This post is about IIPM‘s deplorable, misogynistic, retaliatory attacks on Rashmi Bansal, a female blogger who runs a magazine (JAM) which gave IIPM, a B-school in India, a less than stellar review. If you’d like, you can skip the Red Hot Chili Peppers lyrics and vignette below them; Rashmi’s story commences right before the jump.
:+:
Twisting and turning
Your feelings are burning
You’re breaking the girl
She meant you no harm
Think you’re so clever
But now you must sever
You’re breaking the girl…{rhcp}
:+:
After I finished my last degree, my next step–like every other desi who didn’t feel like going to medical school or being an engineer– was law school…or so I thought. I took Kaplan, took the LSAT and took obscene amounts of time filling out applications and writing essays, like everyone else who applied to be a 1L during the 2001-2002 school year.
My heart wasn’t in it.
I refused to go unless I was accepted at a school I loved because frankly, Mr. Shankly, I didn’t need to be a lawyer (and $100k in debt) that badly.
Out of the blue, I got a scholarship to a school I had no interest in…my Mom forced me to keep an open mind and at least visit it with her when she came east for my graduation.
“Fine, Mummy. For you, I will”, I said.
The materials made the campus sound fantastic; the truth was, ’twas a hole. I didn’t really hold it against them though– we all bullshit a little bit to make reality seem more fabulous. I’ll accept that proclivity– within limits.
Exactly a year later, when I was tending to my interns, I told them all about my experience with the law school suitor I had rejected. I felt like it was the right thing to do; almost half of them were in the process of applying themselves and a guest speaker who had graciously enriched their time with a speech was an Alum of the school I had found so hole-y. As I tried not to wince, he talked it up ridiculously. If I had had the time to blog during the summer of 2002, when I was working 70+ hour weeks, I would’ve told the world my story, in an honest, unflinching way. Aside from potentially getting flamed via comment, I wouldn’t have had anything to worry about, after posting my opinion.
Lucky me.
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Rashmi Bansal, the blogger behind “Youth Curry” runs Just Another Magazine or JAM. JAM did brown youngsters in the Amma-land a favor by discussing B-schools, a topic which must be quite popular judging by my daily updates from Rediff.com, which inevitably include an article on the subject.
Here’s what JAM had to say about IIPM, a somewhat controversial school that reminds me of that sleazy guy at the bar who talks a good game– i.e. they’re full of shit. The bar-scum doesn’t have a porsche and IIPM isn’t a 10 ten school which is better than IIM, in fact IIPM has been removed from B-school rankings for misrepresenting itself. Though I’m a St. Thomas Christian, I don’t have to go to a sleazy garage to place my hands in the hole where the ultimate daily driver should be nor do I have to visit one of the “plush” IIPMs to tell you that they lied, too. Some things, you just know are true.Check out the totally appropriate investigating JAM did regarding IIPM’s claims:
“The 8 Wi-Fi IIPM Towers in India which are modern architectural wonders equipped with air-conditioned classrooms, auditoriums huge state-of-the-art computer dromes and well stocked libraries. The IIPM campus gives students a completely international feel with its beautifully landscaped surroundings, an unique blend of old English architecture with modern exteriors and has facilities like swimming pool, mini golf, billiards, etc.”
We visited IIPMÂ’s Mumbai campus in Bandra, posing as prospective students. The ‘campusÂ’ is a four-storied building, with some parking area around it. There is a small ‘canteenÂ’ section that can seat, at the most, around 10 students. We entered the air conditioned reception area that was bustling with activity in the limited space available. But youÂ’re left wondering – where in this one tiny building can they be hiding that swimming pool they promised in the ads? We also checked out the campus in DelhiÂ’s Qutab Institutional Area. There too we couldnÂ’t find a swimming pool, mini golf course or billiards table. Again, there wasnÂ’t any “old English architecture”. The building tower resembled any other office complex in Delhi. There was no Wi-Fi on campus, or in the library. The librarian didnÂ’t even know what Wi-Fi was!
However, there is ONE campus for second year students in DelhiÂ’s Chhatarpur area which has a swimming pool.
