YOUR story about the "Brand Ambassadors" in November 16-30 issue of The DayAfter, was fascinating. My hearty congratulations to your correspondent Nikhil for presenting such a galaxy of celebrities. It was like reading in a digest form dozens of success-stories in a single report. Who could have imagined that in a single story we would be told about Amitabh Bachchan, Kapil Dev, Tabassum, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, A.R.Rahman, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Virendra Sehwag, Vivek Oberoi and Vishwanathan Anand and how their personalities and charms sale consumer products faster and faster. By the way, I have one question to ask you, maybe you have kept it secret. Who is "your" I mean The DayAfter's brand ambassador?

Noni Bhatia
New Delhi.

Your story about the "Brand Ambassadors" raises a very serious ethical question about the honesty of the Indian advertising industry. I quote from your story which says, "For the Rs. 800 billion advertising industry in India, top Bollywood actors are a hot property. Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai have emerged as Hindi cinema's prime brand ambassadors" but I wonder if these brand ambassadors honestly believe in the brands they advertise and even use the products they are used to exhort other consumers to buy for their real or imaginary qualities? They are no experts about the quality and content of products they repeatedly endorse in the print and the electronic media. When they are not qualified to judge, how can they be allowed to take the consumers for a ride in their endorsements. Does Tabassum, who talks about Prestige pressure cookers, know cooking at all? Kapil Dev talks about Palmolive shaving cream. Can he honestly say that he himself uses the brand? What is the real life experience of Shekhar Suman and Aman Verma in cleaning commodes and toilets even though they are seen on the screen recommending how to do it? I think such celebrity endorsements for consumer products should be subjected to "quality code".

Naresh Sinha
New Delhi

READING your well investigated story about "Brand Ambassadors" made me wonder when the Indian advertising industry shall learn to present the facts about the quality and utility of products and services it offers to advertise for a client of doubtful integrity. Have you noticed that often big advertisements carry the mug-shots of celebrities praising a product to skies but there is no mention of the price and specifications of the product and services? I think it should be mandatory for the advertiser, whether a manufacturer himself or an advertising agency on his behalf, to mention the price, quality and performance specifications.

Nand Kishore
Jaipur

Your editorial "Only dead bodies float" is a timely and brave commentary on the "depressing and disgusting national political scenario today". I must also compliment you for swimming against the current, walking in the footsteps of your mentor Piloo Modi, who, you said, told you that "only dead bodies float with the current" not those who know how to swim." But Sir, reading in the newspapers reports about the statements of political leaders of many parties in the beggarly search for vote, it is obvious that they are trying to "float with the current". Then are these political parties and politicians "dead bodies" and those "who do not know how to swim?"

Kageshwar Rao
Hyderabad

COMING days before the shocking happenings during the low-grade railway-jobs recruitment examination in Guwahati, the subsequently more shocking attacks on the Brahamputra Express in which the Assamese, Naga and Mizo travellers were subjected to shameful assaults and insults and the wave of regional violence which erupted against Biharis in Assam, Mumbai and other places, seemed to tell us that if Delhi has become the "city of sorrow", our trains are becoming "trains of sorrow" and Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra are becoming "states of sorrow". You see the unedifying spectacle of Central and state leaders passing the buck and indulging in their favourite game of trading allegations. How long can they hide that such tragic and shameful flare-ups are the direct outcome of the failure of the youth, employment and national integration policies of both the national and state political parties and governments. I think they are all "dead bodies" which just "float"