I’ve been on Twitter for quite some time now and have figured out what it takes to be a hit (Look Who’s Chasing...The Twitter Gods, Apr 16). One, you need to start with satire; which is why @rameshsrivats or @fakingnews have the maximum following. You can get away with choicest abuse in the name of satire; boundary, language, caste, and sex are no bar. Next, you need to be anti-Congress, pro-rss/bjp, take digs at the Gandhi-Nehru family on the slightest pretext and pour venom on Rahul to underline your patriotic credentials. Third, you have to be against the media, especially electronic. Guys like @kiranks, @mediacrooks or @wordofthefreepress make a living on Twitter by reviling Sagarika, Rajdeep, Arnab, Barkha, Suhel Seth et al, jumping at even the odd grammatical error in their tweets. Lastly, a you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours policy ups your follower count like nothing else. Get anyone you know and the world knows to RT any of your tweets and lo and behold the entire list of followers of genuine celebs gets transferred to you. In short, the Indian Twitterati, like the rest of the country, has a long way to go before they become responsible citizens of a mature democracy. Rage and rant are necessary but not sufficient elements in discourse. Genuine concern, a positive frame of mind and feedback will do a world of good to our Twitter rebels-without-a-cause.

Chetan T.A., Bangalore

Twitter has certainly provided a platform for expression—and a fair variety of it too, by assorted people, in good, bad, appreciative or even abusive language. Its biggest advantage is its limited text restrictions, and hence the to-the-pointness.

Pramod Srivastava, New Delhi

People have the tendency to reject something they do not use or do not know how to use. I know someone who has generated funds just by tweeting for a rural school near Bhopal and has opened a ‘clothes bank’ for rural women. Even `28 was trending big at one point.

Lata, Madrid

Twitter gets your message across so effectively that you don’t have to be a grammar freak. Your 140-character composition, however weird, gets attention here. No wonder tweeting has become a way of life for many of our celebs.

K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore

Britney Spears has more followers than Obama. Chomsky says Twitter is killing our cognition power. Long live the Twitter generation.

Abhishek Sharma, on e-mail

Anything that promotes narcissism and herd mentality has got to be pathetic.

Vanderluzt, New Delhi

For me, Twitter stands for Truant Ways of Individuals to Torment Efficient Ranks.

Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi

So, do these people qualify for the Padmashri?

Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh

What is it in the Twitter world, twit for twat or twat for twit?

Harsh Rai Puri, Bhopal

Twitter-sponsored article?

Hiren Daftari, on e-mail

It was a pleasure to read Bharat Bhushan’s piece on Burma (Daw Of Democracy, Apr 16). It is now clear that the struggle for democracy launched by Suu Kyi all those years ago with such single-mindedness has begun bearing fruit. The election results, however cosmetic, are bound to boost the morale of nld cadres and others involved in the drive to end the rule of the military junta. The junta, too, appears to be going ahead with its commitment of introducing political reforms. The world community needs to have a fresh look at the UN sanctions imposed on Myanmar, which have only hurt the common man.

Padmini Raghavendra, Secunderabad

Surely the elections, and before that the lifting of the house arrest of Suu Kyi, are comparable to the surge of hope South Africans felt after Nelson Mandela’s release.

Ashok Lal, Mumbai

Apropos As The Temple Bells Beckon, unlike China, India makes no attempt to foster relationships with Myanmar, though ties have been friendly from historical times. China maintains a close watch not only on Myanmar’s citizens and their welfare, but seizes every opportunity to build economic and defence ties. The Indian community, once so dominant, has faded away from the mainstream and consciousness. Bagan, known earlier as Pagan, had a celebrated Vinayaka temple built by merchants from south India in the 13th century. With the decline of  Nalanda at the end of the 12th century with the spread of Islam, large groups of monks in search of a new home found refuge at Bagan, which became the new centre of Buddhist learning for India and Myanmar. The beautiful paintings found there are said to have been a synthesis of Indian and Myanmarese art. India has every reason to do more to expand ties.

There is a faintly ominous ring to the West Bengal CM’s move to exclude several English and Bengali newspapers from state-funded public libraries (Words in Coarse Print, Apr 16). Didi must realise that if the people of the state were smart enough to elect her, they also have the intellectual wherewithal to choose their newspapers without her help. It’s the librarian who must decide which newspapers to procure. Mamata has conveniently forgotten that her dramatic rise to power in Bengal was massively helped by the coverage in the free press in the state.

