Hafta letters: A concerned subscriber, Modiji and singing Vande Mataram

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Hello everyone, 

I am writing this email as a concerned subscriber after having read about the recent allegations against NL. I realise there is always a possibility of a coordinated attack against independent media organisations, but given the trust placed in you, I hope there will be a transparent discussion forthcoming at some point, and it doesn’t end up being a ‘he said, she said’ scenario. Looking forward to your response. Thanks.

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Anonymous

Hey guys... just one thing. Can we stop putting the “Ji” in Modi Ji? He’s Narendra Modi. Let’s keep it at that? Maybe call him Mr Modi, sure, but “Ji” is used for someone worthy of respect? 

We’re maybe handing out the “Jis” a little too liberally.

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Charlie (She/Her) 

I’m really disappointed with the unpopular opinions episode. As a trans woman, I’d appreciate it if people could stop using us as Exhibit A every time discussions on “wokeism” and “cancel culture” come up.

The last demographic I want to hear from on bodily autonomy, healthcare and rights is cis men. Mehraj brought up “transgender ideology”, which is, for the most part, a moral panic about what trans rights activists want. He was talking about social conventions around gender-social conventions also prohibit premarital sex in several communities. The way Abhinandan flippantly said “person with a penis” for pre-op/non-op trans people while arguing for nuance and discussion was rich and honestly, crass. I’m tired of trans people being framed as this unreasonably angry monolith even as our rights keep getting legislated away in India.

You all had a lot to say about people getting “triggered” – imagine how I would’ve felt listening to all this crap while driving. I had to pull over and take a break.

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Meghna 

The name of the last village is Thang. I live in Turtuk and have interviewed Mr Hussain for my website. I’m here till December and will be happy to put you in touch with him.

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Rafa 

Hello NL, 

On this 15th August, I attended Independence Day celebrations at a school, which was attended by a few defence officers as well. Children sang Vande Mataram during the flag hoisting. We sang along for the first few stanzas; thereafter, we were all lost. It reminded me of the ‘Mr Bean in Church’ episode, where Mr Bean, while singing a hymn, just keeps mumbling and sings only the “Alleluia” portion loudly. It was hilarious and also disrespectful. I’m not sure why they changed it to sing all the stanzas, especially with so many pressing issues to handle in this country. It would be interesting to find out how many of the ministers can actually sing all six stanzas. I promise it’ll be the best stand-up comedy! Let’s see if anyone on the panel can.

With best wishes,

Rafa

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