Justice Katju gave an erudite lecture on the Sanskrit alphabet in Bangalore recently (Blameless the Happy Vestal, Apr 23). One of the few times I heard him talk sense.

S.S. Nagaraj, Bangalore

Everything in the world comes with an expiry date—so too with Katju’s brain.

R.B., on e-mail

Indians are not fools; they are just incapacitated by a snail-paced judicial system, of which, of course, Katju was a part till recently.

Parth, On E-mail

Justice Katju should have been more specific. He should have said that 90 per cent of educated Indians, who readily succumb to the charms of charlatans and idol worship, are fools.

R.V. Subramanian, Gurgaon

I agree with Katju—the fact that you printed this goes to prove his statement. I’m forced to declare here I’m not a fool in order not to be counted with the writer of that article on a non-question.

Sharat Chandra, Kalpakkam

Ninety per cent of Indians are not fools for the simple reason that they are the same who try to outsmart, outwit, out-talk others.

Madhu Dorairaj, Faridabad

"Fool" (or phool, as in aparail phooool) is too vague of a characterization to assign a percentage.
"Collective social intellect" is too complex and important thing to be left on Justice Karju (cat-zoo sounds proper) to define.

Superstition:
A fundamental human nature.
A cultural thing.

I do think it is growing with time, rather than vanishing.
During those good old, little tv-no internet, days, if it is tuesday, we are at that Hanuman temple, you bet.
Not our fault, somehow all girls of town forced us.
Kids these days too are going there; but for something else I see.
( I still don't know what is with that Hanuman ji and bundi ke laddu )

I will say this growing superstition is a need, rather than falling intellect.
A bit like rise in dowry violence during 70s and 80s.
Aspirations shooting up exponentially, but there is no guide map.
Not the masses, it is that so called 10% of Katju, which is failing us. It is their job to make that guide map.

communalism and casteism and the politics of it:
Nothing more than a longing for the identity, and assertion of it.
Mainly seen in the back drop to two end of the spectrum, American and Chinese.
One too new, other too old.
One is too open and market driven, other too close and communist (not anymore though). But both have one thing in common, a clear definition of identity.

Somehow under Nahru, likes of JNU and borrowed European ideas, Indian never had one defined and refined identity.
I don't blame Nehru for that; I don't mean jingoism either; neither I mean one land, one religion, one culture, one people.
I just mean a philosophical clarity in what being an Indian means, with all its faults and flaws, and what and how to refine.
Again the same 10% at fault, under that awe and complex of white masters.

I know I am talking more than I know, but it is fun.
Katju tum sangharsh karo,
Hum tumhare saath hain.
:D

Yes, the picture of donkey is an affront to ass. A sheep or goat might look more appropriate but then we always have our holy cow to symbolize ourselves. It chews. it moos, it rues. For the rest of time, it ruminates. 

 In Addition to my Comment 20/D-43 :

A Donkey/Ass can be stupid but one cannot fool around with it!

The picture of a Donkey seems to be inappropriate to depict a fool : a Sheep or Goat would have been my choice to describe the Indian who finds it easier to follow and believe blindly while putting  a full stop to his thinking and reasoning power!

In a country where people have to put their very life on line for getting one square meal a day; where he is considered 'not poor' as soon as he manages 20 odd rupees. It is futile to measure their quotient of foolishness. Specially on a scale devised by the learned judge. They are smart in my view . In fact very smart and they prove it everyday by managing to stay alive in the face of  such serious odds .

I agree with Katju and your article only serves to prove his statement. What we have to realize that we have to stop looking at any one to make the things easier for us. There should not be room for any jury - either for or against - in any matter that concerns us socially. Till the time that we learn that all the so called clever men - and women - out there are only out to con us, to herd us in managable labels, we will remain a nation of fools. There is no Messiah out there. The new Messiah is No Messiah.

Being a fool does not mean that we do not know our rights, or, we like to go to exotic places - and - eat our dal chawal or sambhar sadham there, or that we value or traditions. 