K.S. Jayatheertha, Bangalore

Mamata’s comments on the government circular on selected newspapers are full of ambiguity. The circular was issued by the library services and mass education department of the state government. She has said that she took the step to support the small newspapers in the districts. But, ironically, the journals named in the circular are from the big houses. On the other hand, the state department of information and cultural affairs has passed an order to all district information officers to stop all government ads in small newspapers in all 19 districts. By passing this order, Mamata actually hits at district newspapers, which mainly depend on government ads. The fact is that we have a CM who can’t tolerate any criticism.

S. Biswas, Kalyani

Mamata Banerjee’s ‘progressive’ government is now stifling the fundamental right to read and express one’s opinion. Leaders like her forget history, and attempt in vain to muzzle discordant voices. It will only serve to raise the voices of protest. Mamata’s nomination of four obedient newspaper owner-editors as Rajya Sabha candidates show her way of thinking well.

Uttam K. Bhowmik, Tamluk

The largely unnoticed thing about the Congress unit of Andhra Pradesh (Slow Road to Perdition, Apr 16) is that Sonia Gandhi is losing control. No one in the unit listens to her anymore.

Ganesan, New Jersey

The CBI is out to damage my reputation, alleges Jaganmohan Reddy in his interview. It’s indeed sad to see a corrupt politician like him gain ascendancy.

Meher Kumar Mutnuri, Hyderabad

Jaganmohan Reddy’s bravado is pathetic, laughable and shameful. He’s the embodiment of corruption in AP politics. His late father’s welfare schemes have earned him some default sympathy and goodwill, and his being Christian gets him some community support. He is indeed gaining in influence, but it will be a sad day indeed if he comes to power.

G. Niranjan Rao, Hyderabad

Jaganmohan could well win the next elections, become CM—and yes, even join the UPA by declaring Sonia Amma the living god of India.

Ramki, Delhi

It is not surprising that the University of Mumbai (The Spires Spiral Down, Apr 16) is in decline. Dr Rajan Welukar was a bad choice for vice-chancellor and he seems to have done enough to confirm everyone’s worst fears.

Sudhir Badami, Mumbai

Achieving excellence is just a slogan for institutions of higher learning. Most of the energy of higher-ups in universities is used up in maintaining power through lobbying.

Priyanka Korde, Ahmedabad

That even semi-PSUs like BEML can be a conduit for kickbacks while assembling CKD trucks is an eye-opener (No Truck with the Devil, Apr 16). Many other semi-PSUs are also doing assembly work on aircraft, missiles etc; it might be wise to run a check here too. A simple starting point would be whether, say, the assembled aircraft is costlier than flyaway imports and whether the assimilated technology is worthwhile. Being the largest arms importer in the world, in the long run we’ll have to go indigenous. Putting a full stop to the loot, getting the drdo, public and private sector to work together will be crucial.

Air Cmdre Raghubir Singh (retd), Pune

MoD’s purchase committee has a finance ministry representative, AS&FA. BEML’s board of directors also has government nominees. They cannot be absolved. No surprises if the trail leads all the way back to 1986 to the regime of you-know-who.

A.K. Saxena, Delhi

After May, all this will be forgotten; the new chief will induct 600 more trucks.

Arun Sathaye, Indore

History repeats itself. In 1962 we had a callous defence minister who led us to the slaughter against the Chinese. Fifty years on, we have another one, honest and sincere but ineffective to the core. And strangely, again he’s a Keralite. vB.T. Subbaiah, Napoklu, Kodagu

The Tatragate clarification by Antony and the general, far from salvaging army morale, has only damaged it more.

J.B. Sunuwar, Jalpaiguri

For god’s sake, next time dear PM, select a defence minister who is man enough for the role.

Col Romy Sakharia, Kochi

Post-’90s, with the arms lobbies in full flow, it was an unspoken norm to give the defence portfolio to the least corrupt candidate. But challenging the status quo has always been a Herculean task. Many chose to stay mum, others like George Fernandes struggled to hold the post. Antony, clinging to his squeaky-clean image, even refuses to acknowledge the issue.

