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React: Letters from readers

A policeman had come home in my absence to verify my passport application, but did not leave a note. I just went to the Passport Office, and it was disgusting. Sorry, but I've decided that giving Rs.500 to the sub-inspector is something I'm actually going to do.
- Usha Verma

A blank letter with pen

Kejriwal's Crusade
As a race, we have been known to give in to temptation [Arvind Kejriwal's Quest for Change, May]. Companies pay huge kickbacks for contracts while the common man pays a tenner to the peon to meet an officer. Unable to shake ourselves from the web of corruption, we find our selves deeper in it. Yet there is hope as long as people like Kejriwal can dream of a corruption-free India.
- Dr Ashwani K. Malhotra, Ludhiana

The problem is that only a few of us want an end to corruption. Why politicians do not want to check the malady needs no explanation. Bureaucrats like to serve under corrupt bosses because they too can male a quick buck. Businessmen prefer to grease a palm instead of standing in never ending queues. Shopkeepers happily pay a part of the taxes they owe to inspectors and pocket the rest. It is only the common man who wants to end corruption, but who bothers about the common man?
- L.R. Sharma, Jalandhar

Let's initiate a movement where we have signboards at prominent places in all public offices with messages like these: "BRIBES NOT ACCEPTED HERE" "REPORT ANYONE ASKING FOR A BRIBE" or "GIVING OR TAKING BRIBES IS PUNISHABLE."
- Dr R. Govindarajan, Malur, Karnataka

If more groups like Parivartan had been created everywhere, corruption in government offices would have ended.
- M.B. Ramaswamy, Bangalore

Social Networking
I am a homemaker with a daughter away in a hostel in another city and a son working in London [Social Media, In My Opinion, May]. I get quite lonely during the day. A few weeks ago, I took up some basic computer classes and was introduced to Facebook. I instantly realized that I had been missing out on a lot happening in my kids' lives. Now I am a lot closer to them than I was before. True, the present generation is spending far too much time on it, but I believe it will do good in the long run.
- Kavita Garg

We were 125 boys in our Sainik School's 1990 batch. Today more than 90 of us are connected via social media. We discuss many relevant issues ranging from politics and economics to sports and cinema. A website like Facebook, Twitter or Orkut clearly delivers value and connects the dots.
- Alok Kumar, Bangalore

Preventing N-Disaster
Japan has forgotten [Lessons of Chernobyl, May] what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and didn't consider Chernobyl. Had they remembered, they would not have erected atomic reactors especially in earthquake- and tsunami-prone regions. Nature has given us the Sun, which is full of atomic explosions. We must utilize its energy.
- Dr J.D. Shrivastava, Vadodara

India has vast coastlines. As such, it should be possible to distribute the locations for nuclear power plants. The government should publish, annually, the precautions and improvements introduced to minimize disasters.
- K. Raghunatha Rao, Bangalore

Fatherhood and the Law
Mr Daryl Hendrix must get the joy of parenting his children [The Case of the Donor Daddy, May]. He must be given the right to meet his twins often.
- Anuja M., Ahmedabad

The mere claim of biological fatherhood does not entitle one to the "dividend" of the rights and privileges of parenthood, without having undergone the trials of family life. Also, nothing is revealed in the story about the intimate thoughts and emotions of the two persons involved or about their personal relationship before and after the birth of the twins.
- S. Krishna, Belgaum

Restful Sleep
It's the quality and quantity of sleep [The Essential Guide to Deeper Sleep, May] that is important. It's better to have six hours of uninterrupted deep sleep by about 8pm since digestive activity depends on the quality of sleep.
- M. Sujatha, Suryapet, AP

'Avioquacks'
It's not about the fact that any Tom, Dick or Parminder Kaur Gulati acquires a DGCA-certified fake licence, [Outrageous, May] but how did an airline actually recruit her after tests and let her fly commercial planes and land them on the nose-wheel? I mean even a kid who aspires to be a pilot would know never to land a plane on its nose wheel. It's as good as digging into the ground.
- Pradnya Desai

The Need to Forgive
Forgiving the man who killed her son is remarkable [An Act of Will, May]. If revenge had been Lin Meiyun's only tool, it would have sparked a chain reaction to the violent start by teenager Yang. Not many of us understand that a moment of anger is the cause of man's destruction.
- N. Srividya, Chennai

Racism Down Under
Nobody has made allegations of "racism" [Friends, Fears and Flood, My Story, May] against the type of well to-do Australians who are Advani's neighbours. Nor are family men like Advani attacked. The perpetrators of "racist" violence are young locals who may lack employment or a direction in life. So, does the article not Sweep under the carpet the lack of adequate societal support for Indian students in Australia?
- Nripinder Singh Aulakh, Bathinda, Punjab

From reading this article, it would seem that Indian students in Australia are not facing any problems-far from the truth. In an era of cut throat competition, if a person is doing badly, he tries to take revenge on those who are doing well. This happens when immigrants seem to have an upper hand over local citizens. In the past, Mumbaiites too have shown the same attitude, and it must surely be condemned.
- Venkataramana Kotichinthala

Smart Studio
The paintings on your last page by Maulshree Singh [RD Studio, June] and Vinayak Jagdale [May] would mesmerize anybody when viewed in original. The choice of shades and hues, the brush strokes and the themes are excellent. Both artists have poured their souls onto canvas. I wish them both fame and prosperity. Thank you for publishing the works of lesser-known artists.
- Group Captain Dev Dutta Roy, Greater Noida

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