Who are the people who are certifying the non-foolishness of the indians in this article? Khushboo, Kalvakuntla, Joshi, Kakar and De have had a lifetime of experience making a fool out of us to sell their wares and controversies. They obviously can not agree at the cost of their living. People like Krishnamurti, Gangopadhyay and Dubey who don't have much stake, agree to it, however half-heartedly, and Azad and Desai only reinforce Katju's viewpoint :-)

You seem to think that the elites are all experts at large and will soon be parted with their opinions, when the deadlines are to be met and empty pages are to be filled. As the number of people who actually read your magazine cover to cover is very miniscule, you can put up any thing in between.  Going by your awoved principles in journalism, can you try to explain exactly what this moronic article tries to convey.

I have to say that I want to belong to the ten percent, just so that I can avoid sharing space with the author of this article.

Instead of a generalised statement Justice Katju should have been more specific : it should have been 90% of the educated Indians. They are easy targets of  all types of Charlatans who pander to their needs of their innate urge to follow superstition and iconic worships!

Traffic lights are shut down on Saturday/Sunday where I live - why? don't people drive on weekends? People flock to the beach "to see" the Tsunami. An MLA argues for keeping a kabootar khana open, to pander to certain communities - despite pleas from scientists that congregating so many birds in a densely populated area could cause irreversible respiratory diseases in humans. We march behind Anna Hazare for Lokpal - not bothering to stop for a moment and think that the Lokpals are also going to be sourced from the same population who produce corrupt netas and babu's (but hey, if you speak a word against Anna then you're pro congress, pro Corruption!). We produce the largest number of engineers in the world, but we cant even design roads with footpaths and markings! The list goes on - we prefer to fake reality - Justice Katju is right. Recognising the ills is the first step to solving them. We'll be greater for recognising our shortcomings, not smaller and we should thank Justice Katju for showing us the mirror.   

We all have cantankerous uncles who have called us fools and several other choice names. That is why I have been advocating that, besides having  Rashtrapita and Rashtrapati, we should also have a Rashtrachacha. Let Justice Katju be our first Rashtrachacha.

238 crores tunover of so called nirmal baba, what else you will call indian people, the media is making fool of people, do not go by just words, see the spirit behind, media is making people like nirmal baba and katju only wants media to be responsible, just introspect god may forgive you

Please forgive Justice (retd) Katju, for he does not know what he says.

 “Nothing in this world is perpetual as everything comes with as Expiry Date, so has Katju’s brain, which has outlived its shelf-life – not his Mistakel – God has created all this way only.”

Indians are fools. Our elected representatives are the best proof of our foolishness. Need we say more?

Justice Katju gave an erudite lecture in Bangalore on the perfectness of Sanskrit alphabet.That was the last time i have found him talking sence.Now,he makes hollow comments on every subject under the sun.He seems to be so very eager to be in limelight.

Indians are fools . There are leading fools and following fools . Leading fools now go up to the extent of promoting and feting porn stars as icons for personal gains (read mahesh bhatt) while following fools lap it up ... Oh wait !? Didn't Justice Katju do it too?? Thats a new development Mr. Katju ...

Outlook India : Vox populi: nation of fools
Blameless The Happy Vestal?
Justice Katju deems nearly all Indians to possess spotless minds. How far does the echo go?
 

Justice Katju’s statistics is funny. Ninety percent Indians, he pronounces, are fools. This hurt the silent majority of India. The remaining 10% constituted the intelligentia of the political party that rewarded Katju ji with post-retirement bonanza . Are we a Nation of fools? Who lives in the “fool’s paradise”?

Justice Katju has a penchant for making utterly outrageous remarks to grab cheap publicity. And, unsolicited fodder for the Media.Far from being a perfectionist, he is showing signs of senile decay. One wonders how could a person with a megalomaniac mindset, be appointed as the Chairperson of the Press Council of India ? Scores of retired judges refusing to canvass for post-retirement rehabilitations, get ignored. Merit becomes the casualty in the process. Sheer mis-use of “discretionary powers”, was it ?
 

Recall the derogatory remarks, Katju made about his peers in the PCI and the Media in general. Media’s reticence was shocking then. Not a word of protest . Editors, senior journalists, reporters remained tongue-tied, speechless. The Editor-in-chief of DNA was the singular, honorable exception who stood his ground despite concealed threats from the union Ministry of I&B for refusing the release of government advertisements. Whither Freedom of Speech and Expression that the media is so vocal about ?
 