S. Bengani, on e-mail

We have to blame the drdo for our present plight, for it continues to gobble up thousands of crores from the Consolidated Fund of India to design worthless products. Even A.P.J. Kalam could not ‘ignite’ minds there.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu, Alappuzha

The Tatra Sipox-BEML deal was inked in 1997, when Deve Gowda was PM and Mulayam Singh was defence minister (“He said sir, yeh kya kiya”). Was this the deal son Kumaraswamy was pitching before he was hurriedly removed from the mound?

Arvind Khanna, Delhi

Why just BEML, the Military Engineering Services are routinely referred to as ‘Money Earning Services’ by the business contractors who deal with it, as they have to submit inflated bills.

Hiroo Advani, on e-mail

That’s the truth, Brig I.M. Singh. Tell the truth, and you get shivved and shipped out.

S.S. Kere, Richmond, US

Now at least will the few who see the writing on the wall come together and act politically? The time is nigh, we need a JP or even a Gandhi to save this blighted country.

Marudhamuthu, Chennai

I am being very charitable to the Indian Express when I say someone pulled their chain (Smog of War). Otherwise, the whole episode had ‘dirty tricks’ and disinformation written all over it.

Apropos The Bigger Beyond (Apr 16), Sasikala and her coterie’s plot to dethrone Jayalalitha misfired, and with the DMK showing no signs of welcoming them, her return to the AIADMK after a patch- up was expected.

K.R. Srinivasan, Secunderabad

Karunanidhi wonders if CM Jayalalitha has Aladdin’s lamp to mobilise the Rs 15 lakh crore required for her ambitious Vision 2023. Sasikala, though, needed no such lamp to walk into Poes Garden after her brief estrangement with Jaya. It’s hard to believe Jaya was unaware of what transpired between Sasikala and her scheming relatives. Nor could Sasikala have been not privy to the conspiracy by her hangers-on to unseat Jaya, in the event of an adverse verdict in the disproportionate assets case. Now, after the reunion, there will be a scramble among Sasikala’s relatives to latch on to her bandwagon again.

K.R. Narasimhan, Chennai

What poor reporting on Dalit suicides in premier institutes (The Killing of Shambukas, April 16). An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, I know at least one case in the list—of Madhuri Sale—was one of a failed love affair. At IIT, there was general disdain among rich students for those who weren’t so well-off, but this wasn’t caste-specific. The trouble is, many students who enter premier institutes on quotas and find themselves unequal to the academic challenge tend to distance themselves. This feeds the complexes growing in them and at the same time puts them further from the help they might seek from others. Those who did not have such problems—indeed, there are those who enter the institutes on merit and yet find themselves challenged by the course—found support in their peers and managed to pass out. Suicides were common at IIT Kanpur. Mostly they were of upper castes.

Anurag Gupta, Corvallis, US

Once I was proud of being an IISc, Bangalore alumnus. Now I feel ashamed.

V. Narayanan, on e-mail

It’s tough to interpret the numbers S. Anand gives without comparative statistics for non-Dalits. Indian academic institutes can be hellish for anyone without a thick skin, whatever their caste.

K.V. Bapa Rao, Los Angeles

If casteism is the hatred an individual bears for those who don’t belong to a group, the writer could well be accused of casteism himself.

Gaurab Banerjee, Calcutta

There have been four suicides in the IITs in 2011—all Brahmins, three from rural areas, the fourth in a relationship. What can one make of it?

Shaturya, Lucknow

In global terms, these so-called centres of excellence are no more than also-rans. In decades of existence, have they produced one Nobel laureate? Justice must be done to the innumerable Shambukas these institutions kill.

Shuddhodhan Aher, Mumbai

How can the caste system be eradicated when group after group is fighting to get itself listed as backward to avail of reservations?

Achuta Bhat, on e-mail

I must thank Aravind Adiga for mentioning my Kannada novel Swapna Saraswatha in his Bangalore Diary (April 16). I don’t know if Mr Adiga has finished reading it; I hope he enjoys it.

Gopalakrishna Pai, Bangalore

I love Adiga’s writing—the way his stories and characters progress, the overarching social commentary, irony, and descriptions of inanimate objects. We need more writers like him, who confront the ‘norm’, yet entertain at the same time.

