Author: Tushar Sakhalar
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 31, 2002
When I was a child, I learnt quite
a few things from your paper. On returning to India after a stint abroad,
I wanted my children to absorb the same Indian values I had. I was looking
to the TOI for this and had no hesitation in subscribing to it.
However, seeing pictures of Lleyton
Hewitt and John Travolta kissing their respective girlfriends and Britney
Spears in her revealing dress on your front page made me change my views.
Your paper has departed significantly from the values it once stood for.
I find your coverage of society matters targeted only at high society pseudo-Westerners.
It is never a happy moments to say
goodbye to an old and trusted friend, but you leave me no option. I know
one reader less may mean nothing to you, but I thought I should convey
my thoughts to you to lighten my burden.
Trivialising TOI
By Dhananjay Joshi
Date: August 3, 2002
Tushar Sakhalar's letter (July 31)
echoed the sentiments of many faithful readers of The Times of India. As
a propagator of Indian values and shaper of young impressionable minds,
the TOI is hardly doing its job. It is regrettable to see pictures of sozzled
woman clutching a bottle and a macho man, or a self-deprecating article
on a flirting school adorning the front pages of the TOI. Are idle socialities
and their frivolous activities the only happenings in a vibrant city like
Mumbai? We would rather read more on Sandeep Pandey, the Magsaysay awardee,
who has done the country proud, than read the reams devoted to beauty queens.
Many readers would agree with me
that they have passed many a general knowledge\current affairs competitive
exam thanks to the TOI. Lamentably, the same kind of high standards are
not being maintained. How can children remember anything else when they
are bombarded by names of party animals and photographs of backless Lara
Dutta sipping alcohol on a bar stool? The trickle of faithful readers setting
aside their favourite newspaper could well swell into a torrent, which
could topple it from its No.1 position - a sad day, indeed.
Tips for TOI
By DR.V.S. Narsapur
August 6, 2002
This is with reference to "Trivialising
TOI" (Letters, August, 3). My qualification for writing this letter is
that I have never missed reading 'TOI' even for a single day since June
1, 1956. I cannot end my loyalty without being sentimental and hence am
making three suggestions.
1) Don't send the supplements along
with the daily issue of 'TOI' since they go unread. You may consider introducing
a concession in the subscription.
2) Try to be impartial and constructive
in your views on a) secularism amd b) Congress vs BJP.
3) Do not allow your views to colour
your news reports.