Katju ji is selective in his observations, sorry, sweeping generalizations. He is ever-ready to generate unsavoury controversies than take firm stand on issues of principles. The criterion is simple: Do not annoy the ever obliging Congress! Old familial ties, strengthened by post-retirement rehabilitation with scores of freebies?
 

This column is without prejudice to anyone).

A K SAXENA (A retired civil servant)

aksaxena@nic.in

 Seriously do you think that Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals are a barometer of foolishness and intelligence of any civilization?

Yes, I seriously think so because I didn't want to come up with few Indian scientists and few Indian sportspersons. I didn't want to harp on our poverty, malnutrition, foeticide, discrimination, superstitions, and blah blah

 Ramki

Indians being inhumans is all together a different story, Indians are sub humans. Indians don't excel in anything, whether it is sport or it is academics. And this is what makes them subhumans.

The history of world is divided into two parts, pre and post enlightenment. I cited nobel as one barometer to show how inept Indians are if compared with Jews. Jews make up less than 0.2 % of world population and account for 20 percent Nobels. For sport, we have our physical weekness as an alibi but how about the academics of this so called great country. What good have we done in last, lets say 300 years. This is the same country that was the richer than Roman Empire in its hey days. India was better than Europe during the Mughal period. There is a problem with Indians that we continue to lag behind the rest of the world, read Europe and America. Like it or dislike it, we are subhumans. Not that we are alone in remaining sub humans. 

 Katjus and Khusboos and Shoba Des and Sudhakar Krishnamurthis of this world think that Indians are fools since we believe in religion, gods, worshipping stones, astrology, arranged marriages, yada yada ..

Seriously a lot of these beliefs, are something of a individual choices. Take the United States of America. There are lot in USA who believe in personal liberties to such an extent that they support right to bear arms and spend a lot in personal ownership of guns and like. Likewise a lot in USA beleive in creationism and stuff.

Other nations are no different. The Continental Europeans believe in a common currency called euro even though it has created more problems than solve. Russia and China in recent past believed in a murderous ideology that neither reduced inequality nor brought relief to working class, only helped in knocking off many millions in the name of revolution and communism.

Given all these, an average Indian is only expressing his/her personal freedom to choose to believe in gods made of stone, or in astrology or arranged marriage. As long as these beliefs dont impinge on the rights of others, there is not an issue at all. And for those who consider such people as fools here is a piece of advice - you first judge yourself whether you as a human or citizen of nation made any positive difference to the state of nation.

Shoba De and Khusboo have done nothing to the country except used their glamor/celebrity status in self promotion. And for Katju, he is very much a product of the Indian judicial system which has deceived and fooled millions of indians 

 Male Unblocked >> Actually, Indians are no fools.

Actually Indians including me are fools in that we continue to believe in the due process of law and judiciary. The Indian Judiciary where Katju worked is one of the most worthless , incompetent and corrupt systems where it takes decades to give judgement and yet we ordinary Indians (taxpayers) who fund these judges and their perks beleive that the judicial system is all fair and good here. Yes, I am a fool and you (Katju) are taking a ride of me. What to say?

 YHWH >> indians are not fools but subhumans. how many olympic gold medals indians win? bs, indians are not physically strong like niggers. how many nobels indians win?

Seriously do you think that Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals are a barometer of foolishness and intelligence of any civilization?

FYI, majority of World's nobel prizes have been bagged by USA, but this prize is in existence from 20th century beginning. There was no nobel grantedve for those who built the first pyramid, those who made the first wheel, those who invented sugar and those who found a way to cultivate rice. So much for Nobel as a criteria for intelligence.

And even if you judge that way, how many people have cumulatively won Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals in last 100 years ? Maybe a 25k olympic medal winners and a 500 nobel prize winners , and let us say majority of them are from America/Europe. There are 800 million people living in America/Europe and less than 80K of them have won a medal or a prize, so does it mean that rest 99.9% of folks are inhuman? You decide.

Actually, Indians are no fools.

They are only incapacitated by the slow and incompetant ( foolish ) judicial system, of which Katju is a part off. Otherwise, the lacs or crores of corruption money saved by the govt. would have made Indians the richest in the world.

