Letters

August 2011

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Thank you for the eye-open-ing article and supporting data on Indians in the United States (“Namaste America,” July 2011). I have not see the level of detail you have provided anywhere. Especially compelling are the statistics you published about the Indian population by Congressional districts. The community should mobilize around key constituencies where they can make a political difference. The 2010 congressional census data published in Little India is a political roadmap for Indian Americans in the 2012 elections.

V.K. Singh, Via eMail

 

I want to congratulate you on your excellent production. I was impressed most to see the detailed coverage of census data (July 2011), which is not covered by the mainstream media. I would like to see data on Marathi population and Marathi speakers in the United States.

Vidy Sahasrabuddhe, Camp Hill, Penn.

Editor’s Note: Language data from the 2010 Census will not be available for at least another year.

 

Santhosh Mathew’s provocative article “Mind Over Matter,” examining whether matter created consciousness or consciousness matter reminds me of the famous quote: “Mind over matter. I don’t mind. You don’t matter.”

Gitesh Mehta, Via email

 

“Healthy Business,” (July 2011) proposes that medical tourism could be India’s next big industry. That may well be so, because medical costs are so much lower in India. But beware the quality of the care. There will need to be enormous improvements in medical ethics and health infrastructure before India is ready to treat foreign tourists in any volume. Having someone tune up your computer is one thing; playing with your body and life quite another.

G.P. Parikh, Mumbai, India

 

The article “Dream Act” (July 2011) on the immigration services’ move to relax deportation proceedings against some deportable aliens is very interesting. I hope immigration officers exercise their prosecutorial discretion generously and judiciously as so many people are ensnared in technical violations of immigration laws through no fault of their own. Granting leniency to students who are pursuing higher education in the United States is no doubt the most humane exercise of these discretionary powers.

Vipul Menon, Via email

 

The feature article “Reverse Take” (February 2011) is an eye-opener in which you have fully exposed the empty promises politicians make to hold on to gaddi (power). For this article alone, I will award you and Lovejeet Alexander the Pultizer Prize for your indepth coverage and supporting photos.

The articles by Knowledge@Wharton and Santhosh Mathew are excellent. Please educate the NRIs about the black money looted by the corrupt, politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen and deposited in Swiss banks to the tune of $1.5 trillion.

Please expose how the Indian Administration Service (IAS), Indian Civil Service (ICS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) have made rules to suit them, to safeguard their interests, so no Income Tax or Anti Corruption authorities or the Auditor General of India can touch them. Any investigation agency has to give them 60 days prior notice before approaching them to check irregularities. These people are so corrupt that former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee once said, “Indian bureaucrats are the most corrupt people in India.”

I hold Congress responsible for institutionalizing corruption as it wants to rule India by hook or by crook. The highly communal and corrupt Congress is not doing anything to stop corruption in India. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are a disaster for our country.

The entire government machinery, billions of dollars in black money, muscle power and electronic, print media and pseudo-secularists are backing the corrupt Sonia Congress. The coming 2014 general elections in India are crucial and we have to systematically campaign to throw out Sonia and her band of sycophants from the Delhi Darbar.

Ramesh Gopisetty, Lawrenceville, Ga.

 

The cover story “Searching for India” (April 2011) was excellent. “Rabindranath Tagore Mystic Poet” by Victor Parachin was captivating. It’s superb. It’s a profound tribute to India’s literary icon on his 150th birth anniversary. I submit my whole-hearted homage to the great “Punnyatma.” I liked the style, the layout and contents of all your articles.

K.R. Rajendran, Albany, Ga.

 

I am pleased to see that Little India is beginning to tackle the under-belly of the Indian community. We spend far too much time patting oursleves on the back and fail to realize or admit that all is not hunky-dory. As you point out, too many Indians have been caught up in criminal activity. Indian media tends to bury these scandals. I am glad that at least you are exposing the problems in the community.

Vijay K, Via eMail

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