Beverly Almeida, Ballarat, Australia

Though I always start reading Outlook from the last page, it often disappoints me. Not this time though—Aravind Adiga’s piece was thrilling!

C.V. Francis, Delhi

When I moved to Bangalore over a year ago from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, it still had the reputation of being a vacation town, perfect in its weather and unhurried way of life. Therefore, I was surprised to see how Bangalore had moved on. By then, it was thick in the throes of a transition to being a metropolis. I now live in the US, and visit the city once a year. Each visit surprises me in one way or the other—be it the closing of the India Coffee House or Gangaram’s or Fuga, or some new establishments.

Vijay Nadadur, Lexington, US

I’ve seen Bangalore gradually lose its old-world charm. The last time I stayed for any length of time was in June 2001 near Russel Market; from there I’d take an autorickshaw to Majestic. Today the city is a commuter’s nightmare, and the infrastructure is on the verge of collapse. And with bars proliferating like flies, people from all classes are getting drunk like never before. These days, I stay at the Century Club, and get a feel of old Bangalore by taking a walk in Cubbon Park. It depresses me, this steady erosion of all that made the city unique.

W.G., Chennai

There are so many complaints about Bangalore, yet people don’t stop coming here! People like Adiga are the source of Bangalore’s problems—they are non-residents, yet buy property as ‘investment’. And people like us have to pay through our noses for an affordable square foot. For Bangalore’s biggest product is not IT, it is real estate. The IT firms don’t pay tax to the state, but stamp duty on real estate sales brings in about Rs 15,000 crore every fiscal. Everyone in the world except native-born Bangaloreans or Kannadigas own property in the city. And everyone new to Bangalore hates Kannada and Kannadigas—we are the fly in the ointment for them. Ironically, western expats who are ‘accidental Bangaloreans’ speak fluent Kannada.

Sharath, Bangalore

Mr Adiga, you must be the real Kannadiga, for you travelled great lengths to watch a Tamil movie in Karnataka’s capital. For balance, you could have watched a Kannada movie as well. Speaking of Bangalore, our greedy politicians destroyed what was once heaven by allowing unplanned growth!

Srikrishna Bhagwan, New York

Adiga’s diary was an uninspiring space-filler at best!

Thrivikram Kona, Hyderabad

Arundhati Roy’s diatribe on the hydra called corporate greed is old-fashioned pamphleteering cast in post-modern dissonance (Capitalism..., Mar 26). Her rave and rant shares one trait with that of Marxian writers who blithely ignore Stalinist or Maoist excesses: the silences and the selective glossing over. Just that it’s applied to the new darlings of the uber-anarchists: the Taliban and the Indian Maoists. Ms Roy’s concoction is a strange, heady miasma of word-play and rose-tints, a searing call to shake off the chains of corporate funding and cavort in a mirage-like Utopia of autarchic good governance. It’s a fevered pop-psycho rendition of Rousseau’s noble savages with Thoreauesque imagery, Wordsworthian evocations of Mother Nature and Marxian/Gandhian philosophy.

Apropos Karma and Tax... (Apr 16) on the government’s plan on retrospective tax laws, it’s an established principle in law that an M&A must not solely be a tax-avoidance manoeuvre. In fact, the Bombay High Court had upheld the principle in the Vodafone case too, before the SC unexpectedly overturned it. Having said this, the retrospective amendment in the Finance Bill has been ham-handedly drafted. Though it looks to have targeted Vodafone and a few other recent cases, making the law applicable since 1962 is impractical and gives a handle to the propaganda about an uncertain tax regime. The Outlook article is part of the propaganda—it’s half the story, omitting to mention the HC verdict and well-known precedents.

The story on ads with kids in ‘adult’ situations (Spike the Punchline, Apr 16) was interesting. I have a few questions for Piyush Pandey. Why couldn’t he show two boys or two girls striking up a friendship in the Vodafone ad? Wasn’t it his intent to show the kindling of romance?

Sriram, Bangalore

Admen naturally would defend ads. Kids are being forced into adulthood and stupid people encouragingly call them cute.

Javed Mohammed, Delhi

Apropos the review of Blood Money (Apr 16), the problem with the ‘Bhatt school of film-making’ is that they pick up burning, relevant issues and then water it down horribly for mass consumption at the B-O. The final product is plain bad cinema.