( Incidentally, how are so many retired Chief Justices so rich? )

indians are not fools but subhumans. how many olympic gold medals indians win? bs, indians are not physically strong like niggers. how many nobels indians win? indians are not intelligent like kikes. india won a cricket wc. how many countries play cricket? 12. indians add an australia to their population every year and still australia has won more wc in cricket. well, cricket ain't the only game aussies play but indians don't play anything other.

where does india stand first? more poor in india than sub sahara, more foeticide than rest of the world,...

indians are not fools but subhumans. how many olympic gold medals indians win? bs, indians are not physically strong like niggers. how many nobels indians win? indians are not intelligent like kikes. india won a cricket wc. how many countries play cricket? 12. indians add an australia to their population every year and still australia has won more wc in cricket. well, cricket ain't the only game aussies play but indians don't play anything other.

where does india stand first? more poor in india than sub sahara, more foeticide than rest of the world,...

Actually, Indians are no fools.

They are only incapacitated by the slow and incompetant ( foolish ) judicial system, of which Katju is a part off. Otherwise, the lacs or crores of corruption money saved by the govt. would have made Indians the richest in the world.

( Incidentally, how are so many retired Chief Justices so rich? )

 YHWH >> indians are not fools but subhumans. how many olympic gold medals indians win? bs, indians are not physically strong like niggers. how many nobels indians win?

Seriously do you think that Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals are a barometer of foolishness and intelligence of any civilization?

FYI, majority of World's nobel prizes have been bagged by USA, but this prize is in existence from 20th century beginning. There was no nobel grantedve for those who built the first pyramid, those who made the first wheel, those who invented sugar and those who found a way to cultivate rice. So much for Nobel as a criteria for intelligence.

And even if you judge that way, how many people have cumulatively won Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals in last 100 years ? Maybe a 25k olympic medal winners and a 500 nobel prize winners , and let us say majority of them are from America/Europe. There are 800 million people living in America/Europe and less than 80K of them have won a medal or a prize, so does it mean that rest 99.9% of folks are inhuman? You decide.

 Male Unblocked >> Actually, Indians are no fools.

Actually Indians including me are fools in that we continue to believe in the due process of law and judiciary. The Indian Judiciary where Katju worked is one of the most worthless , incompetent and corrupt systems where it takes decades to give judgement and yet we ordinary Indians (taxpayers) who fund these judges and their perks beleive that the judicial system is all fair and good here. Yes, I am a fool and you (Katju) are taking a ride of me. What to say?

 Katjus and Khusboos and Shoba Des and Sudhakar Krishnamurthis of this world think that Indians are fools since we believe in religion, gods, worshipping stones, astrology, arranged marriages, yada yada ..

Seriously a lot of these beliefs, are something of a individual choices. Take the United States of America. There are lot in USA who believe in personal liberties to such an extent that they support right to bear arms and spend a lot in personal ownership of guns and like. Likewise a lot in USA beleive in creationism and stuff.

Other nations are no different. The Continental Europeans believe in a common currency called euro even though it has created more problems than solve. Russia and China in recent past believed in a murderous ideology that neither reduced inequality nor brought relief to working class, only helped in knocking off many millions in the name of revolution and communism.

Given all these, an average Indian is only expressing his/her personal freedom to choose to believe in gods made of stone, or in astrology or arranged marriage. As long as these beliefs dont impinge on the rights of others, there is not an issue at all. And for those who consider such people as fools here is a piece of advice - you first judge yourself whether you as a human or citizen of nation made any positive difference to the state of nation.

Shoba De and Khusboo have done nothing to the country except used their glamor/celebrity status in self promotion. And for Katju, he is very much a product of the Indian judicial system which has deceived and fooled millions of indians 

 Ramki

Indians being inhumans is all together a different story, Indians are sub humans. Indians don't excel in anything, whether it is sport or it is academics. And this is what makes them subhumans.

The history of world is divided into two parts, pre and post enlightenment. I cited nobel as one barometer to show how inept Indians are if compared with Jews. Jews make up less than 0.2 % of world population and account for 20 percent Nobels. For sport, we have our physical weekness as an alibi but how about the academics of this so called great country. What good have we done in last, lets say 300 years. This is the same country that was the richer than Roman Empire in its hey days. India was better than Europe during the Mughal period. There is a problem with Indians that we continue to lag behind the rest of the world, read Europe and America. Like it or dislike it, we are subhumans. Not that we are alone in remaining sub humans. 

