Comment Policy
If your comment does not appear immediately do not worry. It has gone for moderation. Therefore, there is no need for you to submit the comment again. I generally try to check as soon as I can but at times it could take a day or so. If you have a website, kindly note it down in the box which says ‘URL.’
The following points to be noted:
1) If you want to post a comment on an article, this is not the place…you need to go to that article itself. Just click on the words ‘Comments’ at the bottom of the article and the comment box will appear. You can also click on the title of the article for the comment form to appear. This page is here only to tell you what kinds of comments are acceptable.
2) Your comments are highly valued so go ahead and say it, but please be polite! Remember, this is not a discussion board where anything and everything goes. It’s a personal blog.
3) To explain further, think of this blog as a public space much like an office, and respect it as such. If you disagree with something, challenge the nature of the argument, not the person or the person’s right to have that opinion. Also labelling me, assuming me to be of a certain nature or of certain leanings, or in fact any kind of assumptions about me will not be published. Also no personal attacks, abuses or unsubstantiated allegations will be published, whether it is about a public figure, a commentator or me. If the comment puts forward a coherent argument, then it may not be deleted but simply edited. Or the comment will be deleted anyway, due to lack of time for editing. Just keep in mind that everyone, including me, has a right to an opinion, and it need not be the same as yours. Also commentators who do not agree with you do not automatically become idiots.
Hurling accusations, calling names or giving labels to me or other commentators just because I/they don’t agree with your views shows your inability to put forward an intelligent argument (if indeed you have one) and shows you in a poor light. For example if you don’t agree with something, write the points you don’t agree with, don’t waste your time writing nasty comments (as they won’t be published anyway) by calling names and giving labels to people and telling them how idiotic they are being and how little they know as compared to you. In other words, don’t be dumb, be smart.
If you make a serious allegation against a person, kindly support it with an internet link which means a link where your allegation has been proven. Just more accusations will not be considered a proper link. In fact, all such comments (which are personal accusations) will be considered baseless and defamatory and dealt with sternly. Please remember that according to the law, I can be persecuted for any defamatory comment about any person, even if I don’t write it. You can read about the law here.
4) Racist comments will not be published and nor will comments denigrating any community or religion. In fact, no indecent, inflammatory, slanderous or uncivil comment/trackback will be published. Some people like to goad others or put them down or pick a fight…in that case they can do it somewhere else.
5) Any comment or link irrelevant to the post may not be published and nor will repetitive comments or comments or links which fuel hatred or contain false information.
7) If you make any strong claim it is preferable that you give some reference by way of a link to back up your statement and if your statement is thought to be blatantly false, it can be deleted. In fact if you are challenging the authenticity of any article (not just my blogpost, but also the references which I have quoted) it’s best that you furnish an equally authentic link.
8] Although I publish anonymous comments, they make me uncomfortable. It will be nice if you choose a name, any name. Please give a valid email address. Don’t expect respect if you email id is not genuine. You can always create a new email ID for the purpose of commenting if you do not want to give your usual one.
9) The opinions expressed by the commentators are not my own.
10) Twisting or misinterpreting either the post or the comments will not be appreciated and will get an appropriate response. Such a comment could well be perceived by me to be dishonest, specially if the same commentator does it again with a different post. Such comments will either be responded to firmly, edited, ignored or deleted.
11) Arguments are welcome…put across in a decent, civilized way. In fact I welcome a debate. But do remember that I too have a right to my opinion! One person suggested to me that I should write all points of view, but that’s ridiculous as this is a blog, not an academic treatise. If I wish to write what I see myself, what I believe in I will do so. At times I do put forward other points of view, but there is no guarantee of it. After all, the comments form is there for you to present another view…but do remember that it’s a conversation and not a quarrel… 🙂
12) Also please don’t tell me how dare I write such and such and what right have I etc…because as long as I am not defaming anyone I have the right to my opinion and a right to present my work the way I like. I cannot write what you would have written on your blog or do it the way you would have. In any case you are not charged for accessing my blog so I do not think you have a right to tell me to write it your way. I will write what I know and about the world as I see it.
I know all this sounds obvious, and if it does, great! 🙂
So why all these restrictions? Well, the rights of this blog lie with me. And as in my personal life I tend to be a polite well-meaning person I tend to seek out those who are like this – no matter what their religion, their political leanings, caste, country or colour.
Added Later:
1) To all those who comment here just to tell other commentators to shut up and end the discussion: Sorry pal, your comment will not be published. There is no compunction on anyone to comment here. If people get bored they automatically stop commenting. That is their privilege. They don’t need anyone to tell them to shut up.
