Letters
Letters Dec 06
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I recently read Shekhar Hattangadi’s article “Jina Isi Ka Naam Hai” (Nov 2006) on Hrishikesh Mukherjee, my grandfather. Many friends have called to tell us that they liked your article and so I checked it out. I’m writing to you because I miss my grandfather a lot. Over the years, I have read many articles on him, but your article brought me to tears. I guess, once you lose someone so close to you, there is this desire to talk to all who knew him and just hear great things.
Thank you for the article “The Killer Belly” by Lavina Melwani (Nov 2006). As a 40-something second generation Indian American and non-smoking vegetarian who thought I was healthy, I was shocked to find out that I had low HDL and high triglyceride values. I was not eating much Indian food, but I did tend to eat lots of carbohydrates. I made changes to my diet, and started exercising more. My values have moved to near normal recently. One thing that the article did not address: The heart-healthy benefits of consumption of Omega-3 Fatty Acids. My numbers really started improving when I started taking high DHA / EPA content Fish Oil capsules daily. I also have been consuming flaxseed meal added to foods such as oatmeal for over a year. Reportedly Mahatma Gandhi touted flaxseeds years ago. Maybe you can do a follow-up about the benefits of Omega-3’s. To paraphrase your editorial, this issue could well save many lives – those of your readers, your employees, their family and friends. We commend you for a job well done. Thank you. For last few months I have been watching Dateline on NBC catching sexual predators. It’s really shocking and shameful that many of the pedophiles are of Indian decent, often software professionals and some of them are married. In India they may have gone free by bribing officials, but in the United States these predators will face the consequences. These Indians may be highly intellectual, but lack basic common sense and now they will pay a high price, huge fines, jail and those who are immigrants will be deported back to India. They will also not be able to travel abroad as the United States sends fingerprints to all entry ports of other countries. The article “Does it Really Matteram” by Shekhar Hattngadi (October 2006)is very well researched. It brings to attention to Indian politicians who only seek to consolidate their vote bank by dividing Indians on basis of their religion. They do not leave any chance to capitalize on the sacrifices of India’s patriotic freedom fighters. Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Ashfaqullah Khan and Ram Prasad Bismil shouted “Vande Matram” before they were hanged by the British. Bhagat Singh was a Sikh and Ashfaqullah Khan was Muslim, but they give away their lives and their last words were “Vande Matram.” Many of today’s Indian politicians who are stirring up controversy probably do not even know the names of the these martyrs. They should read the history of these revolutionaries and use “Vande Matram” to unite Indians instead of creating discord between Hindus and Muslims of India. One point Shekhar Hattangadi is probably not aware is that during 1947 communal riots, Hindus did not use “Vande Matram” in retalition to “Allah-o-Akbar”. During those turbulent days, Hindus used “Har-Har-Mahadev.” I am a survivor of 1947 Pakistani invasion of Jammu and Kashmir and have personally witnessed those exchanges. “Vande Matram’ has never been used as a communal slogan. Even A.R. Rahman prepared a video and sang this anthem during NDA (BJP) rule in India. Bankim Chander Chatterji wrote many social and historical novels about Bengal and was popular with both Hindus and Muslims. Steve Irwin was an entertainer. This was his way of promoting wildlife conservation. There is nothing wrong with supporting a life mission in an unconventional way. Steve’s legacy will live on. Shekhar Hattangadi’s assertion in “Why I Won’t Salute Steve Irwin (Nov 2006) that the killing of stingrays by some people after his death is proof that “there could be no greater failure of his life-mission” is a load of rubbish. But perhaps there’s one endangered species we may prefer not to save or even look at on television documentaries – Shekhar Hattangadi, a journalist who deep down actually wants to be the Crocodile Hunter and has proven his speed and agility by posting his article long before researching the facts. Steve Irwin was a hero. He showed the world what reptiles and animals are really like and why we need to conserve them. He evolved as a human to a stage where he considered himself to be part of this universe and bonded with all creations of this mortal world. He respected the life of reptiles he used to handle, sometimes injuring them, but that was only to give them a safer place to grow in abundance. The author has unnecessarily given a racial color to this article by stating, “If his Caucasian forefathers colonize and subjugated the dark-skinned natives of the American, African, Asian and Australian continents, Steve Irwin had set his sights on the entire animal kingdom”. The fact about colonization is true, but not relevant in Steve Irwin’s case. I have watched most of the shows hosted by Steve. He has evolved from a performer to a human who cares for reptiles and animals. Some