 Seriously do you think that Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals are a barometer of foolishness and intelligence of any civilization?

Yes, I seriously think so because I didn't want to come up with few Indian scientists and few Indian sportspersons. I didn't want to harp on our poverty, malnutrition, foeticide, discrimination, superstitions, and blah blah

Outlook India : Vox populi: nation of fools
Blameless The Happy Vestal?
Justice Katju deems nearly all Indians to possess spotless minds. How far does the echo go?
 

Justice Katju’s statistics is funny. Ninety percent Indians, he pronounces, are fools. This hurt the silent majority of India. The remaining 10% constituted the intelligentia of the political party that rewarded Katju ji with post-retirement bonanza . Are we a Nation of fools? Who lives in the “fool’s paradise”?

Justice Katju has a penchant for making utterly outrageous remarks to grab cheap publicity. And, unsolicited fodder for the Media.Far from being a perfectionist, he is showing signs of senile decay. One wonders how could a person with a megalomaniac mindset, be appointed as the Chairperson of the Press Council of India ? Scores of retired judges refusing to canvass for post-retirement rehabilitations, get ignored. Merit becomes the casualty in the process. Sheer mis-use of “discretionary powers”, was it ?
 

Recall the derogatory remarks, Katju made about his peers in the PCI and the Media in general. Media’s reticence was shocking then. Not a word of protest . Editors, senior journalists, reporters remained tongue-tied, speechless. The Editor-in-chief of DNA was the singular, honorable exception who stood his ground despite concealed threats from the union Ministry of I&B for refusing the release of government advertisements. Whither Freedom of Speech and Expression that the media is so vocal about ?
 

Katju ji is selective in his observations, sorry, sweeping generalizations. He is ever-ready to generate unsavoury controversies than take firm stand on issues of principles. The criterion is simple: Do not annoy the ever obliging Congress! Old familial ties, strengthened by post-retirement rehabilitation with scores of freebies?
 

This column is without prejudice to anyone).

A K SAXENA (A retired civil servant)

aksaxena@nic.in

Indians are fools . There are leading fools and following fools . Leading fools now go up to the extent of promoting and feting porn stars as icons for personal gains (read mahesh bhatt) while following fools lap it up ... Oh wait !? Didn't Justice Katju do it too?? Thats a new development Mr. Katju ...

Justice Katju gave an erudite lecture in Bangalore on the perfectness of Sanskrit alphabet.That was the last time i have found him talking sence.Now,he makes hollow comments on every subject under the sun.He seems to be so very eager to be in limelight.

Indians are fools. Our elected representatives are the best proof of our foolishness. Need we say more?

 “Nothing in this world is perpetual as everything comes with as Expiry Date, so has Katju’s brain, which has outlived its shelf-life – not his Mistakel – God has created all this way only.”

Please forgive Justice (retd) Katju, for he does not know what he says.

238 crores tunover of so called nirmal baba, what else you will call indian people, the media is making fool of people, do not go by just words, see the spirit behind, media is making people like nirmal baba and katju only wants media to be responsible, just introspect god may forgive you

We all have cantankerous uncles who have called us fools and several other choice names. That is why I have been advocating that, besides having  Rashtrapita and Rashtrapati, we should also have a Rashtrachacha. Let Justice Katju be our first Rashtrachacha.

Traffic lights are shut down on Saturday/Sunday where I live - why? don't people drive on weekends? People flock to the beach "to see" the Tsunami. An MLA argues for keeping a kabootar khana open, to pander to certain communities - despite pleas from scientists that congregating so many birds in a densely populated area could cause irreversible respiratory diseases in humans. We march behind Anna Hazare for Lokpal - not bothering to stop for a moment and think that the Lokpals are also going to be sourced from the same population who produce corrupt netas and babu's (but hey, if you speak a word against Anna then you're pro congress, pro Corruption!). We produce the largest number of engineers in the world, but we cant even design roads with footpaths and markings! The list goes on - we prefer to fake reality - Justice Katju is right. Recognising the ills is the first step to solving them. We'll be greater for recognising our shortcomings, not smaller and we should thank Justice Katju for showing us the mirror.   