There’s more where that came from, but I doubt that any of our readers give two shits about the “free laptops” and Ivy-pedigreed Professors IIPM brags about shamelessly. I included that excerpt to make a point; if Sepia Mutiny had written it, we would’ve brought the pain. JAM was restrained and professional, which is why the next hairpin turn in this tale outrages me further.
IIPM, like the slimy asshole at the bar who couldn’t get a date with us, is bitter that we told our friends about their M.O. How does THAT guy get back at a girl like us? Why he probably spins the truth his way and tells anyone who’s clueless enough to listen a story. It goes a little something like this. “That bitch…was such a slut. She wanted me soooo badly, so I hooked up with her and then told her to Fuck off.”
Because that’s what you do when you want to eviscerate a woman who pissed you off, right? She’s a bitch, but wait, what insinuation is worse than THAT? Of course. She’s a whore. A walking cum-dumpster who is so controlled by her genitals, she needs to be fucked and she’ll take it any way she can. That’s how you tear down a woman, especially in our community where flawlessly pure Sita is Queen, where good girls are virgins until they are impregnated on their wedding nights and the only one who touches their shame-shame is the husband who legitimizes sexuality (but only in the context of procreation).
Bitch. Slut. Whore. That’s how you humiliate and denigrate a woman.
Here’s how they tried to do that to Rashmi:
At 1:58 PM, OracleCoder said…
Grow up Rashmi,
Let’s be clear about one thing. What you’ve written in your blog is total crap. Please don’t hurt the sensibilities of intellectual readers with your loadful of shit. Remember me, I’m Subby, your batchmate at IIM Ahmedabad. Does Junta know you got kicked out in the second year because you were caught with your pants down in the women’s loo (with another woman for god’s sake). Grow up Rashmi. Hope you are married to a man, and have learnt to pull your pants up. Stop claiming you are from IIM A. It’s a pity no one’s brought that issue up…
At 2:10 PM, RaghuveerSrinivas said…
Hey I don’t agree with that. My bro is from IIM A. He says she got kicked out because she fudged her graduation degree certificate. Rashmi, can u please post your degree on the net? Also please post the photo of your husband (or wife) so that we can be sure it’s a man (alongwith the sex certificate from JJ Hospital). Man, this is good. Rashmi, I’m open to any sex. If you are interested, let’s hit it big. I can do some good stuff on you, whatever you are… By the way, at least you’ve realized how pitiable a character you are; I should say your pretensions of being a blogger are finally being destroyed. Your shit stuff on IIPM and related things is so a-s-s-h-o-l-i-s-h (if you understand the word b-i-t-c-h) because almost all the points you’ve written are totally false. At least write some believable stuff. At least you lizard. By the way, I’ve heard that in your own jammag, you screw around with the fresh joinees (there are no experienced people in jammag because they leave after tasting you, I’ve heard). It would be nice if you can kindly post denials from all your employees that you don’t screw around with them. For the sake of information of readers, Guys, just go to jammag’s website and check out how this w-h-o-r-e recruits part time employees left and right. Wow!
I almost forgot– if you really want to go for the jugular, then use the alternative “Nympho” story– the one where she/the bitch/the slut craves carpet. Those damned lesbians…always in the bathroom getting it on when they should be writing nice, agreeable stories which don’t bother anyone.
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I’m not even telling you half of this story, because another blogger’s life has been complicated by this clusterfuck, too. The brown blogosphere has already howled in outrage, I’d expect no less about an issue so worrisome. To summarize what happened and why it’s appalling enough that Instapundit picked up on it: a principled blogger named Gaurav Sabnis is out of a job. How did poor Gaurav get involved when it was Rashmi they were burning at the virtual stake?
The always outstanding India Uncut tells you better than I could, picking up where I left off, after JAM posted their article questioning IIPM’s claims:
After that happened, some of the IIPM staff barged into the Jam office. In Rashmi’s words, they “did not offer any new or material facts, other than argument.” Then she got a legal notice from them. All fair so far. They have a right to go to court, and they need not have worried if the facts were on their side. But were they? See what happened next.
A number of blogs sprung up overnight defending IIPM and defaming Rashmi and Gaurav Sabnis, a popular Indian blogger who had linked to Rashmi’s article and added some facts of his own. Ludicrous rumours were spread about Aaj Tak, the news channel, having done a sting operation and having caught Amity, a rival of IIPM, giving money to Rashmi to do the story. Rashmi posted on the matter, and filthy comments were left on that post – you can read them for yourself and see the class of the people who left them. Also, Gaurav received a hilarious legal notice, which he reproduced on his blog – it was hilarious at the time, that is.
