Dehradun

All facets of the gentleman’s game now lie open in front of us. Woolmer’s death and the subsequent investigations pointing towards match-fixing, are enough reasons for one to give up on the game. But the love for cricket just refuses to die.
Lalit Verma, Delhi

And They all Fell Down...

The performance of the Indian cricket team gives rise to a range of emotions, from ecstasy to happiness to doubt and finally to alarm (“It’s all Mathematics Now”, April 2). These men in blue take us through such an unwelcome roller-coaster rides that I wonder sometimes if it is really time to switch from cricket to kabaddi. At least then the pain of loss would not be ours and the panic attacks would not make a billion lives shorter by the ball.

J. Akshay, Secunderabad

The build-up was exemplary, the expectations were scary, the hype was exponential and as usual the papered team was at its best (losing of course!). The bubble has burst. Team India of the World Cup is not about crushing the minnows, but putting a commendable performance against A-class opponents, and not being tamed by the tame.

Carlito Monteiro, on e-mail

The Centre should enact a law curbing the cricketers’ commercial contracts as long as they are of playing for the country to assuage the feelings of millions of fans who are taken for a ride by our so-called champions who are actually minnows.

V.S. Ganeshan, Bangalore

The shock and grief at our performance in the World Cup cricket is immature and uncalled-for. The media hyped the Indian team as pretenders to the world crown for monetary reasons. India was knocking at the door of minnows club before the start of the World Cup. Hence there is no point in the blame game and further research on the nonexistent “debacle”.

Dilip Gulwadi, on e-mail

Futile Conjectures

Going by Rahul Gandhi’s claim, 30 years from now his progeny may well say that “my father always told my mother that if he and not the other Rahul had been captain of the cricket team, India would have won the 2007 World Cup” (“Baptism by Fire”, April 2).

K.R. Ravi, Maryland, USA

Little history, like little knowledge, is a dangerous thing, particularly when a little politician like Rahul Gandhi unleashes it in a little town in Uttar Pradesh. Now that the “Gandhis” are in power, what about rebuilding the masjid? The taste of the pudding lies in its eating.

J. Akshobhya, Mysore

Vote-catching is an essential feature of any democracy, but digging up an unsavoury piece of history to bolster up the sagging fortunes of one’s party may turn out to be a futile exercise. It would be a tragedy for the entire nation, if the fall of Babri Masjid continues to be viewed only through narrow political angles.

T.S. Pattabhi Raman, Coimbature

Cost of Development

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s struggle is the struggle of the Communist party in West Bengal (“The Struggle of Buddha”, April 2). Perhaps for the first time they are tasting their own bitter pill. He didn’t realise that this is not China and took it as easy as winning an election. Nandigram is a lesson for all but at the cost of 14 lives.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

The killings have taken place in a state governed by the “champions of poor”. The murder of innocent people has exposed that the difference between the Leftists and the agents of globalisation has vanished.

Arvind K, Pandey, Allahabad

The Watchdog’s Role

I hope the media takes the Uttar Pradesh elections seriously and guides the electorate (“Three Horses and a Pony”, April 2). The voters are looking forward to a detailed analysis of the election strategies of all political parties.

Shiv Shanker Almal, Kolkata

Credit Denied

The real architect of Karnataka Common Entrance Test was late Ramakrishna Hegde, whose vision had put the state on the world map and not Veerappa Moily (“Tale of Two Worlds”, April 2).

Vatsala Vedantam, on e-mail

Fashion Contours

Fashion is unfair for commonman as it is beyond his reach (“Fair is Lovely”, April 2). Models are happy to expose their bodies, which onlookers are only too happy to see.

M. Kumar, Delhi

Correction

In the Power List (“Power Pyramid”, March 26), we erroneously mentioned that Videocon had acquired Whirlpool.

The error is regretted.
Editor

POWER PLAY

In your list there are a number of tax-dodgers and black-money holders (“Power Pyramid”, March 26). The day their number decreases, the nation will prosper.

S.S. Rajagopalan, Chennai

For too long you have been depriving me of the regular day-to-day current event stories. For example, your recent Power List special took away so many pages that very little space was left for other stories. Please do not deprive me of my weekly reading.

H.P. Shukla, on e-mail

Arvind Kejriwal and Vikram Akula deserve a standing ovation for the work they have done and for having made it to this Power List.

Anika Mohla, Delhi

30
Years Ago in India Today
APRIL 16-30,1977

The Big Bully

Bansi Lal is now a has-been. The victory of Janata Party has finally resulted in the announcement of a Commission of Inquiry into his many acts of omission and commission. The story of Bansi Lal is the story of a briefless country lawyer who came into power as the compromise candidate in the faction-ridden Congress party in the state (Haryana). In the 10 years that he was the chief minister, he ruled with an iron hand and with scant respect for the law even before the proclamation of Emergency in June 1975. Journalists who wrote a word against him were threatened and the big business proprietors pressurised to dismiss them. The staid Tribune, a north Indian daily, was blacklisted, its vehicles often stopped while passing through Haryana territory and its staff members beaten up. These were the least of his crimes.

—By Chand Joshi