I commend a beautifully articulated piece by Farah Baria (‘Gay like Us’, IE, August 26). Her views are precisely the ones I have come to hold as a 71-year-old gay man, although I seriously doubt I could have stated them as succinctly as she has. She have done all homosexual people worldwide a distinct service, and delivered an effective blow toward dismantling the widespread net of bigotry that continues to strangle and oppress gay people in India, and elsewhere. Not long after I became an adult, I outed myself — one step at a time, in conversations, lectures, articles, books (authored by others), and then on the internet. Like your protagonist, being completely out has liberated and strengthened me enormously, regardless of the fact that I am a rather masculine fellow who is routinely assumed to be straight by first-time acquaintances, until I verbally confront their misassumption. Because I am totally out, I suffer absolutely no overt discrimination from family members and working colleagues. I have a completely enjoyable and successful life and wouldn’t exchange it for any other. I feel special and very fortunate to have have been born gay. — Rustam Kothavala On e-mail • As a gay Indian, I would like to thank the writer with all my heart for her excellent, to-the-point, unapologetic and forceful article. This is probably the first time I have seen such a powerfully favourable opinion piece in the mainstream Indian media on gay rights. Kudos! — Mitul Parekh On e-mail At their mercy • The chargesheeting of Gautam Goswami is a triumph, not only for the common people of Bihar, but also for the common people of the country. Indian Express’s expose has given voice to the weak, voiceless majority, who are at the mercy of the bureaucrats in times of crisis. This sends a strong message as to how the media can be a potent weapon to make public servants accountable for their actions. — Makarand Bakore New Delhi Everybody does it • Subramanian Swamy wants Finance Minister Chidambaram to resign over the appointment of his wife, Nalini Chidambaram, as the counsel in the income tax tribunal. Why this selective discrimination? If on this impropriety Chidambram has to go, there will not remain a single minister as everyone in the UPA government, excepting the prime minister, is involved in some impropriety or other. Laloo Prasad Yadav appoints a governor of his choice for his state, every constituent party in the UPA government appoints ministers they fancy rather than one that has experience, merit and capability. Rahul Gandhi, who is yet to make a worthy speech in Parliament, is selected to accompany the PM to Afghanistan! — V.E. Venkataramani Chennai Right move • I was gratified to learn that IIT governing council has recommended toning down the syllabus for IIT-JEE to bring it at par with the 12th standard syllabus. This will, to a great extent, stop the commercialisation of entrance tests and the trauma for countless numbers of IIT aspirants. Making the syllabus of IIT-JEE tough is not the right way to select those eligible to enter the IITs. The selection should be based on the qualifying examination syllabus and should stress on the IQ of candidates. — M.R. Iyer On e-mail
