Venky's ruminations ….

Bringing a unique Global Perspective to various issues based on my life experience

Posts Tagged NYU

Letter to my alienated daughter #9

Apr 23

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Letters | No Comments

My loving faithful daughter apologizes to her elementary school staff for speaking the truth…

Dear Sakshi,

in December 2012 you made a fateful video that brought your video producing “career” to an abrupt end.  Below is the video she posted on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-wbwR209Pk&feature=youtu.be

But oops – there is no video – because it got “censored”.  And why did that happen?  In that video (posted in a Youtube account controlled by your mother), you had depicted one of your elementary school teachers (without naming either school or teachers) as crazy enough to have mood swings and verbally abuse the children and another teacher putting her feet on the children and twisting their arms during PE class.

You caved in to the pressure (despite my total support, telling you to stand your ground) and wrote a letter of apology to all and sundry (see your apology email and my email to you about it above) and the video was taken down.  And, as I feared, you did not make another video – and you budding video “career” came to an abrupt end.

Now you are in journalism school and the Chief-Editor of your college newspaper. I know you get pressures from all quarters from people who have a problem with what you publish or don’t publish in your paper. And it does appear that you are standing up well to those trying to twist your arm.

It does seem to me that you learned your lesson from what transpired with the video and that you do NOT have to apologize for speaking the truth to power.

And I believe, whether you acknowledge it or not, that I contributed to you growing a spine since the fiasco with the self-censored YouTube video so that you no longer cave in to pressure. In the process whether or like it or not, people who know both of us see you as a piece of the old block!

Hopefully, one day, your eyes will open and you will be able to see from where you got the qualities that make you so successful today.

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman
B.Tech, MBA, JD

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Letter to my alienated daughter #8

Apr 9

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Letters, Uncategorized | No Comments

I bought this house in 2002 because my loving faithful daughter told me when we were moving from CA to TX that she wanted an upstairs-downstairs house!

I bought this house in 2002 because my loving faithful daughter told me when we were moving from CA to TX that she wanted an upstairs-downstairs house!

Dear Sakshi,

In 2001, when you were just 3 years old, and I had decided to move from California to Texas to take up a new job, you said “Dad – my friend here has an upstairs-downstairs house. I want to also have an upstairs-downstairs house. Can you get me one?”.

Since I could refuse you nothing from the time you were first born and looked at me with your beautiful brown eyes, I immediately said “Of course, I will get you one konthey (baby)”.

So I told the realtors in Dallas not to bother to even show me any house that did not have “upstairs-downstairs”. Eventually, I zeroed in on this house with 2 stories.

At least from my end, I have some very fond memories (bolstered by thousands of pictures and hundreds of hours of video) of you and your sister growing up in this house. So it was really painful to me (and it still pains me till today) when you made it appear during your testimony in court that nothing good ever happened to you when you were with me in this house. (A more competent lawyer would have torn your testimony apart for being so extreme and absolute in your statements but that is another story).

Under the circumstances, I can be reconciled with the fact that you and I may never have a relationship again and move on with my life ONLY when I am able to find out what is the rationale based on which you have completely rejected me.

Per Dr. Richard Warshak an authority on Parental Alienation regarding a parent who alienates a child from another parent:

“Through persistent bad-mouthing, lies, exaggerations, overlooking positives, and drum-beating negatives, they manipulate their children to reject the other parent in the same way a politician paints a unfavorable picture to alienate voters from the opponent.”

At this time, I believe your mother engaged in this type of behavior. As long as I believe that is what happened to you, you can rest assured that your mother will pay a steep price for destroying your relationship with me. On the other hand, if it is some other reason that has ripped us apart, it might be in the best interest of everyone involved that you let me know what exactly happened (from your perspective) that turned my “loving faithful daughter” into somebody I cannot recognize anymore.

I assure you that I will leave no stone unturned to figure out what happened to the girl who used to be the apple of my eye and the light of my life, however long it takes.

Hopefully, one day, sooner rather than later, you will let me know “What happened?” and bring an end to this quest.

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman
B.Tech, MBA, JD



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Letter to my alienated daughter #7

Apr 3

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Uncategorized | No Comments

Cute comment on my blog by my loving faithful daughter when she was just 13 – weaponized by her in court 3 years later!

Dear Sakshi,

In November 2012 I wrote a blog (see:
https://venkyvenkatraman.com/2019/04/letter-to-my-alienated-daughter-7/ ) after being part of a jury as if I was actually addressing you and your sister. You were smart enough even then, when just 13 years old, to write a nice comment which was even appreciated by the now CISD Superintendent, Brad Hunt (see above).

Then just 3 years later, you used what I wrote in my blog and what I might have told you in private (don’t recall ever telling you that a jury panel was “12 idiots picked off the street”, though) to effectively weaponize that against me in court (see above), along with your testimony that followed, to pretty much torpedo my quest to bring you and your sister back home.

Clearly, that ingenious idea was entirely yours as neither your mom nor her lawyer would have known about this blog from 3 years ago and what I may or may not have said to you in private.