Then it got serious. IIPM happens to be a client of IBM, Gaurav’s employer, having purchased a huge bunch of laptops from them. (In fact, they are a company with serious money clout, and are one of the biggest advertisers in India.) So what would you expect them to do?
What would you expect the blogger caught in the middle of all this to do? Gaurav made the most astonishing and difficult choice– he left IBM. A blogger resigned. No, he wasn’t dooced, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some version of “Gaurav” is entered in the urban dictionary soon.
To Gaurav: (verb) to leave a job because of blog posts which you do not and should not regret.
This is insanity, people. We’re carving out how this wonderful method of communication exists, each day whether we acknowledge our roles as sculptors or not. I do not want a blogosphere where misogynist assholes threaten people they disagree with and resort to professional blackmail to achieve their ends. I am livid that I even need to write this post.
You do not tear down a woman by reducing her to a fuck-craving deviant and you do not punish a man for using his voice to disagree with you. You will not silence either of them; you will not hush the blogoshpere and you most definitely won’t shut me up, either. Rashimi and Gaurav aren’t afraid of desperate, craven assholes who foam at the comment box and neither am I. Shame on you, IIPM and shame on anyone who isn’t aghast at what this woman and man have been put through. Any of us could be next.
Ennis, your take on the tone issue is interesting but I’m not too convinced — Anna’s post was intense but ventured into ranting territory.
I’m not questioning the validity of feeling outraged/indignant/pissed off as we all did after reading about this IIPM mess. I’m saying, I’d expect to see our friendly SM moderators, and hopefully SM participants as well, maintain some decorum and keep the language here clean wherever possible.
I don’t think it’s an issue of imposing my linguistic standards on everyone here; rather, it’s about collectively defining what standards we can all live with, and maintaining them even when we are rightfully pissed off by IIPM like incidents.
I think pretty much captures what I’ve been trying to say all along.
MoorNam,
It’s only “self”-flagellation if one is guilty of such behaviour oneself. To the best of my knowledge and ability, I am not. However, would you deny that an endemic misogyny does exist within South Asian culture, more so than in many other parts of the world ? (And yes I do know that women are treated even worse in certain other regions).
Just because certain negative behaviours and attitudes may be prevalent in other parts of the world, it doesn’t negate the nastiness of such a mentality amongst many quarters of one’s own cultural background. Let’s not try to detract from this by pointing out “it happens elsewhere too”. In South Asian culture it’s part-and-parcel of the package of fake-macho behaviour, along with so-called “eve teasing”, throwing acid on the faces of attractive women in certain situations, and blaming the victim if she gets raped. And so on.
However, I do agree with you completely that in many cases it’s just a case of ego-driven, neurotic behaviour on the part of frustrated or insecure males, irrespective of their cultural/ethnic/religious background.
Jai,
Let’s not try to detract from this by pointing out “it happens elsewhere too”.
When did I try to detract from the event? Did I say: “Come on. These things happen. Chalta hai. Everyone does it.”
All I said was: Don’t attach any label Desi/SouthAsian/Sita/Virgin-culture etc etc to this behaviour, since it is not unique to this culture alone.
M. Nam
Rashmi, you’re uber-cool.
If you are a lesbian, you’re even cooler 🙂
So just hang in there and those IIPM dumbasses will get what they deserve.
MoorNam,
You’re right, all this isn’t unique to this culture alone; however, there are often some South-Asian-specific dynamics involved behind exactly why such behaviour occurs. These dynamics aren’t necessarily present in many other cultures, or are less prevalent there.
And you’ve been on SM long enough to understand that we have our own unique, sometimes blue voice and our own standards for “crossing the line”. We delete and ban for hate, not shock. I really don’t like where this is going (especially since we’re two weeks late for “Banned Books Week”).
I’m sorry you’re so obviously uncomfortable with my awful pottymouth– “obvious” b/c you haven’t dropped this issue, though you’re the only one who was so bothered by my methods of expressing myself. In fact, others have written in to explain why the post reads the way it does. Ennis was dead-on; if I wrote this in a way YOU would’ve approved of, people would’ve skimmed right through it. That is exactly what I didn’t want.
