Desicritics Editor's Picks - May 15-21

Q & A With the Bookologist - May 15, 2006. Mayank 'Austen' writes,

Q: I'm a 24-year-old single woman living with my parents. My problem is that I buy 6-7 books everyday. My parents have grown very upset and they have given me an ultimatum of one month to decide if I want them or the books in the house. I am very confused. Please advice.
A: What! 24 years of age and still living with parents! Of course, ask your parents to move out.

Indian Institute of Technology: Myths and Miseries - May 15, 2006. Vivek Sharma writes,

IIT degree is not a passport to success, and hence distributing it to people who don't deserve it on merit is meaningless. IITs suffer from the lack of world class facilities, depleting faculty standards and cash crunch: problems that need to be addressed before any more new schools are named as IITs. Perhaps the IITs need to come out of government control and then attract funding from everywhere to transform themselves into schools that really produce the best engineers and researchers. Lastly, as alumni we owe it to our alma mater to guide its policy changes, and help IITs become leaders in research and development of the world.

We Leech On Society - May 16, 2006. Richard Marcus writes,

How often to you hear the government or the pundits talking about all the income they lose from those people? Why is it only the poor and sick that are blamed and made to pay for the economic woes of society? If we are Mr. and Mrs. Leech because we receive a monthly stipend that barely lets us make ends meet, why are they referred to as Captains of Industry for avoiding their responsibilities as citizens?

Myopic Censor Board: Banned, Banned, Banned! - May 20, 2006. Nitin Karani writes,

The feckless hypocrites on the committee after all the 'tamasha' of interrogating Sridhar about the film didn't have the balls to pass the film. Says he, "They pretend they are broadminded, but when it comes to films with an alternate take, they cower. Basically, I have realized they wanted my characters to cry over their fate. They didn't take too kindly to the fact that I showed gays and drag queens happy with their lives and being unapologetic. They wanted a daily soap with buckets of tears!" If Ekta Kapoor was looking for 'chamchas', she would have found them there.

Kiranjit Ahluwalia: She Was Provoked - May 20, 2006. Sakshi Juneja writes,

Kiranjit suffered brutality in the hands of her husband, a man who had vowed to love and cherish her till the very end. A man who not only betrayed her trust but also gave her pain and agony that will remain with her forever. But there is always a saturation point; finally after suffering for nearly 10 years Kiranjit took a final stand - in May 1989, she set fire to her husband Deepak.

U.P. - Food, Corruption And Courts: Public Hearings on Food Distribution - May 21, 2006. Sanat Mohanty writes,

The public hearing was empowering. It was empowering for people who are beaten up and whose houses are burnt for even raising this issue, to come and present their stories. It was empowering for them to connect with others who were similarly affected. It was empowering for them to declare that they were willing to come to the streets if nothing happened soon - they did not have a choice. For that is where the hopes of the Indian democracy continues to live. Not in Kalam's speeches, in Manmohan Singh's policies or in Narayanmurthy's dollars. It was empowering for a nation. For a democracy. One that lives and breathes, not in the elite colonies of Bangalore or Delhi but in the heart of the nation's million farmers.

In the coming weeks i would like my fellow editors to send me their recommendations and suggestions.

And as Desicritics, you can also send in your suggestions. My email: temporal3@gmail.com