Now that another 3 years have gone by since your testimony, do you have any regrets about doing this? If you do, then I will forgive you as you were just as a (precocious) child who did not understand the long term ramifications of what you were doing. On the other hand, if you have no regrets even now at age 20 for what you did when you were still 16, then I can only say, Beware of Karma. One fine day, someone who was close to you and to whom you confided private matters, will spill those confidences (even distorted) in open court causing you great embarrassment and consternation. And that person could even be your own child! And on that day you will remember and regret what you did in November 2015.

As always, I am waiting for your eyes to open and if and when that day comes, if I am still alive and kicking, I will welcome you back with open arms.

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman
B.Tech, MBA, JD

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Letter to my alienated daughter #5

Mar 23

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Uncategorized | No Comments

My loving faithful daughter made this in kindergarten!

Dear Sakshi,

I had sent you this communication when you took on your new role:

I made this comment on your post and it never got published.  And there are no other comments either.  One way you can ensure that people pay less and less attention to your paper is if you ignore and disrespect your readers or don’t interact at all with them.  If you are really looking for ways to revive people’s interest in journalism and journalists, keep that in mind.

P.S.  In the event you would prefer such feedback be sent to you privately, just me know and I will be happy to do so.

Preparing to Lead WSN Through Journalism’s Darkest Days

Congrats on your new position and best wishes for a successful tenure as Editor-in-Chief!

With respect to your question “Would people even care if our industry quietly faded into nothing?” my response is in this era of “fake news” and spin, people are yearning for reporting which is unbiased and covers a story from all angles. Rarely do we see that nowadays with the so-called journalists wanting to add their spin to every story they write. So if your paper under your leadership provides unvarnished facts such that people begin to trust in your reporting, you and your paper will thrive. On the other hand, if you cherry pick facts to reach some predetermined conclusions, then eventually people will see through it and your readership will dwindle to just the hard-core ideologues who agree with your point of view.

So give this some thought – and to show that you do actually care for other points of view, I hope you will publish this comment.

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Letter to my alienated daughter #4

Mar 20

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Uncategorized | No Comments


My loving faithful daughter while in elementary school…

Dear Sakshi,

Today at the gym I ran into an old friend after a long time who asked me “How is Sakshi?”.

For a moment I thought of answering “truthfully”, “I have not seen her in almost 2 years.  She says she has no relationship with me. So I have no idea”.

Instead I chose to respond “She is doing great. She is in NYU and she is already the Editor-in-Chief of her college newspaper.  I am very proud of her”.

Lesson to you as a soon-to-be journalist – so-called “truth” can be used as a weapon by selectively revealing some information but not disclosing other relevant information.

Hope you will keep that in mind while talking or writing about me and our “relationship” (or lack thereof, according to you).

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman

B.Tech, MBA, JD

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Letter to my alienated daughter #3

Mar 15

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Uncategorized | No Comments

About 5 years ago, my loving faithful daughter wanted to go to Tisch school at NYU and be an actress!

Dear Sakshi,

I got an alert about an online post where you were criticized and later admitted your error.  See:

“WSN Editor-in-Chief Sakshi Venkatraman admitted the piece “was written with a clear bias” and “was sensationalist and wrong.” Venkatraman also acknowledged that the comparison to McInnes and Yiannopoulos “was clearly a reach—and disrespectful.”” From:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/03/13/sars-m13.html

I really wish you would bring that kind of clear thinking to your relationship with your own father to whom you might owe an apology as well!

I am also impressed by your response to this controversy – shows your maturity.  See:

http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2019/03/12/objectivity-questioned/

As someone with far more experience, I would like to be on your side and advise you when someone attacks you online or elsewhere and you feel beleaguered – for that you need to reach out to me.

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman

B.Tech, MBA, JD

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Letter to my alienated daughter #2

Mar 6

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Uncategorized | No Comments

Note from my loving, faithful daughter from eons ago

Hello Sakshi,

Very impressed with this statement (presumably) made by you in https://nyunews.com/2019/02/19/statement-from-washington-square-news/ and I agree 100% with it.

But when I saw the line “We publicly acknowledge when we make errors and welcome letters to the editor from anyone disagreeing with how we do our jobs.” I had to say to myself “Really?” since you have failed to publish in your paper the constructive criticism I have provided on many of your writings.

I hope you are able to see the dichotomy here – if not, I am hoping some more seasoned journalist will be able to point it out to you one day.

Further, you state “If some activists choose not to provide comment for our coverage, then we’re left to report on what is said in public forums and meetings. “. Based on that I think you would agree that if you do not provide any responses to communications sent directly to you, then I am left with only the choice of responding to you in a public forum.

Hope you will give that some thought.

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman

B.Tech, MBA, JD

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Letter to my alienated daughter #1

Mar 6

Posted by Venky Venkatraman in Uncategorized | No Comments

From my loving, faithful daughter (YLFD) from eons ago ….

Hello Sakshi,

Given that you are now telling people that you have “no relationship” with me, I was wondering how you feel when you introduce yourself to people as:

Sakshi – the name I picked for you when you were born (which means someone who always sees/speaks the truth) 

Saroja – your loving grandmother’s first name (someone who you missed seeing on her deathbed due to your own actions – you know what I mean)

Venkatraman – my name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name (you effectively reject my side of the family when you reject me)

So till you change your name to something like Sarah Susan Venturella you will always have a “relationship” to me, if not with me!

Best wishes.

Venky Venkatraman

B.Tech, MBA, JD

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