of his acts may be considered as opportunism by others and may have got him fame, but let us not deny he was a reptile lover. In fact when we heard about Steve’s death, we were shocked. He was young, energetic. We badly miss Steve. Steve wanted to built a zoo in the US, wanted his children to enjoy dual nationality, he had plans for his children and also plans to educate the world about the reptile world. This article would have done much benefit if Steve was with us to answer the views aired by the author. Steve was frank and honest. He did not hire a PR agency to guide what not to speak during television shows. Whatever one might say, you just can’t deny Steve was an animal lover. I would like to comment on several inaccuracies and biases in your article on Steve Irwin. Steve was not “grappling with the stingray,” he was just swimming above it. Why do you say he “trespassed into the habitats” of animals? As far as I know he has not been prosecuted or fined for being somewhere he was not supposed to be. It is also sad you are trying to play a “race card” in your arguments. You do know that he named his daughter after both his beloved dog and also his beloved crocodile? Finally, sadly yes, there are idiots in any population. Some ten stingrays were sadly killed following Steve’s death. How many people involved? Let’s be generous and say three for each stingray – 30 idiots compared to a population of millions who learned respect for nature and conservation from this man. It is again very revealing and sad to see on which percentage you focused. Steve Irwin was a conservationist, not out for his own gain. Anyone who has ever visited Australia Zoo knows that the animals that live there are among the happiest one can see. Steve’s legacy lies with their legacies and with our respect for their time on this planet. He truly loved the animals and the world of conservation is at a great loss from his passing. Why? Why? Why did Steve Irwin have to die before I saw him? I swore that after high school and college I would gather my money and go meet my role model. Ever since I saw his show I wanted to be a marine biologist. I might not be able to make a show like he did, but damn it, I wanted to help animals after I met him. The day I found out about his death, I my friends at school cried. Because he was our inspiration and he drove us to want to be more then a doctor or lawyer. We wanted to show him that we could change the world. What I don’t understand is how people can talk about him in such a way. Without his guidance and his shows, I would have never known most of these animals existed. Do you prefer us to support animals being killed because we don’t know about them? Shame on the people who do kill stingrays because of Steve. It’s not his fault that they are misinformed. He hasn’t killed an animal at all and he was teaching his children well about animals! I am sad and this kind of stuff just make me remember him. How can speak ill about someone who has inspired so many! As a Black man who grew up in 1960s in the South and suffered countless acts of racism, I can definitely relate to Shekhar Hattangadi’s article “Why I Can’t Salute Steve Irwin.” Despite suffering discrimination, I know that not all Whites are bad; some of them are solid gold. On the other hand, some Whites have a God complex, which is much worse than the superiority complex we hear about so often. These Whites want to control everything, including other cultures, the environment, the animal world, etc. I’m sorry Steve Irwin was killed, but he intruded too closely into the stingray’s space, which simply reacted. When is this pseudo-outrage going to stop? All for a very overrated man who promoted sensationalistic tripe more than he promoted environmentalism. His death is a very sad indeed, but even sadder is all this hypocritical trumping of his so-called legacy. Steve Irwin was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. The media’s portrayal of him as a martyr is unfounded and just another extension of the cheap sensationalism Steve Irwin resorted to during his life. Malachi Ritscher (a musician who immolated himself to protest the Iraq war), now there’s a man who really died for what he believed in, the extremity of his methods notwithstanding. Where’s all the fanfare and celebration for him? Is this what death boils to? Significance being judged based on fame? The backlash on your reasoned and very rational article is just crazy. Some of the replies come off as very foolish indeed, even sinking to personal insults. Editor’s Note: The article on Steve Irwin in the November issue unleashed a storm of criticism from his fans. We are able to publish only a handful of the dozens of comments, which were overwhelmingly critical of the article and raved about Irwin’s contributions and legacy. All the letters are online, accompanying the original article. |
In response to the article “Too Asian for Stanford” by Scott Jaschick (Nov 2006) – white people are only interested in maintaining their privilege. I am certain that Jennifer Gratz in Michigan has little or nothing to say about this white bias, while she rants and raves about how minorities with lower scores are admitted. I know many inadequately prepared whites who were admitted and who have no business being at the University of Michigan.