I’ve been blogging for almost three years and I’ve been on the receiving end of similar filth. it. feels. horrible. you’ll never know what that’s like and to your credit, you understand that. I did want people reading this to walk in Rashmi’s shoes. When reading about IIPM, I noticed that every other post I read about this topic merely said, “people said terrible things about Rashmi– go here and see for yourself”.
Considering how sensational this entire controversy is, it’s easy for Rashmi’s treatment at the fingertips of these virtual thugs to get overlooked. THAT’S why I wrote the post this way; I was outraged by the abuse she suffered, AS WELL as how they treated Gaurav, etc. But no one else really focused on Rashmi, to my satisfaction. Why should I rewrite a story that had already been posted fifty times when I have a distinct take on it which is valuable and necessary? People don’t come to SM for the same old sh…excrement.
I know for a fact that a lot of people won’t click a link “to go see for themselves” and I was determined to reveal what kind of filth rashmi had been assaulted with…I wasn’t going to make it more pleasant for people reading MY post b/c that would mean that they didn’t grasp the horror immediately. Yes, I have a large vocabulary but especially on this blog, the posts and comments with the $10-dollar, SAT-words are often ignored, whether people know or believe this or not. i. did. not. want. this. to. be. ignored. It was too important.
Then why didn’t you raise this issue as persistently when Manish dropped the F-bomb, which he has on several occasions? What is it about ME using “dirty” language that has you offended? As for “whenever possible”, I don’t write every post like I wrote this one, do I?
Everyone has different definitions of “acceptable”. I would never have been a part of this enterprise if Abhi had said, “Hey Anna, by the way, you can’t swear” because that would mean that I wouldn’t be allowed to write as ME. Unlike a lot of people I’ve met, I don’t have a blogging or online persona vs an IRL one. WYRIWYG. We are not, nor have we ever wanted to be a paper of record. If you want decorum, there’s plenty of that in MSM and elsewhere. This is a Mutiny. Fishnetted, doc marten-ed, oxblood-lipsticked ME is the reason why the word “punk” was ever bandied about with regards to it.
If that means you occasionally bite a chicken bone, what can I say, I’m a life-long vegetarian and you shouldn’t order my chicken sandwiches.
“SheÂ’s a whore. A walking cum-dumpster who is so controlled by her genitals, she needs to be fucked and sheÂ’ll take it any way she can. ThatÂ’s how you tear down a woman…”
I’ll be honest, when I first read the above lines, I recoiled a bit, because they seemed so…well, unseemly.
But what is truly “unseemly” here is the sordid reality of an educational institution (indeed the metaphysics of which assume that the Enlightenment-virtues of rationality and reflection can be imparted and are worth imparting) that cynically exploiting a socially recognized code of femininity in order to de-legitimize the (woman) whistleblower. And since I think all of us appear to agree that this aspect of it is quite unseemly, the only question is whether it is OK to use an idiom that is appropriate to the subject at hand. Presumably (since Anna had mentioned banned books-week) we would agree that Ulysses, The Satanic Verses, Lolita, etc. should not have been banned, and agree moreover that it would be inappropriate to ban them even under a legal regime that heavily restricts pornography (i.e. a distinction may be drawn between “mere” obscenity and obscenity to some artistic/political/”wider” end). But if we take this position, then it seems to me we have no call to call for bloggers to self-censor themselves, or to recast their thoughts into more sanitized language, when the blogger’s concern is that sanitized language might not adequately convey the underlying sordidness (i.e. I infer that the blogger in question had such a view from the fact that she has used language of the sort I’ve quoted above). Whether she’s right– does the language convey the effect it was intended to convey (and I for one think she is)– is a different issue, but why is it inappropriate to make the attempt?
Anna, what can I say — if the intention of your post was to shock for shock’s sake — which it clearly wasn’t — then I would have had an issue with that. But from your explanation and Ennis’ post, I can see what you were trying to achieve. I don’t necessarily agree with the method you used, but I support the intent and spirit of not letting readers off the hook on the IITM/Rashmi issue.
