Ashokamitran's letter to R.P.Rajanayahem
A rejoinder to 'Outlook' Polemics in 2005
NOT A WORD IS WRITTEN BY THE INTERVIEWEE !
- ASHOKAMITRAN
ASHOKAMITRAN (J. THIYAGARAJAN)
FLAT -7, 1A, 9TH CROSS AVENUE,
DANDEESWARAM, VELACHERY,
CHENNAI-600 042.
Date: 31.05.2005
DEAR R.P.RAJANAYAHEM,
Your kind letter.
I am extremely pained at the reactions of some friends to my ‘article’ in the Delhi Magazine.
I am a computer illiterate and I have no way of knowing what appeared in the internet magazine. But both pieces are the result of a ten-minute telephone conversation with the correspondent. Nothing was put on paper, neither the questions nor the answers. In the printed article, there are quite a few terms I do not use at all. Also the tone is not mine.
Since the questions were focussed on Tamil Brahmins, naturally the answers related to them. My concerns have always been about the not-so-brilliant, not-so-successful people of all sections of people. Not just Brahmins.
In India, with a lot of construction work going on, it is a good period for tradesmen, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, masons, etc. But how much of what they earn goes to the well-being of their families, the education of their children? This applies to brahmins also, especially cooks. Much of their hard-earned money goes for gambling and having a merry time.
All that appears in a periodical, Tamil or English, need not be cent percent authentic and true, especially when not a word is written by the interviewee.
It is very difficult to convey the tone of the answers. As a general rule, no magazine publishes an originally written article unless the editor determines the theme. The correspondents execute the theme by interviews. In my case, it was a telephone interview and so prone to distortion and errors. And I had no control over what finally appeared in print.
This makes it all the more important for a reader to exercise her or his own judgement, not merely go by what is published.
Yours Sincerely,
ASHOKAMITRAN
...............................................................................
http://rprajanayahem.blogspot.in/…/my-concern-is-always-wit…
http://rprajanayahem.blogspot.in/2008/06/lofty-scenes.html
http://rprajanayahem.blogspot.in/…/out-look-9-is-not-11.html
https://www.facebook.com/rprajanayahem/posts/1482726581940803?pnref=story
FLAT -7, 1A, 9TH CROSS AVENUE,
DANDEESWARAM, VELACHERY,
CHENNAI-600 042.
Date: 31.05.2005
DEAR R.P.RAJANAYAHEM,
Your kind letter.
I am extremely pained at the reactions of some friends to my ‘article’ in the Delhi Magazine.
I am a computer illiterate and I have no way of knowing what appeared in the internet magazine. But both pieces are the result of a ten-minute telephone conversation with the correspondent. Nothing was put on paper, neither the questions nor the answers. In the printed article, there are quite a few terms I do not use at all. Also the tone is not mine.
Since the questions were focussed on Tamil Brahmins, naturally the answers related to them. My concerns have always been about the not-so-brilliant, not-so-successful people of all sections of people. Not just Brahmins.
In India, with a lot of construction work going on, it is a good period for tradesmen, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, masons, etc. But how much of what they earn goes to the well-being of their families, the education of their children? This applies to brahmins also, especially cooks. Much of their hard-earned money goes for gambling and having a merry time.
All that appears in a periodical, Tamil or English, need not be cent percent authentic and true, especially when not a word is written by the interviewee.
It is very difficult to convey the tone of the answers. As a general rule, no magazine publishes an originally written article unless the editor determines the theme. The correspondents execute the theme by interviews. In my case, it was a telephone interview and so prone to distortion and errors. And I had no control over what finally appeared in print.
This makes it all the more important for a reader to exercise her or his own judgement, not merely go by what is published.
Yours Sincerely,
ASHOKAMITRAN
...............................................................................
http://rprajanayahem.blogspot.in/…/my-concern-is-always-wit…
http://rprajanayahem.blogspot.in/2008/06/lofty-scenes.html
http://rprajanayahem.blogspot.in/…/out-look-9-is-not-11.html
https://www.facebook.com/rprajanayahem/posts/1482726581940803?pnref=story
Sadly that is the limitation for an author.
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