Politics is the great leveller

Sir — It has been the tragedy of recent Indian history that groups which began with noble intentions lose all of them once they enter politics. This is what is happening to Mehbooba Mufti of the People’s Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir now (“Valley allies set for bill brawl”, March 10). Or how can the lady who had once seemed to be the soothing balm to the state’s woes, support such a regressive policy as the bill that seeks to rescind the resident status of women who marry outside the state? Evidently, for Mehbooba Mufti too, Kashmiris are just a constituency, and one that excludes women.

Yours faithfully,
Jagmohan Mohapatra, Ranchi

Perks of the job

Sir — The knowledge that our members of parliament have run up unpaid bills worth crores does not surprise, given the venality pervading public affairs in India (“Court rips defaulter MPs’ cover”, March 2). As does not the news that those responsible for collecting these dues are unwilling or unable to do so.

What does shock is that these unpaid bills are despite the quantum of perquisites MPs have appropriated for themselves. Consider these figures to better appreciate the magnitude of the freeloading. MPs are allowed free telephone calls upto 1.5 lakh units — you and I would need to talk more than 20 hours a day for a year to use up so many units.

Then again, the allowance of 50,000 free units of electricity to MPs is 140 times India’s per-capita consumption. One will need to keep 100 bulbs of 60 watts burning day and night throughout the year to consume so much power.

But the provision for free water, a scarce natural resource in our country, is possibly the most grotesque. Town planners in India aim to supply 120 litres of water per capita per day — an MP gets over 90 times this amount. Even the average American, undoubtedly the most profligate consumer at 101 gallons per day, uses less than 4 per cent this amount. Would our MPs — saffron, red or any other hue — care to justify why they need so much?

Yours faithfully,
A.K. Singh, Ranchi

Sir — The report, “Indonesia most corrupt followed by India” (March 3), should come as a relief to Indians. They must also be pleased to know that, as per the survey conducted by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, India has improved slightly on the corruption scales.

Yours faithfully,
Arta Mishra, Cuttack

Elusive trophy

Sir — In spite of producing hundreds of films every year, an Indian film is yet to win an Oscar. We often praise our actors to skies. For us, Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan are demigods; and the beauty of all the angels in the heavens, put together does not add up to that of Aishwarya Rai. But all these bigwigs combined have not managed to make even one movie win a much-coveted best foreign language film award.

Instead of making films like Lagaan, Indian directors are nowadays busy putting more and more “steam” into their movies, as a result of which they evaporate in no time at all (look at Tum). Not that flesh should be forbidden. Many recent Oscar winners like Bridget Jones’ Diary or Titanic have had plenty of bare skin in them. But it is different from the kind dished-out continuously by our film industry. When will we make movies of the ilk of The Lord of the Rings?

Yours faithfully,
Hemant Krishna V., Bangalore

Sir — The Lord of the Rings, which won 11 Oscars, is an excellent movie, in terms of story and picturization. Only two films have ever managed this feat — Benhur (1959) and Titanic (1989). How long will it be before an Indian film wins an Oscar?

Yours faithfully,
Dhananjay Garg, Nagpur