India

Ved Pal Maun, 27, was something of a catch in this small farm community northwest of New Delhi. But his family members rejected several marriage offers; they said he just wasn't ready. Truth was he was holding out for a particular woman, 18-year-old Sonia Banwal of the neighboring village of Singhwal. Falling in love with the girl next door would be cause for joy and celebration in many countries. But in parts of rural India, ancient traditions are rooted more deeply than the tall corn and lush green rice plants.

The pen, it's sometimes said, is mightier than the sword. For these women, it's also a ticket to respect. Khabar Lahariya, or "News Waves," is India's first newspaper written, read and run by tribal women and those from the Dalit, or so-called untouchable, caste. While most readers only know of the politics, crime, or education news in the 8-page weekly, each of the writers has a story of her own about struggling against life's harsh challenges. Many of the dozen or so women on staff were beaten or sexually abused as children, married off young, endured abusive marriages and fought mightily for an education and a divorce.

Photographer Fazal Sheikh's two most recent projects tell of indignity but show only beauty. It's an unusual combination for a photographer drawn to populations under duress. Throughout the history of the medium, socially concerned photographers have tended instead to advocate for justice by showing its absence, by illustrating injustice. Think of Jacob Riis' turn-of-the-20th-century pictures of New York's dank and dirty tenements, Lewis Hine's images of child laborers, or Dorothea Lange's Depression-era chronicle of need, hunger, want.

Regarding the story "Warner Bros. to ship jobs overseas," Jan. 10: I propose that Warner Bros. and other companies that outsource overseas to India, Poland and other non-U.S. territories begin to right-source these functions to places such as Poland, Ohio, or Romulus, Mich. If companies, such as Warner Bros. and NBC Universal, continue to outsource good-paying job overseas, who here will be able to afford to purchase DVDs produced by the U.S. studios or will be able to afford to go to the movies?

"Slumdog Millionaire" was meant to capture Mumbai's "lust for life," director Danny Boyle said Tuesday, reacting to criticism that the film glamorized poverty in India. The cast and crew of the Oscar hopeful returned to India's bustling financial hub on Tuesday in the run-up to the premiere there of the critically acclaimed film, a rags-to-riches story of a boy competing on a TV game show. Some Indian newspapers and TV channels have criticized Boyle for romanticizing slums and peddling such grim realities as begging rackets, prostitution and crime as "Indian exotica."

Ramaswamy Venkataraman, 98, who was India's eighth president and helped draft the country's constitution, died Tuesday in New Delhi, after being admitted Jan. 12 to the Army Hospital, according to the state-run broadcaster Doordarshan. Venkataraman was admitted to the hospital with delirium and dehydration, and his condition progressively deteriorated, a government statement said. Venkataraman served as president from 1987 to 1992 and before that was vice president. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly that wrote India's constitution, which was adopted in 1950, three years after India gained independence from Britain.

Re " 'Slumdog' doesn't feel good in India," Jan. 24 That some in India object to "Slumdog Millionaire's" portrayal of poverty and slum life is not surprising, given that provincialism knows no borders. Most Americans I know are under the impression that the "new India" is full of chirpy high-techsters. In fact, according to published reports, India is a country where 700 million people don't have access to toilets and 600 million live without electricity. I liked the movie, and I don't dislike the country because of how it was portrayed.

At least 15 people were killed and more than 160 injured when a train derailed in eastern India, an official said. Sixteen cars of a train on its way from Kolkata to Chennai left the tracks in Orissa state near the town of Jajpur, said J.P. Mishra, a spokesman for the East Coast Railway. Forty people were hospitalized in serious condition, but their injuries were not life-threatening, he said. Accidents are common on India's sprawling rail network, one of the world's largest, with most accidents blamed on poor maintenance.

Aiming to spice up its election campaign, India's ruling Congress party has bought the rights to "Jai Ho," the Oscar-winning song from "Slumdog Millionaire." The world's largest democracy will hold a general election between April 16 and May 13 in a mammoth logistical exercise in which 714 million people will cast their votes. Congress leaders said the song, whose title is Hindi for "Let There Be Victory," will be played during rallies in rural towns, villages and cities. India's opposition parties described the move as a gimmick.