Re: your questions —
I suppose the F-bomb has lost some of its impact on me through its constant use, and honestly I haven’t noticed when Manish or anyone else drops it because that particular word just blends in. I know I’m splitting hairs here, maybe your particular pottymouth phrases are a tad more.. colorful than the F-bomb? And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it must be an issue that only I have as you rightly pointed out, since no one else has complained.
There’s nothing specifically about YOU (since you ask) using dirty language that I take issue with — please don’t take it personally. I would have raised the same objection with another poster. And of course I don’t think you have chronic pottymouth in your posts, I’ve read enough of your stuff to know better. 😉
Anyway, the main issue here is the subject of what inspired you post to begin with, and not a discussion on appropriate language and tone on SM since noone else has raised this as a concern. Perhaps its something to revisit some other time — or as I said before — we can dead it right here.
PS I plan to keep reading your posts, bones and all. Keep up the good work.
As a man I’m defintely not in tune with the impact of sexual harassment as a woman would be. I see Anna’s intent but wonder if her analogy is overwrought.
First off, it could only have been ONE punk posting under different names, right???) That doesn’t diminish Anna’s point about men using sexual harassment as a weapon against women, but it does say something of the magnitude of the weapon IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.
Secondly, why did Rashmi leave the offending comments on her blog? Probably to let these morons shoot themsleves in the foot by letting their words speak for themsleves. And is it also possible that she wasn’t as affected by the garbage as we are implying she is?
Sadly enough, most of my (desi) friends don’t seem to understand the concept of ad hominem arguments, especially with regard to women.
I remember I was talking about Deepa Mehta with some of my friends back in my IIT days and they just went off about how she must be a lesbian and sex pervert to come up with movies like Fire and Water.
Which one, TPG? 🙂
Yo Shawty,
Great job and keep up the good work.
No.
I have to second Umair’s point. It is the writer’s/ blogger’s prerogative to choose words to convey her feelings in a free society.
I thought Anna was quite effective. If one has a problem, just do not read it (or stop halfway). Unless, it is hate, slander, and twisting facts – everything is kosher.
Bombay
Well said SM, I have been following this IIPM story from few days and was amazed by how the blogging world comes together on this cause inspite of fake bloggers from IIPM
hello friends time to teach some lessons to rogue advetisers like IIPM,NIIT,AMWAY etc
i wonder these print media guys… they will publish ANYTHING ad ADs.. do they have ANY responsibility towards society.. its collective failure of PRINT MEDIA as well Shame on all newspaper who publish such ads..
i checked out iipm website and it was badly done . being a web designer i realised who cannot create a decent site cannot teach principles which even IIMs adopt tomarrow !LOL two other similar cases . ..1).amway was exposed in similar way in USAÂ… 2)NIIT ads are also misleadingÂ…i could have chosen some serious education instead of becoming a dozen-a-dime web site designerÂ…
I hate NIIT who wasted my father’s life long savings. Their ads are very misleading.
The Indian MSM has finally come out in support
Check this story from Mumbai’s new newspaper DNA…
and this one at NDTV the TV channel.
Just a clarification. Rashmi did pass out from IIM Ahmedabad. I was a student there at the same time. In the interview cited above she mentions that she ‘opted out’ of placements, which incidentally is a brave thing to do. Forego a potentially cushy job to pursue her own dream.
I’ve spent the large part of the morning reading all these random IIPM-related posts, after I found the link in my inbox, courtesy the Proctor YMCA old boys’ mailing list. Have resisted the urge to add my own two cents so far, but hey, this is so crazy, so why not?!
I do think IIPM, like so many of these fake degree-dishing “institutes”, is a scam, and their ads have revolted me ever since I first saw them. I mean, how could one take that description of Arindam Chaudhuri as a “noted economist” seriously? I remember when I was in law school in Bangalore and the papers called the then director of my school an “eminent jurist”! It’s the same thing… sell the papers some crap and then say “see? the papers say that about me, so it’s got to be true”. The technical term, if I remember right, is “Circular Logic”. “A said A is great. B said A said A is great. Therefore, B said A is great. Therefore, A is great.” There is some other fancy Latin phrase for it that I don’t quite remember.