2) Anti-national comments (calls to cut India into little bits) will not be published. Nor will anything insulting about my country.
3) Comments of a commercial nature will not be published. Nor will comments with commercial keywords in the “name” space. That space is for a name of a person, not a company. If the comment is genuine, then all keywords used as names will be changed to the actual name of the commentator, if there is one given. Otherwise the comment will be deleted.
4) Links to spam sites linked to the name will be deleted as well as any spam site included in the comment. Links to commercial sites are acceptable only if they add to the post, as the main purpose of my blog is to provide to the reader with as many views on the subject as possible.
5) Also, do remember that there is no need to give a link to your blog in the comment box as long as you fill in the url box. This automatically links your name to the site you wish. There is no guarantee that I will keep such a link.
6) Do avoid inserting a comment only for the sake of promoting your blog or your friend’s blog by giving a link to a particular post on that blog…I really cannot say whether I will keep the link. People who do this regularly are called link droppers and blog whores, and/or blog pimps. Often the posts they give the link to are not quality posts and/or are irrelevant to the main post. If you are commenting just for the sake of promoting your own blog I may not keep the link (the judgment rests with me). If I make exceptions, it’s because the person is a friend and a regular commentator who has left valuable comments on my blog in the past (not links to his own posts).
If you do want to promote your blog, it’s best that you visit desipundit or Indianpad which have been created for exactly that purpose…to provide links of quality posts. You will find their the links to those sites here.
7) Also at times comments slip into the spam folder and there is no logic or reasoning behind this. Only WordPress knows. While I try to retrieve genuine comments from there, it can happen that I miss some. At times I delete spam without checking so be understanding if you feel your comment hasn’t appeared inspite of it being a polite comment, and inspite of its main content not being a commercial message, or it’s main message not an advertisement for your own blog!
8] At times the comment may go into moderation because of a word you use and please don’t take it personally. As I used a moderation filter, some comments may get caught either in moderation or they might go into the spam folder…this is based on words, phrases, and/or links. You can always write to me if you feel you have been accidentally blocked.
9) If I find that you are writing nasty comments, making false statements or tall claims, or using multiple identities, I reserve the right to publish your IP address so anyone can track you down.
10) Please do not ask me to review your website, book or product. I don’t do that on my blog. I only review books or films which I happen to read/see on my own. Never on the recommendation of the author.
11) Comments with an obscene avatar (for eg. showing nudity) will not be published.
12) Boys and girls wanting to contact each may NOT provide their email addresses. This is not a dating site.
I urge you to read something on Net Etiquette if this is the first time you are commenting here, or are new to the internet world, or you simply want to know more about how to write comments effectively. Also do read this wiki explanation of what Flaming is. It means basically to provoke others by being nasty and rude.
Thank you for coming to my blog and I hope you will join in the conversation! 🙂
Related Reading: Why I blog
Comments are closed.
A wide angle view of India 
Hi Nita,
I stumbled upon your site, as I was searching google, to find comments on railway-shit and found, the comments by students from US university’d as they interacted with The Hon Minister. Kindly review http://www.railwayshit.com and I tend to use railwaysHit.com capitalizing the “H” and thus be able to look at all things railways…however, this major public health issue needs urgent attention… it is people such as you, with an audience and an abilty to mobilize public opinion that can do it. let us take the responsiblity to solve this problem.
Look forward to hear from you. Keep up the good work.
If you or anyone wanted to hurt any country, you could do nothing worse than to have a 40,000 mile network on which one sprays human faecal matter daily in the hundreds of tons category, spreading disease through the water and air, such that the people of that country would be ill…this is what is happening with our railways.. even as good as it is… this needs to be fixed ASAP…
George
i am a citizen of hapur [ ghaziabad] u.p. . i m pursuing pgdbm.
how can i take franchisee of subhiksha as i am very much inspired from your business model
plz send me the term and condition and also the contact no.
Shubham, I have nothing to do wtih Subhiksha. I am a writer.
1. we read news about arrest of many tribals caught for catching birds in forests and city gardens.
– In bangalore there are several shops in the name of “pet animals” selling enormous species of rare birds and animals. Who gave them licence and are they not channels for extinguishing these birds.
– Today the bird population in and around MG Road, Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, is dissapearing gradually because of these shops who have bird catchers on their payrolls.
Can you make a study and bringout culprits to book?
CITIZEN
2. Kissin scenes are shown in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu Movies commonly besides English Movies that are freely shown unrestricted for viewing by all ages.
What is wrong with S Shetty being kissed on cheeks?
