07-10-2006, 11:37 AM
Dear Barkha,
You are one of the journalists (including men and women) whom I used to admire. Yes, I used to. Not anymore. My opinion on you might not make any great difference to you but trust me there are lotâs of young girls like me who feel the same. You might not even know it for the kind of audience you get in your show is hypocrites and happily say yes to whatever you speak or opine. I know lots of such young women who feel the same like me. Be it the general elections, the Shankaracharya issue, gender based issues or even political issues, your opinions (including your channel) are always one-sided and clearly partial. Undoubtedly, your thinking has been influenced to an extent by your mother Prabha Dutt (no offence whatsoever), who I think was much better and clear thinking person. Ever wondered why your mother didnât agitate when she was denied a job in HT initially? Why didnât she retaliate when she was bluntly said that the company did not hire women reporters? Why did she retaliate after an American application was considered? It clearly implies that as a journalist she did respect HTâs hiring policy at that point in time but she thought of retaliating it when an American application was considered instead of herself who had taken in written that whenever HT introduced policy of hiring women reporters, she would be the first one to be hired. This is what I call drawing lines.
Feminism doesnât mean that we have to agitate against everything thatâs not in our favor. There are certain things that are not in favor of male counterparts either. There is a distinction between following customs blindly and having faith in a particular tradition. The examples that Rahul took yesterday in your show- We the People about Sati and other social customs were man made and undoubtedly evils that women had to combat with in those times. How can you even compare social evils like these with age old traditions that people have been respecting and following? At least, have the decency and sense of fairness in inviting a balanced panel in your shows. On one hand, you invited people like Swami Agnivesh (or whatever his name is) who is a known Hinduism basher, hardcore feminists and Parvathi Khan who claims that she is a devotee of Lord Shiva but is ignorant about his family members and doesnât know the A B C of the traditions followed by Shabarimala and its devotees and calls Lord Ayyappa âthat personâ and on the other hand, you brought a 23 year old so called writer-philosopher Rahul all the way from Thiruvananthapuram to make him look like a national fool. Why didnât you have the heart to call someone of all those male bashing feminists and Hinduism basher Swami Agniveshâs caliber? You may not be knowing or have observed the traditions followed closely by the devotees of Shabarimala but I have. Iâm a girl and Iâve been watching the devotees of Lord Ayyappa since my childhood. These questions rose in my mind too but it didnât take time for me to understand that certain faiths and beliefs are much beyond gender issues. As a girl I respect the traditions that the devotees of celibate God Ayyappa follow. Iâve seen the same males respecting the âgodly boundariesâ that allow only women to practice 'vrath' for goddesses like Lakshmi and Durga. If you call the Shabarimala temple gender biased then all those temples that allow only women are also gender biased.
Thanks to people like you, Hinduism doesnât need enemies from outside. You claimed that we (the gullible audience) wouldnât have retaliated had it been targeted against some other faith. Trust me, you wouldnât have been even spared. Donât even dare to attempt it. Enjoy the liberty that our religion gives!
Iâm not writing this letter to make you realize or understand the difference between following something blindly and respecting traditions. Iâm sure an intelligent woman like you shouldnât take much time to understand the distinction. Itâs not the understanding capability but a clean and clear heart and conscience that you need to acknowledge that there are boundaries existing for each and every living creature on this earth whether you like it or not. Donât try to mix blind faith, social evils and unnecessary customs with faith in God and certain traditions followed to attain peace of mind.
Thank you.
You are one of the journalists (including men and women) whom I used to admire. Yes, I used to. Not anymore. My opinion on you might not make any great difference to you but trust me there are lotâs of young girls like me who feel the same. You might not even know it for the kind of audience you get in your show is hypocrites and happily say yes to whatever you speak or opine. I know lots of such young women who feel the same like me. Be it the general elections, the Shankaracharya issue, gender based issues or even political issues, your opinions (including your channel) are always one-sided and clearly partial. Undoubtedly, your thinking has been influenced to an extent by your mother Prabha Dutt (no offence whatsoever), who I think was much better and clear thinking person. Ever wondered why your mother didnât agitate when she was denied a job in HT initially? Why didnât she retaliate when she was bluntly said that the company did not hire women reporters? Why did she retaliate after an American application was considered? It clearly implies that as a journalist she did respect HTâs hiring policy at that point in time but she thought of retaliating it when an American application was considered instead of herself who had taken in written that whenever HT introduced policy of hiring women reporters, she would be the first one to be hired. This is what I call drawing lines.
Feminism doesnât mean that we have to agitate against everything thatâs not in our favor. There are certain things that are not in favor of male counterparts either. There is a distinction between following customs blindly and having faith in a particular tradition. The examples that Rahul took yesterday in your show- We the People about Sati and other social customs were man made and undoubtedly evils that women had to combat with in those times. How can you even compare social evils like these with age old traditions that people have been respecting and following? At least, have the decency and sense of fairness in inviting a balanced panel in your shows. On one hand, you invited people like Swami Agnivesh (or whatever his name is) who is a known Hinduism basher, hardcore feminists and Parvathi Khan who claims that she is a devotee of Lord Shiva but is ignorant about his family members and doesnât know the A B C of the traditions followed by Shabarimala and its devotees and calls Lord Ayyappa âthat personâ and on the other hand, you brought a 23 year old so called writer-philosopher Rahul all the way from Thiruvananthapuram to make him look like a national fool. Why didnât you have the heart to call someone of all those male bashing feminists and Hinduism basher Swami Agniveshâs caliber? You may not be knowing or have observed the traditions followed closely by the devotees of Shabarimala but I have. Iâm a girl and Iâve been watching the devotees of Lord Ayyappa since my childhood. These questions rose in my mind too but it didnât take time for me to understand that certain faiths and beliefs are much beyond gender issues. As a girl I respect the traditions that the devotees of celibate God Ayyappa follow. Iâve seen the same males respecting the âgodly boundariesâ that allow only women to practice 'vrath' for goddesses like Lakshmi and Durga. If you call the Shabarimala temple gender biased then all those temples that allow only women are also gender biased.
Thanks to people like you, Hinduism doesnât need enemies from outside. You claimed that we (the gullible audience) wouldnât have retaliated had it been targeted against some other faith. Trust me, you wouldnât have been even spared. Donât even dare to attempt it. Enjoy the liberty that our religion gives!
Iâm not writing this letter to make you realize or understand the difference between following something blindly and respecting traditions. Iâm sure an intelligent woman like you shouldnât take much time to understand the distinction. Itâs not the understanding capability but a clean and clear heart and conscience that you need to acknowledge that there are boundaries existing for each and every living creature on this earth whether you like it or not. Donât try to mix blind faith, social evils and unnecessary customs with faith in God and certain traditions followed to attain peace of mind.
Thank you.