I’ve been on Twitter for quite some time now and have figured out what it takes to be a hit (Look Who’s Chasing...The Twitter Gods, Apr 16). One, you need to start with satire; which is why @rameshsrivats or @fakingnews have the maximum following. You can get away with choicest abuse in the name of satire; boundary, language, caste, and sex are no bar. Next, you need to be anti-Congress, pro-rss/bjp, take digs at the Gandhi-Nehru family on the slightest pretext and pour venom on Rahul to underline your patriotic credentials. Third, you have to be against the media, especially electronic. Guys like @kiranks, @mediacrooks or @wordofthefreepress make a living on Twitter by reviling Sagarika, Rajdeep, Arnab, Barkha, Suhel Seth et al, jumping at even the odd grammatical error in their tweets. Lastly, a you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours policy ups your follower count like nothing else. Get anyone you know and the world knows to RT any of your tweets and lo and behold the entire list of followers of genuine celebs gets transferred to you. In short, the Indian Twitterati, like the rest of the country, has a long way to go before they become responsible citizens of a mature democracy. Rage and rant are necessary but not sufficient elements in discourse. Genuine concern, a positive frame of mind and feedback will do a world of good to our Twitter rebels-without-a-cause.

Chetan T.A., Bangalore

Twitter has certainly provided a platform for expression—and a fair variety of it too, by assorted people, in good, bad, appreciative or even abusive language. Its biggest advantage is its limited text restrictions, and hence the to-the-pointness.

Pramod Srivastava, New Delhi

People have the tendency to reject something they do not use or do not know how to use. I know someone who has generated funds just by tweeting for a rural school near Bhopal and has opened a ‘clothes bank’ for rural women. Even `28 was trending big at one point.

Lata, Madrid

Twitter gets your message across so effectively that you don’t have to be a grammar freak. Your 140-character composition, however weird, gets attention here. No wonder tweeting has become a way of life for many of our celebs.

K. Chidanand Kumar, Bangalore

Britney Spears has more followers than Obama. Chomsky says Twitter is killing our cognition power. Long live the Twitter generation.

Abhishek Sharma, on e-mail

Anything that promotes narcissism and herd mentality has got to be pathetic.

Vanderluzt, New Delhi

For me, Twitter stands for Truant Ways of Individuals to Torment Efficient Ranks.

Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi

So, do these people qualify for the Padmashri?

Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh

What is it in the Twitter world, twit for twat or twat for twit?

Harsh Rai Puri, Bhopal

Twitter-sponsored article?

Hiren Daftari, on e-mail

It was a pleasure to read Bharat Bhushan’s piece on Burma (Daw Of Democracy, Apr 16). It is now clear that the struggle for democracy launched by Suu Kyi all those years ago with such single-mindedness has begun bearing fruit. The election results, however cosmetic, are bound to boost the morale of nld cadres and others involved in the drive to end the rule of the military junta. The junta, too, appears to be going ahead with its commitment of introducing political reforms. The world community needs to have a fresh look at the UN sanctions imposed on Myanmar, which have only hurt the common man.

Padmini Raghavendra, Secunderabad

Surely the elections, and before that the lifting of the house arrest of Suu Kyi, are comparable to the surge of hope South Africans felt after Nelson Mandela’s release.

Ashok Lal, Mumbai

Apropos As The Temple Bells Beckon, unlike China, India makes no attempt to foster relationships with Myanmar, though ties have been friendly from historical times. China maintains a close watch not only on Myanmar’s citizens and their welfare, but seizes every opportunity to build economic and defence ties. The Indian community, once so dominant, has faded away from the mainstream and consciousness. Bagan, known earlier as Pagan, had a celebrated Vinayaka temple built by merchants from south India in the 13th century. With the decline of  Nalanda at the end of the 12th century with the spread of Islam, large groups of monks in search of a new home found refuge at Bagan, which became the new centre of Buddhist learning for India and Myanmar. The beautiful paintings found there are said to have been a synthesis of Indian and Myanmarese art. India has every reason to do more to expand ties.

There is a faintly ominous ring to the West Bengal CM’s move to exclude several English and Bengali newspapers from state-funded public libraries (Words in Coarse Print, Apr 16). Didi must realise that if the people of the state were smart enough to elect her, they also have the intellectual wherewithal to choose their newspapers without her help. It’s the librarian who must decide which newspapers to procure. Mamata has conveniently forgotten that her dramatic rise to power in Bengal was massively helped by the coverage in the free press in the state.