3.Important – Please do something:
Pigeons have become a big menace in the cities. They are a big nuisance for living in apartments and big commercial buildings They make funny noice. induge in mating all the time non stop, and dirty every building Pigeon meat is eaten by lots of people. Why govt should not encourage catching selling igeon meat everyshere. this will bring down chicken and mutton prices, increase food availabilty at lower prices, keepthe city clean and survival of many other species of birds due to more food availability to them. If chicken can be killed and eaten, why not pigeons.
Note in one of the European country people are allowed to shoot pigeons for fun and eliminate pigeons since they have become the biggestr menace to the cleanliss of buildings
Please do something
4.
If you do not pay Your electricity Bill or your water supply bill promptly Your connection is cut.
Why a land lord cannot discoonnect these supplies when tenant does not pay the rent
How does hardship defined in each case
Please do something
citizen
I think you have a very sensible and decent comment policy. Keep up the good work!
Dear Nita,
First of all i must thank you for the genuine concern you had for the socially,economically and politically suppressed section of the Country living in the Himalayan range and the so-called Northeastern region of the country.
Dear Nita,
First of all i must thank you for the genuine concern you had for the socially, economically and politically suppressed section of the Country living in the Himalayan range and the so-called Northeastern region of the country in your article “How does India treat the North-Easterners” ?
As a social activist who had been trying whatever humble afford I can do for the promotion of integration between the NE and the main land for over 18 yrs, I would like to share my observation.
That, most people in India are too much caste concious except few people like you who move around the country and mixed with different communities.
Secondly, too much selfish and hyprocrite in nature and wanted to exploit any opportunities withou thinking the damages it might cause to the other person .
Thirdly, economically well and sound and wanted to maintain their so-called high standard.
People in the northeast are a late commer into the main stream with typical cultures and way of life which is completely different from the rest of the Country. They are straight forward in nature and expect to be treated equally. Hipocracy / double standard exploiting somebody beyond limits and drawing advantages for personal gains etc is something most NE people did not practice except the POLITICIANS.
NE people are not aware of the caste syatem and also could not meet the standard of the middle class Indian societies.
Challenges: The Government must take up grass root interest in the promotion of national integration and also protect the N E people from any racial abuses which is not happening till today. It is a sad thing that some Politicians / bureaucrats even from the Northeast region are immitating the Hinglish gentlemen rather than guiding their people.
With regard
K.Zou
Thanks for your observations Zou. I find them very revealing and have therefore copied your comments (giving your name) on to the main post about
discrimination against north-easterners
Thanks again.
ur comments policy is fair, but i do have reservations on ur policy
on linking. i link to posts i find extremely interesting,just like i add good blogs on my roll not essentially to increase the traffic on my blog (yes there are many people doin that) but for ppl i know to read what i find interesting
and very relevant. u should wait a tad bit before really just doin a blanket delete
i had linked to ur post from way back i found very interesting and god knows what happened of it
I am not sure what you mean Prax. If you go through the comments on my posts you will see an awful lot of links! Much much more than any other blog. I think I am more than fair. The only link I delete is when people do not comment on my post at all…just leave a link. I don’t know what link you left, but if it was a link without a comment, then it won’t be kept, unless its an outside link, and not to your own blog post.
I think leaving links to one’s own blog post without any comment to go with it is incorrect. The comment box is for comments, not for links! But as I said I am more than fair and there are an awful lot of links in my comments. Also, there are tmes when people leave links in my comment boxes (of their own blog post) which have absolutely nothing to do with the post! This is I am afraid blatant self promotion and I frown upon it.
And I have not mentioned a thing in my comment policy about the blogroll so you are confusing me here! You won’t get traffic on your blog by adding links to a blogroll so I have no idea what you mean.
generally links are added as comments by wp
blogroll is also a medium of expression of a bloggers likes and tastes in reading
now that i am a regular hope things r sorted out
wow! that is huge list of policies. i have lost my eye sight just to read it…………….. just joking!
its really nice thing!
I seriously think you must start implementing your comment policy more seriously in this space. Some comments are totally irrelevant. Like that one on Subhiksha.
You are right Amrutha. It’s just that at times when I realise a comment is irrelevant I don’t even read it properly. I have got some really silly comments on that Subhiksha post. – Nita
hi nita
I read your some blogs and specialy why you start blog is very important for me. Because I was also working as a journalist ,but now i leave the job.But i love writing ,but don’t have place where to write.Ediors always tell that they dont have place for my feature.I wrote some stories but i am not satisfied.When i read your posts i get way.Few days ago i started my blog.please read and give me suggestions.Because i am very new in this world.please visit my blog-maitra ashwini
Ashwini, thanks but you have not left the url of your blog and therefore I cannot check it out. – Nita
Hi Nita, i really couldn’t understand why i am unable to publish my comments and i am getting ‘discarded’ after clicking submit comment button for one of your topic.
