"This country, since 1991 and more so in recent times, has been a victim of ubiquitous consumerism, widespread corruption, extravagant imitationism, rabid communalism, creamy layer class-bias, and a five-star lifestyle."
Former Supreme Court justice V.R. Krishna Iyer calling for immediate law reforms in The Hindu (October 11)
"I couldn’t see the tears in their eyes. My conscience does not allow me to look at economics alone."
Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal on reinstating 1,900 sacked employees, in The Times of India (October 17)
"We as a community have failed to appreciate the need for education for all sections. Our illiteracy levels continue to remain above the national level. Our failure to participate in India’s growth story will lead us to marginalisation."
Vice-president Hamid Ansari on the failure of India’s Muslim community to embrace education opportunities in an address to alumni of Aligarh Muslim University (October 18)
"Deposits in Indian banks are entirely safe. Our banks, both in the public and private sector, are finan-cially sound, well capitalised and well regulated. There should be no fear of a failure of any bank."
Prime minister Manmohan Singh assuring the country in the Lok Sabha (October 20)
"Too many men and women are invisible in today’s India — written out of our novels and films. They demand to be included in the literary scene."
Man Booker Prize 2008 winner Aravind Adiga in India Today (October 27)
"The lack of even basic education for our children flies in the face of India becoming one of the poles of a multi-polar world. All the talk of every major political party on inclusive growth is quite frankly just a farce. Obama needs to have no worry; we are not ready to take any American jobs. We are primarily an ignorant and uneducated nation, with a small elite, that is content to celebrate small victories and ignore big defeats."
Janmejaya Sinha, managing director, The Boston Consulting Group India, in The Economic Times (October 29)