K.S. Jayatheertha, Bangalore

Mamata’s comments on the government circular on selected newspapers are full of ambiguity. The circular was issued by the library services and mass education department of the state government. She has said that she took the step to support the small newspapers in the districts. But, ironically, the journals named in the circular are from the big houses. On the other hand, the state department of information and cultural affairs has passed an order to all district information officers to stop all government ads in small newspapers in all 19 districts. By passing this order, Mamata actually hits at district newspapers, which mainly depend on government ads. The fact is that we have a CM who can’t tolerate any criticism.

S. Biswas, Kalyani

Mamata Banerjee’s ‘progressive’ government is now stifling the fundamental right to read and express one’s opinion. Leaders like her forget history, and attempt in vain to muzzle discordant voices. It will only serve to raise the voices of protest. Mamata’s nomination of four obedient newspaper owner-editors as Rajya Sabha candidates show her way of thinking well.

Uttam K. Bhowmik, Tamluk

The largely unnoticed thing about the Congress unit of Andhra Pradesh (Slow Road to Perdition, Apr 16) is that Sonia Gandhi is losing control. No one in the unit listens to her anymore.

Ganesan, New Jersey

The CBI is out to damage my reputation, alleges Jaganmohan Reddy in his interview. It’s indeed sad to see a corrupt politician like him gain ascendancy.

Meher Kumar Mutnuri, Hyderabad

Jaganmohan Reddy’s bravado is pathetic, laughable and shameful. He’s the embodiment of corruption in AP politics. His late father’s welfare schemes have earned him some default sympathy and goodwill, and his being Christian gets him some community support. He is indeed gaining in influence, but it will be a sad day indeed if he comes to power.

G. Niranjan Rao, Hyderabad

Jaganmohan could well win the next elections, become CM—and yes, even join the UPA by declaring Sonia Amma the living god of India.

Ramki, Delhi

It is not surprising that the University of Mumbai (The Spires Spiral Down, Apr 16) is in decline. Dr Rajan Welukar was a bad choice for vice-chancellor and he seems to have done enough to confirm everyone’s worst fears.

Sudhir Badami, Mumbai

Achieving excellence is just a slogan for institutions of higher learning. Most of the energy of higher-ups in universities is used up in maintaining power through lobbying.

Priyanka Korde, Ahmedabad

That even semi-PSUs like BEML can be a conduit for kickbacks while assembling CKD trucks is an eye-opener (No Truck with the Devil, Apr 16). Many other semi-PSUs are also doing assembly work on aircraft, missiles etc; it might be wise to run a check here too. A simple starting point would be whether, say, the assembled aircraft is costlier than flyaway imports and whether the assimilated technology is worthwhile. Being the largest arms importer in the world, in the long run we’ll have to go indigenous. Putting a full stop to the loot, getting the drdo, public and private sector to work together will be crucial.

Air Cmdre Raghubir Singh (retd), Pune

MoD’s purchase committee has a finance ministry representative, AS&FA. BEML’s board of directors also has government nominees. They cannot be absolved. No surprises if the trail leads all the way back to 1986 to the regime of you-know-who.

A.K. Saxena, Delhi

After May, all this will be forgotten; the new chief will induct 600 more trucks.

Arun Sathaye, Indore

History repeats itself. In 1962 we had a callous defence minister who led us to the slaughter against the Chinese. Fifty years on, we have another one, honest and sincere but ineffective to the core. And strangely, again he’s a Keralite. vB.T. Subbaiah, Napoklu, Kodagu

The Tatragate clarification by Antony and the general, far from salvaging army morale, has only damaged it more.

J.B. Sunuwar, Jalpaiguri

For god’s sake, next time dear PM, select a defence minister who is man enough for the role.

Col Romy Sakharia, Kochi

Post-’90s, with the arms lobbies in full flow, it was an unspoken norm to give the defence portfolio to the least corrupt candidate. But challenging the status quo has always been a Herculean task. Many chose to stay mum, others like George Fernandes struggled to hold the post. Antony, clinging to his squeaky-clean image, even refuses to acknowledge the issue.