That is impossible Sunil. As far as I know one cannot get discarded from just one topic as this facility is not there on this blog! I checked the spam box but your comment is not there either! So you will have to try again and if that doesn’t work, please write to me and I shall complain to wordpress. – Nita.
Hi Nita,
I had sent a mail to you in this regard. Please check ..same problem still persists.
Sunil, others are making comments to this post and you are making comments here which means that nothing is wrong with the site. Your comments are not in my spam folder either! – Nita.
hi nita, i stumbled upon your blog through some one else’s blogroll. Quite a blog you have! Just wanted to compliment you on your choice of your topics and indepth review.
Keep going.
Hi Sakhi and thanks. 🙂 – Nita
just wanted to tell u that i have added you to my blogroll. Its okay if you dont post this comment. As i have not posted ti just to showcase my own blog.
Ofcourse not Sakhi, why should I ever think that!! Welcome to my blog and thanks for adding me to your blogroll. – Nita.
Great and full comment policy. I will use some parts of it to create the one for my blog.
100% agree on the comment policy.
In my simple blog just open single “reader comments”
Keep the rule… rules
Do you publish comments feed for your blog. I would like to subscribe but I couldn’t see one.
Ashish, yes right at the bottom right hand corner you will see a label “comments rss” – that is the one. Thanks. Also there is a site called co.comments which allows you to subscribe to comments only from one particular post. You can choose either. – Nita.
Legalization of Live in Relationship means Islamaization of a Hindu law. Islam allows four wives with equal rights. Hindu law allows only one wife.Second woman does not get respect in Hindu society. Are we ready to give respect to second woman who is faithful to her man? Nazneen O. Saherwala (Surat, India)
Hi Nita,
I was just googling for the Raymods Ad tune and it seems that you have posted it for somebody somewhere. I was just wondering if you would be kind enough to let me have that music file ( Dreaming op. 15. by Felix Mendelssohn)?
thanks,
Nilesh
Great blog, write well and really interesting, thanks for it. Please visite mine
Nita, Hi. After following your blog for almost a year, I am seeing this page for the first time!! Kudos. It’s so thorough.
I agree with your policies, especially on anonymous comments and comments with links. These kind of commenters obviously did some key word search to find your post and are dropping their links there. We get enough spam, and it’s good you take the time, patience and dedication to control it on your blog. These are some reasons why unfortuantely I do not have a lot of comment interaction on my blog. It can get overwhelming.
I read on someone else’s blog that ‘professionals’ often do not take bloggers seriously unless they have their own doamin name. Well- they have yet to see how profesisonally you manage your blog and how thorough you are about your policies! You are a emodel for the rest of us!!
Jennifer, thanks. Yes I work very hard at my blog and also keep out the trolls. It’s worth it even though it can mean fewer hits. However as a result, the blog has more respectibility. As for that own domain thing, that is the superficial thinking of many owners of websites. The package being more important than the content. I guess if this was a commercial blog I might have been careful of the packaging, but as it isn’t, I can afford to focus on the content. – Nita.
Nita, I love your blog. Not only for your writing, but also for the wide ranging comments that your writing inspires. I feel I am learning more about my county from your blog than I ever did from my school books. I believe that open debate should be encouraged to find solutions when people differ in their opinions. But often I see our debates sinking into mires from which there is no escape.
(Forgive me for this sermonizing, but the only way I can justify reading this blog when I have my ethics exam tomorrow is to practice some of it here ;). I really did learn a lot from a chapter on ethics in debates and thought those who debate here could gain from what I learned. I have not copied anything from the book, but have given my views on what I learned. Most of it is common sense and you have mentioned some of it in your comment policy).
How do we have open debates? The first step towards that is to accept that one person is indeed different from the other and each have a right to his own opinion. The second step is to realize that all living things need predictability and/or controllability to be not stressed. Stress only leads to fight or flight and that beats the purpose of an argument (I am assuming that the purpose of the argument is to find a solution and not just win and impose ones views). If we can control what ever is happening to us and put a stop to any bad things happening, we are not stressed. Even if we are not able to control and prevent the bad thing from happening to us, if we can at least predict that such and such a thing is going to happen, we are less stressed than if things keep happening, over which we have no control, and are unpredictable.
