Opinion Book is intact
No one who reads the review of my book The Artist of Disappearance should be misled to think that the text is incomplete.
Book is intact
* No one who reads the review of my book The Artist of Disappearance (The Late Style,IE,July 23) should be misled to think that the text is incomplete. Please be assured that Random House India did not cut several pages or even a single line. They have published it exactly as I wrote it and as it is published elsewhere. It was not my intention to write in the style of a Victorian novel and follow every character to his or her end. The novella dealt only with the coming together,at a precise place and time,of two different trajectories,followed by their divergence.
Anita Desai,On email
Doublespeak
* Apropos the interaction with Digvijaya Singh (Idea exchange,IE,August 7),he claims that no other government has taken strong action against allies,bureaucrats,ministers and corporates on charges of corruption. But then no other government was besieged with so many scams and scandals in such a short span of time as the incumbent. Besides,if,as Singh says,Suresh Kalmadi is innocent until proven guilty in court,why then is he blaming Hindu radicals for terrorist activities when cases against them are still pending in courts?
Y.G. Chouksey,Pune
Comparing notes
* In his column,Sudheendra Kulkarni mentions the fact that the Norwegian militant Anders Behring Breivik has made some approving references to Hindutva (Breivik and RSS,IE,August 7). Kulkarni tries to defend the RSS and to distance the organisations doctrine from Breiviks ideas as expounded in his manifesto,but he fails to elucidate how different is the RSSs doctrine vis-a-vis Muslims from that of militant Christians like Breivik. Kulkarni couldnt explain either how Breivik has (wrongly) understood Hindutva. Merely referring to K.T. Thomas,a former judge of the Supreme Court and a self-confessed practising Christian who praised the RSS,is not good enough.
Rufus DSouza,Pune
Rescue session
* This refers to the editorial The House groove (IE,August 6). The monsoon session is an opportunity for parliamentarians to get their pending work done. The first few days of the session were,as expected,volatile,with the opposition grilling the government over the 2G scandal,the land acquisition bill,price rise,the Lokpal issue,etc. But then,good sense seemed to have prevailed and the MPs conducted business seriously. This should be sustained. There are many bills that require the consideration of Parliament,the most important being the Lokpal bill. If theres a forward movement on tackling corruption,then the rest of the session would fall in place. For that,the ruling coalition and the opposition should find a meeting ground.
R.K. Kapoor,Chandigarh
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