S. Bengani, on e-mail

We have to blame the drdo for our present plight, for it continues to gobble up thousands of crores from the Consolidated Fund of India to design worthless products. Even A.P.J. Kalam could not ‘ignite’ minds there.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu, Alappuzha

The Tatra Sipox-BEML deal was inked in 1997, when Deve Gowda was PM and Mulayam Singh was defence minister (“He said sir, yeh kya kiya”). Was this the deal son Kumaraswamy was pitching before he was hurriedly removed from the mound?

Arvind Khanna, Delhi

Why just BEML, the Military Engineering Services are routinely referred to as ‘Money Earning Services’ by the business contractors who deal with it, as they have to submit inflated bills.

Hiroo Advani, on e-mail

That’s the truth, Brig I.M. Singh. Tell the truth, and you get shivved and shipped out.

S.S. Kere, Richmond, US

Now at least will the few who see the writing on the wall come together and act politically? The time is nigh, we need a JP or even a Gandhi to save this blighted country.

Marudhamuthu, Chennai

I am being very charitable to the Indian Express when I say someone pulled their chain (Smog of War). Otherwise, the whole episode had ‘dirty tricks’ and disinformation written all over it.

Apropos The Bigger Beyond (Apr 16), Sasikala and her coterie’s plot to dethrone Jayalalitha misfired, and with the DMK showing no signs of welcoming them, her return to the AIADMK after a patch- up was expected.

K.R. Srinivasan, Secunderabad

Karunanidhi wonders if CM Jayalalitha has Aladdin’s lamp to mobilise the Rs 15 lakh crore required for her ambitious Vision 2023. Sasikala, though, needed no such lamp to walk into Poes Garden after her brief estrangement with Jaya. It’s hard to believe Jaya was unaware of what transpired between Sasikala and her scheming relatives. Nor could Sasikala have been not privy to the conspiracy by her hangers-on to unseat Jaya, in the event of an adverse verdict in the disproportionate assets case. Now, after the reunion, there will be a scramble among Sasikala’s relatives to latch on to her bandwagon again.

K.R. Narasimhan, Chennai

What poor reporting on Dalit suicides in premier institutes (The Killing of Shambukas, April 16). An alumnus of IIT Kanpur, I know at least one case in the list—of Madhuri Sale—was one of a failed love affair. At IIT, there was general disdain among rich students for those who weren’t so well-off, but this wasn’t caste-specific. The trouble is, many students who enter premier institutes on quotas and find themselves unequal to the academic challenge tend to distance themselves. This feeds the complexes growing in them and at the same time puts them further from the help they might seek from others. Those who did not have such problems—indeed, there are those who enter the institutes on merit and yet find themselves challenged by the course—found support in their peers and managed to pass out. Suicides were common at IIT Kanpur. Mostly they were of upper castes.

Anurag Gupta, Corvallis, US

Once I was proud of being an IISc, Bangalore alumnus. Now I feel ashamed.

V. Narayanan, on e-mail

It’s tough to interpret the numbers S. Anand gives without comparative statistics for non-Dalits. Indian academic institutes can be hellish for anyone without a thick skin, whatever their caste.

K.V. Bapa Rao, Los Angeles

If casteism is the hatred an individual bears for those who don’t belong to a group, the writer could well be accused of casteism himself.

Gaurab Banerjee, Calcutta

There have been four suicides in the IITs in 2011—all Brahmins, three from rural areas, the fourth in a relationship. What can one make of it?

Shaturya, Lucknow

In global terms, these so-called centres of excellence are no more than also-rans. In decades of existence, have they produced one Nobel laureate? Justice must be done to the innumerable Shambukas these institutions kill.

Shuddhodhan Aher, Mumbai

How can the caste system be eradicated when group after group is fighting to get itself listed as backward to avail of reservations?

Achuta Bhat, on e-mail

I must thank Aravind Adiga for mentioning my Kannada novel Swapna Saraswatha in his Bangalore Diary (April 16). I don’t know if Mr Adiga has finished reading it; I hope he enjoys it.

Gopalakrishna Pai, Bangalore

I love Adiga’s writing—the way his stories and characters progress, the overarching social commentary, irony, and descriptions of inanimate objects. We need more writers like him, who confront the ‘norm’, yet entertain at the same time.

