You're welcome

Congratulations on getting back into form. When Crest began it embraced arts and current affairs commentary, and special interest features with rare finesse. However, it was shortlived, as half page ads crept in and cover stories seemed to reflect marketing interests more. I would find myself putting the paper down in 15 minutes, having devoured the little that was of interest. But the latest edition (June 9) kept me engaged from cover to cover. You did justice to the debate on piracy and internet censorship in spite of the space constraint, and the pages had vibrant commentary, including the arts ones. I had to look at a few recent issues again to convince myself that it was just not my set of interests that made me feel this way. Thanks again.


Subhorup Dasgupta, via email

Get 'rich', quick

Apropos of 'High Office, Low Gain' (June 09), I feel the worth of an MLA or MP should be seen in his or her 'positive popularity' and not measured in the crores many say they are worth, especially when declaring their wealth before election commission returning officers. The real respect that such representatives get comes from the people they work for. There are politicians with hundreds of crores and big muscle power, and they win elections mostly because of those two elements. But at the end of the day, they fail to relish this ill-gotten wealth. Lal Bahadur Shastri had no money but he was truly the 'richest' Prime Minister. The day we stop being a slave of money, we will elect better MPs and MLAs.


Colonel R D Singh, via email

Baba Ratna

The Crest cover story (June 2) on Viswanathan Anand being possibly bigger than Sachin Tendulkar was very interesting and raises many pertinent questions that many in India would feel very strongly about. And the debate as to who should be conferred the Bharat Ratna first has also resumed. Well, if you ask me, there are so many Indians who have made India proud and have rendered immense service to the nation outside of the field of sports, look at them first. It could be conferred, posthumously, upon Baba Amte first. He spent his entire life in the service of mankind. IPL and cola ads would not have interested him, and neither did Ferraris or palatial bungalows. His only interest was Anandvan.


Aniruddha Pawaskar, via email

Future: anony-mess

The interview with Anonymous (Cover story, June 9) was very interesting but also reveals some troubling aspects of the current hacktivist revolution we are witnessing. As a young net user I do feel that groups such as Anonymous may have some good intentions in fighting unjust government actions, but they also clearly believe themselves to be above the law, and are actually online vigilantes then. Plus they're not merely protesters. Some of their actions go beyond being protests - they are also crimes in many ways. Many statements in the interview are disturbing and reveal that they relish the unchecked power they seem to wield. If they're the internet's self-proclaimed watchmen, it must be asked, 'who watches the watchmen?'


Krishnan Bala, via email

Send in your feedback and suggestions to: crestfeedback@timesgroup. com