Instead of a generalised statement Justice Katju should have been more specific : it should have been 90% of the educated Indians. They are easy targets of  all types of Charlatans who pander to their needs of their innate urge to follow superstition and iconic worships!

I agree with Katju and your article only serves to prove his statement. What we have to realize that we have to stop looking at any one to make the things easier for us. There should not be room for any jury - either for or against - in any matter that concerns us socially. Till the time that we learn that all the so called clever men - and women - out there are only out to con us, to herd us in managable labels, we will remain a nation of fools. There is no Messiah out there. The new Messiah is No Messiah.

Being a fool does not mean that we do not know our rights, or, we like to go to exotic places - and - eat our dal chawal or sambhar sadham there, or that we value or traditions. 

Who are the people who are certifying the non-foolishness of the indians in this article? Khushboo, Kalvakuntla, Joshi, Kakar and De have had a lifetime of experience making a fool out of us to sell their wares and controversies. They obviously can not agree at the cost of their living. People like Krishnamurti, Gangopadhyay and Dubey who don't have much stake, agree to it, however half-heartedly, and Azad and Desai only reinforce Katju's viewpoint :-)

You seem to think that the elites are all experts at large and will soon be parted with their opinions, when the deadlines are to be met and empty pages are to be filled. As the number of people who actually read your magazine cover to cover is very miniscule, you can put up any thing in between.  Going by your awoved principles in journalism, can you try to explain exactly what this moronic article tries to convey.

I have to say that I want to belong to the ten percent, just so that I can avoid sharing space with the author of this article.

In a country where people have to put their very life on line for getting one square meal a day; where he is considered 'not poor' as soon as he manages 20 odd rupees. It is futile to measure their quotient of foolishness. Specially on a scale devised by the learned judge. They are smart in my view . In fact very smart and they prove it everyday by managing to stay alive in the face of  such serious odds .

The picture of a Donkey seems to be inappropriate to depict a fool : a Sheep or Goat would have been my choice to describe the Indian who finds it easier to follow and believe blindly while putting  a full stop to his thinking and reasoning power!

 In Addition to my Comment 20/D-43 :

A Donkey/Ass can be stupid but one cannot fool around with it!

Yes, the picture of donkey is an affront to ass. A sheep or goat might look more appropriate but then we always have our holy cow to symbolize ourselves. It chews. it moos, it rues. For the rest of time, it ruminates. 

"Fool" (or phool, as in aparail phooool) is too vague of a characterization to assign a percentage.
"Collective social intellect" is too complex and important thing to be left on Justice Karju (cat-zoo sounds proper) to define.

Superstition:
A fundamental human nature.
A cultural thing.

I do think it is growing with time, rather than vanishing.
During those good old, little tv-no internet, days, if it is tuesday, we are at that Hanuman temple, you bet.
Not our fault, somehow all girls of town forced us.
Kids these days too are going there; but for something else I see.
( I still don't know what is with that Hanuman ji and bundi ke laddu )

I will say this growing superstition is a need, rather than falling intellect.
A bit like rise in dowry violence during 70s and 80s.
Aspirations shooting up exponentially, but there is no guide map.
Not the masses, it is that so called 10% of Katju, which is failing us. It is their job to make that guide map.

communalism and casteism and the politics of it:
Nothing more than a longing for the identity, and assertion of it.
Mainly seen in the back drop to two end of the spectrum, American and Chinese.
One too new, other too old.
One is too open and market driven, other too close and communist (not anymore though). But both have one thing in common, a clear definition of identity.

Somehow under Nahru, likes of JNU and borrowed European ideas, Indian never had one defined and refined identity.
I don't blame Nehru for that; I don't mean jingoism either; neither I mean one land, one religion, one culture, one people.
I just mean a philosophical clarity in what being an Indian means, with all its faults and flaws, and what and how to refine.
Again the same 10% at fault, under that awe and complex of white masters.

I know I am talking more than I know, but it is fun.
Katju tum sangharsh karo,
Hum tumhare saath hain.
:D