Beverly Almeida, Ballarat, Australia

Though I always start reading Outlook from the last page, it often disappoints me. Not this time though—Aravind Adiga’s piece was thrilling!

C.V. Francis, Delhi

When I moved to Bangalore over a year ago from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, it still had the reputation of being a vacation town, perfect in its weather and unhurried way of life. Therefore, I was surprised to see how Bangalore had moved on. By then, it was thick in the throes of a transition to being a metropolis. I now live in the US, and visit the city once a year. Each visit surprises me in one way or the other—be it the closing of the India Coffee House or Gangaram’s or Fuga, or some new establishments.

Vijay Nadadur, Lexington, US

I’ve seen Bangalore gradually lose its old-world charm. The last time I stayed for any length of time was in June 2001 near Russel Market; from there I’d take an autorickshaw to Majestic. Today the city is a commuter’s nightmare, and the infrastructure is on the verge of collapse. And with bars proliferating like flies, people from all classes are getting drunk like never before. These days, I stay at the Century Club, and get a feel of old Bangalore by taking a walk in Cubbon Park. It depresses me, this steady erosion of all that made the city unique.

W.G., Chennai

There are so many complaints about Bangalore, yet people don’t stop coming here! People like Adiga are the source of Bangalore’s problems—they are non-residents, yet buy property as ‘investment’. And people like us have to pay through our noses for an affordable square foot. For Bangalore’s biggest product is not IT, it is real estate. The IT firms don’t pay tax to the state, but stamp duty on real estate sales brings in about Rs 15,000 crore every fiscal. Everyone in the world except native-born Bangaloreans or Kannadigas own property in the city. And everyone new to Bangalore hates Kannada and Kannadigas—we are the fly in the ointment for them. Ironically, western expats who are ‘accidental Bangaloreans’ speak fluent Kannada.

Sharath, Bangalore

Mr Adiga, you must be the real Kannadiga, for you travelled great lengths to watch a Tamil movie in Karnataka’s capital. For balance, you could have watched a Kannada movie as well. Speaking of Bangalore, our greedy politicians destroyed what was once heaven by allowing unplanned growth!

Srikrishna Bhagwan, New York

Adiga’s diary was an uninspiring space-filler at best!

Thrivikram Kona, Hyderabad

Arundhati Roy’s diatribe on the hydra called corporate greed is old-fashioned pamphleteering cast in post-modern dissonance (Capitalism..., Mar 26). Her rave and rant shares one trait with that of Marxian writers who blithely ignore Stalinist or Maoist excesses: the silences and the selective glossing over. Just that it’s applied to the new darlings of the uber-anarchists: the Taliban and the Indian Maoists. Ms Roy’s concoction is a strange, heady miasma of word-play and rose-tints, a searing call to shake off the chains of corporate funding and cavort in a mirage-like Utopia of autarchic good governance. It’s a fevered pop-psycho rendition of Rousseau’s noble savages with Thoreauesque imagery, Wordsworthian evocations of Mother Nature and Marxian/Gandhian philosophy.

Apropos Karma and Tax... (Apr 16) on the government’s plan on retrospective tax laws, it’s an established principle in law that an M&A must not solely be a tax-avoidance manoeuvre. In fact, the Bombay High Court had upheld the principle in the Vodafone case too, before the SC unexpectedly overturned it. Having said this, the retrospective amendment in the Finance Bill has been ham-handedly drafted. Though it looks to have targeted Vodafone and a few other recent cases, making the law applicable since 1962 is impractical and gives a handle to the propaganda about an uncertain tax regime. The Outlook article is part of the propaganda—it’s half the story, omitting to mention the HC verdict and well-known precedents.

The story on ads with kids in ‘adult’ situations (Spike the Punchline, Apr 16) was interesting. I have a few questions for Piyush Pandey. Why couldn’t he show two boys or two girls striking up a friendship in the Vodafone ad? Wasn’t it his intent to show the kindling of romance?

Sriram, Bangalore

Admen naturally would defend ads. Kids are being forced into adulthood and stupid people encouragingly call them cute.

Javed Mohammed, Delhi

Apropos the review of Blood Money (Apr 16), the problem with the ‘Bhatt school of film-making’ is that they pick up burning, relevant issues and then water it down horribly for mass consumption at the B-O. The final product is plain bad cinema.