I feel that internalization is inevitable in degrees, and the plagiarism rules of the West are structured to protect the establishment. Everyone should be free to use the ideas of others. Knowledge should be free as the air. Kavya has not forced anyone to buy her book. Critics may not give her an award, but everyone should be free to read her mind and outputs of her thought. I do not mind if she stands on the ideas of others. Famous authors who have criticised her have also used the mental outputs of others to fashion their own work. Thought like matter, is neither created nor destroyed, but goes through endless churning. Perhaps one compromise could be for Kavya to write in MLA or Turabian style in future.
( Posted: Thursday , May 04, 2006 at 07:56 )
Vijay
I think salman rushdie was right. She is not a credited author and in fact i would support the fact that kaavya is a very good reader and she must have been copying throughout her life. If she does have the talent and art of creating something new, then she should have kept quiet. She wanted name and fame at other authors expense. As Rushdie said, she copied most of the words from rushdie's novel, and i really dont know as so how kaavya dared to be in the hall of fame. I think it is a shame and insult not only to her, but also to indians, as this entire issue has created a very bad image and has been widely critisized throughout the world.
( Posted: Thursday , May 04, 2006 at 07:16 )
Mohan
Perhaps one has to evaluate Kaavya's creativity, downplaying the issue of plagiarism, on the final output. After all, at 19, she is a blooming ,creative genius, forced astray by the compulsion to perform or perish!Critics need to perceive the organic whole of her creative talent and capabilities in crafting Opal.
( Posted: Thursday , May 04, 2006 at 05:26 )
Kumar
The rushdies and the Mc Caffirty's are much older and sane people than a 17 yr old Kaavya (the age in which she wrote) Imagine the creativity of the girl to have written such a novel that's much more words and sentences than the media caught copied plagarisms! Surely these aged and wise english speaking men must have the heart to encourage Kaavya for her other areas creativity rather than stoop to her leve and insulting her. I support Kaavya since she is only a teenager and budding talent in writing. Mr Salman and Mc caffirty's How do you rate Japanese car makers copied the cars of FORD and GM in 1960s and earlier only to beat them? You can't have one set of rules for Japan and another for India!
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 17:02 )
Nitin Gokarn
In Indian educational institutes plagiarism is a way of life. Kaavya being in US should have known better that she was likey to be "caught" stealing - her apology notwithstanding. Like many others , I too dont buy the theory that she is innocent or it was an act out of naiveity. Nonetheless, one feels sad for Kaavya - One,being Indian we genuinely pity her. Second,she has done a mistake,admitted it,paid a price by being infamous world over. She has learnt her lessons at 19 , and would definitely never ever do such an act again. Lastly , people have committed more horrendous crimes and yet are walking freely.In this context Kkavya's "crime" pales into nothing ! Spare a thought for this Indian daughter. Everybody is going for her - some had to be a devils advocate.
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 14:19 )
Mr Nitin is correct and we should all support Kavya who has got carried away. It was her immaturity perhaps. Everyone makes mistakes. Lets not blow the issue out of proportion in India like the western media.
( Posted by Mohana Pillai on )
swamy
She is too young and let people stop hounding her. All the hue & cry is only because of the money involved, else there would have been no noise.
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 12:39 )
Funda_Mental
"He said the mob had been dispersed and Rapid Action Force deployed in the area."
The mob should not have been dispersed. They should have been caught and sent to jail. If any one resisted, they should have shot the barbarians on the spot. The police is a silent accomplice in this, willingly or unwillingly. They need an iron hand to deal with this.
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 11:13 )
Gp Capt TP Srivastava
Kaavya has indeed become a household name,at least the homes that surf the net.To me it appears that it is not the so-called plagiarism that is bothering people,it is the deal of 500 million USD.Although all those ,including Mr Rushdie,do not have the guts to say so in as many words.The child has been able to write a novel on her own intellectual capability.Do the so-called 44 paras/sentences copied from other authors make the novel?Surely the girl has talent to write much more than 44 paras.Come on give her a break.At least the Indian community.I am in no way suggesting that paras/sentences should be lifted verbatim.That would be professional profligacy.For heaven,s sake let,s not envy the money that the girl has/may have made,I dont know.Leave her alone,please.
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 10:52 )
dear captain,
why are you assuming that we are reacting to her contract of millions of dollars? if she deserves it, she must get it but as time passes by, we discover that her has internalized more than one author's book and that is dipressing. just think about what the original writer(s) must be going through??? we are not against her signing a killer deal... we are only reacting to stop others from doing such a thing... thats the power of media, Captain!
( Posted by sandeep on )
Dear Sandeep, you are a typical individual,who has no opinion of his own but likes to make irrational comments on rational observation of others.your remarks and language used in another comment of yours reflects your personality.god bless you.
( Posted by Gp Capt TP Srivastava on )
Captain, I don care how much moeny she wud have made or she made. To me a Million is equal to a500 million is equal a billion its all equal a lot of money which i don care about. To me its not very smart. thats it. actually i don even care abt this news.
( Posted by Sriram Venkitachalam on )
i think sandeep you are absolutely right. We need to look at the mental agony various authors must have been going through because of kaavya. I dont think kaavya has the talent of creating something new. She copied not one or two, but many sentences from other famous novels. Thats really bad and proves to be a copycat
( Posted by vijay on )
upset desi
When James Frey plaigarised a novel,none in US bothered much about it,until it came ti limelight.BUT poor kavya, a brown skinned teenaged Indian is a cynosure here,partly coz of her origin,and that she got a whooping 500mil $ contract.. now,her contract stands cancelled,books pulled from shelves,her parents preparing lawyers to face law suits,sAGA CONTINUES..Wish she comes out of her troubles sooner.
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 10:11 )
dear desi babu,
you must agree that this poor kaavya is not all that poor. Every thing is accepted but theft is not, especially in Indian tradition. By the way, this way, even I can become an author and i am sure, people like you will have all the sympathies with me, if I am caught just like her. (i guess, kaavya will revise her book including the title "How Opal mehta got kissed, got wild, got a life and got screwed")
( Posted by sandeep on )
Gaurav Sharma
Oh my god, stop it already guys!! Seriously this whole thing is nothing but useless crap that all you useless journalists can rant about!! How about covering the country's core issues as much as covering a small incident like this one? God save India from ignorant media... amazing how much the press has lost its standards.
( Posted: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 at 09:33 )
I truly agree to what to state. With mahajan on bed, vodhra on fire, sensex on fluctuation, cricket on politicized.... media is busy in matching each passage of kavya's book with any other top notch writers famous novel's extract. God forbid.. the latest fashion of journalist is becoming coming up with a new victim of plagarism. Even if she copy four author's creativity and blend them well to present a fresh stuff with OPEL MEHTA brand tag... what the heck in it ? Still a 17 year girl deserve applause .. if not for creativity then for standing the world wide media.
( Posted by Amrita Chakraborty on )
All said and done, the fact remains that Kavvya has belittled the dignity of all Indians. It is not that only Indian press is writing about it, the story has made headlines in almost all English speaking countries.Have you read the comments of some anglo indian authors?
( Posted by RN Sharma on )
Indian press has become more like gossiping aunties of indian neighbourhoods... kaavya might be a good writer but she certainly is a good reader... so let her be.... why the hell do we need to ponder on how well she reads and emulates them word by word in her creations... if you see various movies copies from eleswhere u can read her book to if you want... atleast u will be reading various books under one cover... isnt it
( Posted by Shikher on )
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