Dear Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan
BBC reports that you have recently called on women in Saudi Arabia to “wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.” You say that “showing both eyes encourage[s] women to use eye make-up to look seductive.”
I believe, sir, that showing only one eye will make matters worse. You see, whenever a woman and a man are together and the woman blinks, the man might think that she is winking. Is the hidden eye open or closed? If it is assumed to be normally open, then a momentary closing of the visible eye could be assumed to be a wink. If it is assumed to be normally closed, then the woman may be considered to be perpetually winking, which is equally problematic.
I have an alternative solution to your problem. I suggest that you introduce veils for men that cover both their eyes. That way it will make no difference if the women are winking, blinking or, heaven forbid, naked.
Good idea, no? You’re welcome.
Regards
Amit Varma
*
Link via email from Chandoo. More open letters here.
Posted by Amit Varma on 04 October, 2008 in
Letters |
News |
WTF
Jacob of Mutiny.in informs me about Mutiny, the national print magazine born from a blog. It takes gumption and commitment to take a bold step like that, and I wish them all the best. Do check out their site and, if you like what you see, subscribe.
Posted by Amit Varma on 04 October, 2008 in
Media
The most shocking comment of the week comes from Delhi’s chief minister, Sheila Dikshit. A journalist named Soumya Viswanathan was shot dead in Delhi earlier in the week, driving home from work at around 3am, not an unusual time for a journalist to be getting home. She was 25. And Dikshit had the gall to say:
All by herself till 3 am at night in a city where people believe...you know...you should not be so adventurous.
In other words, she was asking for it. This is an argument coming from a woman.
My friend Shamya Dasgupta was Soumya’s colleague at Headlines Today, and has a moving post on her death here. He points to Facebook groups on her here and here. There’s also an online petition to the home minister here.
I hope Soumya gets justice soon. But equally, I hope that the pressure to show results does not lead to the cops framing an innocent person, as they tried to do in the Arushi case. I’m not optimistic—just as Soumya wasn’t adventurous.
Posted by Amit Varma on 04 October, 2008 in
India |
News |
Politics |
WTF
Barack Obama, John McCain—watch out!
(Manish is my fellow campaign manager.)
Posted by Amit Varma on 02 October, 2008 in
Miscellaneous
It’s 3 am, a few months into 2009, and the phone in the White House rings. A giant moose from Alaska is running amok in the White House lawns, says the voice on the line, posing a serious threat to national security. Whom do you trust to take that call?
Like, seriously, Paul Krugman, why’re you going on about the economy? Who’s going to shoot that moose?
*
More Palin: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Posted by Amit Varma on 30 September, 2008 in
Politics
Reader Vipin Kannoth writes in to tell me that he sent a poem to a mutual friend yesterday, and she told him that his poem was just like my Facebook status message at the time. My status message read: Amit was at the store yesterday to buy Happiness, but it was out of stock. Shortlived Joy was on sale, though.
Vipin’s poem has much more merit than my glib message—so do read Happiness 2.0.
Posted by Amit Varma on 30 September, 2008 in
Arts and entertainment |
Personal
Dear Sachin Pilot
DNA has quoted you today as saying that Rahul Gandhi will be prime minister of India “sooner or later.” In the same article, you have spoken of how, under Gandhi’s leadership, the Youth Congress and the NSUI have become “professionally-run organisations where merit will count.” You have said, “There are no favourites in this system.”
Are you familiar with the term ‘cognitive dissonance’?
Regards
Amit Varma
*
More open letters here.
Posted by Amit Varma on 30 September, 2008 in
Letters |
News |
Politics |
WTF
It’s hard not to click on a story with such a headline:
‘Female body more desirable in winter’
The study that reached that conclusion carried out “an experiment on 114 men who were asked to rate photos of women at different times of the year.” I wonder why they kept the sample size so ridiculously low—I’m sure there wouldn’t have been a shortage of men willing to look at photos of women.
And isn’t December the most popular month to get married in India? It all falls into place now…
Posted by Amit Varma on 29 September, 2008 in
Miscellaneous
One more rave party busted. Immense déjà vu comes.
On victimless crimes: 1, 2.
Posted by Amit Varma on 29 September, 2008 in
Freedom |
India |
News |
WTF