The reactions to the whole story amuse me, too. The fake bloggers and their “she’s a lesbian” rants, the defenders saying “so what?”, some idiot saying folks ought to take out a street procession of some sort, the stupid sales manager at IBM who decided to bend over backwards and kick some poor sod out of his his job to keep his cozy client relationship… the whole thing is just so stereotypical and hilarious, with all due respect to whoever’s getting hurt in the process.
I guess, the bottomline is this: we humans tend to fall for scams. We are fed by an urge to believe, and get upset when something gets in the way of that belief. The believers of IIPM’s holiness are upset that somebody questioned it. Believers of logic, blog freedom, and of sundry other liberal thoughts are upset that some fellow blogger is being ridiculed for supposedly being a lesbian (or otherwise being personally attacked). And the story goes on… what’s the whole point, anyway?
I, for one, won’t remember how to get to this blog once I close this window. I succumbed to this urge to add to the debate, just like everyone else has felt the need to do in this little several-blogs-wide universe that surrounds the tale of “How the Big Bad Lesbian Blogger Snatched Those Eggs That Noted Economist Arindam Was Teaching IIPM-lings To Count”.
So long folks. I hope I can find my way back when I feel an overwhelming urge to entertain myself on a weekday morning.
Its quite sad to see the comments posted on Rashmi’s blog.
However, the vitriolic nature of those comments has given credence to what Rashmi blogged on.
Apparently, those (one-off) bloggers set out with the intention of maligning Rashmi, they ended up achieving the very opposite.
Well, my question is : we all read the comments posted by IIPM students on Reshma’s blog. We can definitely judge a system by its output. So, doesn’t the filthy language and moronic attitude depict the story in itself? A professional institution needs to react in a more restrained way! Its a great feeling to see Indian blogosphere roaring in enthusiasm against self-proclaimed gurus. My solidarity to all of you, though I am a really small time blogger. The whole story reminds me of the last scenes from “Scent of a Woman” . Congrats to Rashmi and Gaurav, u ppl really show what is the REAL Indian professional’s character and ethics is.
Attagirl!
After reading this blog article , I just realised what a sorry state of affairs our world has become.
I saw Page 3 a few months ago and was shaken by its brazen candour.
I read your article and realised that reality is even worse.
I think I should stick to playing games on my Ps2.
On a more serious note , its exhilerating to see so many bloggers gearing up and fighting for a cause.
Its a proverbial david vs goliath war, but we all know how that ended, didnt we?!
🙂
U are one brave gal..keep it up… n thanks for for updating us on watever shit is happening around us…
U are one brave gal..keep it up… n thanks for for updating us on watever shit is happening around us…
You guys have done great work in exposing what IIPMs false claims are.But please do not keep using words like “slut”, “bitch” etc etc and such deplorably sarcastic remarks.
We all know you are right in what you want to convey.But tone down.Iam sure you dont want to bring a bad name to bloggers who are fighting with you.
Well this is you page and you have freedom of speech etc etc. but also keep in mind – in what taste will you leave the ppl reading it.
All I’d say is We can fight without this sad language.
Kudos to Rashmi Bansal and others for exposing the reality behind the IIPM’s hollowness.. The IIPM’s ads reflect the maxim, ” EMPTY VESSELS MAKE MUCH NOISE”. If the IIPM indeed is as great as it claims, (“Dare to think beyond IIMs), it could have invited the mainstream media and JAM mag to its campuses to show the facilities that it boasts of, and the entire event could have been videoed.. Dear Mr. Arindam Chaudhari, Do U remember what Stephen Covey (whom u mention in your ads as having visited your institution) said, ” One can’t achieve right ends through the wrong means. ” My sincere thanks to Rashmi and others for saving us from falling into the IIPM trap. I will try and keep on trying for IIMs, but would never accept IIPM’s seat, even if gifted freely, unless it changes its current situation and its deceitful campaigning in ads..
Oh Dear Rashmi bansal and Gaurav Sabnis, Please forgive those at IIPM who dont know what they are doing.
Hi,i have completed my grad and im plannin for my MBA and i got addmission in IIPM B’lore and as i heard from some of my frenz abt IIPM i started reading all these blogs!! So is this true and are the things are really happening wth iipm in this way. Pls do reply evry1 to take a rght decision asap!! . . . . . .
WTF IIPM! IIPM is number one fraud
I haven’t done too much research into either IIPM or Scientology but the similarities appear obvious to me. Any comments?