Where am I going with this? I am saying that it is necessary to understand group dynamics in debates. When in a group of like minded people you (by you I mean any person, not just you Nita!) can pretty well say what you feel, still reach a solution and part as friends. But in an argument with a person of different views from ones own, it is important to realize that the other person is in an unfamiliar territory and has no way to predict your actions. This means you have to be careful in presenting views in such a way that is non threatening (ridicule, criticism?). If you appear threatening and unpredictable and the other person has more power, then he is only going to use the controllability option and put a stop to the argument (no comment policy/bulk folder). If they don’t have that option, they will simply withdraw (never come back to your blog!) and there is no solution or consensus reached. What a waste of a fantastic opportunity at open discussion.
If the end to a discussion is to find a solution and not just winning an argument and imposing your view on another, fallacies should be avoided. Usually, fallacies are spurious counter arguments that are derived from rhetoric and are not a true response to the opponent’s views. The alarming thing about these are that these capitalize on human sentiment and are persuasive on the surface, but incorrect on closer inspection.
1. Appeal to the public- “Unless the canal is built India will suffer economically.” (National sentiment)
2. Personal attack- “He is a politician only wanting to make some fast bucks from this, don’t listen to him”
3. Unwarranted appeal to compassion- “Think of all those cute little fish that will lose a home” (The operative words in this example is “cute little”. It invokes our natural pity. It is not only the cute things that will be without a home)
4. Argument from Authority- “UN or WHO or what ever requires it to be done or has done similar things in the past” (Instead of looking at the reason behind what was done, only the names of famous organizations or persons is used)
5. Appeal to involvement- “Would you do the same if it was your mother/sister/daughter?” (Instead of a rational assessment of the problem, potential personal involvement is invoked)
There is another type of fallacy which doesn’t focus on the sentiment, but draws wrong inferences between ideas.
1. Argument from ignorance- “Women can’t handle pain like men, so they should not work in the defense”
2. Circular arguments- “There is God, so you cannot say there is no God.” (The presumption that there is no alternative)
3. Arguments from correspondence- “We thought crossing the seas was not to be done, but we do it now. After the bridge is destroyed and a shipping route is built we will think it was the natural thing to do.” (Analogies always do not correspond)
4. Unwarranted generalization- “Every project done by our government take 4 times as much time as they say it will take and by the time it is done it may be outdated.”
5. a priori reasoning (accident)- “Increased shipping is a good thing and has improved the economy of lots of counties, therefore this project is good for India” (what may well be true as a vague general rule is assumed to be the truth for this particular instance)
6. Naturalistic fallacy- “Dancing in clubs is against our culture. That is how it has always been and always should be” (Assuming that the way things are now, or was in the past is the way things should be. Rejects out of hand any possibility of change)
7. Equivocation- “We will make sure the ecology is unaffected by this project” (The word “unaffected” could well mean different to different people. Stating what it is that you mean exactly will avoid future returns to this argument)
I have used some off the cuff examples and mean no harm to those who have used similar arguments. Before I read about these fallacies, I had no idea how much they affected our arguments. I felt this should be shared as open discussions without fallacies are necessary if we are to reach any consensus in such a multi cultural country. Only problem is, now I am unsure how to argue as I am without my usual crutches!!!
This was a great piece of writing Nisha, thank you! You see all these points you have mentioned can be understood by those who are intelligent and those who are not egoistic. As you said a debate cannot move ahead in an intelligent fashion when people start using these techniques, and the worst is to start becoming personal, or using words as a weapon (rhetoric) and refuse to accept that the other person even has a right to a point of view! This kills intelligent debate.
There is one other type not mentioned above. There are some people who take one unimportant part of an argument and find a technical fault somewhere as this gives them the feeling that they have won. This I call the Deflection technique.
Overall though I am very proud of my commentators, they are really smart people!
Nita, I am happy that you liked what I wrote. To tell the truth, after I submitted it I was worried whether you would tell me to go and get a blog of my own and not clutter up yours with such a long comment!
I did OK in that exam that I mentioned in my comment and since you have written earlier about Indian education, I thought you might be interested to know how my knowledge of “fallacies” was tested here in Netherlands.
No, they didn’t ask “What are the types of fallacies and give an example of each (which was what I expected having done all my schooling in India!). Instead a part of an interview given by a famous person to a newspaper was reproduced and we were asked to spot the fallacies in it. Since the interview was on a scientific topic, it not only checked our knowledge of fallacies, but also our knowledge of the science topic that we are studying.
All the students had their bags right next to them and even if we wanted to “copy” from our books, no book would have the answer. We needed our own UNDERSTANDING of the topic to answer. I sure am glad I practiced on your blog!