The Hindu Goof up no.1

As like most Tamilians, The Hindu is the only English Newspaper I have read since the time I started to read Newspapers. In our younger days, The Hindu was always cited as an example of measured journalism, where every detail is cross checked before being published. Hence it is jarring to note the goof ups that get published. I will try to highlight the goof ups that I notice. And I sincerely hope that the numbers do not reach double / triple digits.

Goof up No. 1

"Kalki was instrumental in chiselling a generation of successful humorous writers like Devan, Thumilan, Saavi, Nadodi, Sasi, Ennaar and Pudhumaipitthan, to name only a few".

Any body with half a knowledge of Tamil Literature will get violent with this statement made by Mr. R. Sampath in today's magazine section. Kalki and Pudumaipitthan were as different as chalk and cheese, Pudumaipitthan had an almost visceral hatred towards Kalki's brand of writing , and he is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of Tamil Short Story writing, and he is in no way a humourous writer. He also died before Kalki, so he cannot have been "chiselled by Kalki". So, Mr. R. Sampath, please check your facts before you write an article. Praise Kalki as much as you wish, I myself am his admirer, but do not put down an even better writer Pudumaippithan for this purpose. It has long been a grouse amongst Tamil Writers that The Hindu doesn't give them their due share of coverage, but if this is the sort of half baked coverage you are going to give, I think it is better to say No Thanks.