Letters from Readers
Celebrating the written word
Time magazine and Khabar keep me abreast of the two worlds I live in as an Indian-American. I have noticed with relish how you have evolved into a mature publication without compromising your core values. In a photo-fixated world, most publications tend to abandon the power of the written word, but not Khabar.
Yes, pictures are worth a thousand words, but one riveting sentence can change your life orat least perspective. Here are some nuggets from your publication:
Pico Iyer’sobservation about the Dalai Lama: “He’s one of the most seen and least understood people on the planet. Whenever anybody has that degree of visibility, it understandably creates a simple notion of who they are.”
Manil Suri upsetby the lukewarm response from India to his new book that has a prominent gay character that he thought would generate controversial attention: “I’ve been abit disappointed in a way—perhaps a part of me had been hoping that the gay theme in my novel would at least be a wee bit controversial. Could everyone in India really have turned so hip?”
You are on a good course—please stay on it.
A Loyal Reader
JayantKamicheril
by email
Good to read about Indians from Georgia
Viren Mayani’s article titled “An Affair to Remember,” covering the Hindu festival of Diwali in the White House, was very enlightening. It was also an occasion of pride for Georgians that a young couple from Atlanta was chosen along with 175 Indians across the U.S. Can you publish some pictures of the Diwali celebrations in theU.S. Congress? It was attended by Hindu Congress woman Tulsi Gabbard, VicePresident Joe Biden, and many other congressmen.
I hope Khabar continues to publish news of Indians from Georgia being honored anywhere in the U.S. I am a senior citizen originally from Kashmir and an eyewitness to the partition of India. I was invited to Houston, Texas, as a keynote speaker to deliver a lecture about the partition of India, and for a book-signing ceremony for my book, Forgotten Atrocities: Memoirs of a Survivor of the 1947 Partition of India.
Bal K. Gupta
Acworth, Georgia
Bidding adieu, with tears
I am a 22-year-old guy from Pakistan. I was not supposed to have tears in my eyes when I went to bed the night Sachin Tendulkar played his last innings. I was not supposed to stay up while at college in the U.S. and watch every ball of the final test match. My eyes are not supposed to tear up when I think about not being able to see Sachin bat again.
When someone tells me about how great Tendulkar is I should point out to him that India lost most of the matches in which Tendulkar scored centuries. I should reply with clever statistics. I should cleverly slip in the fact that Indian pitches are extremely batting-friendly. But I don’t need to. Sachin may not be the greatest for someone else, but he is my greatest. And he has been, since I was a young boy, when I would sit still in front of the television, not caring about which team was playing whom or about how many wickets which team needed or how many runs behind the other team was. None of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that Tendulkar was batting.
Mine is not a statistical admiration. I have always looked down upon counting: there is apettiness about it which does not befit a lover. My passion is aesthetic. It revels in the perfect curl of Tendulkar’s bat as it traces that sensuous arc when he plays his cover drive. And it worships the economy of a Tendulkar drive, when not a single extra muscle, not a single sinew moves more than what is necessary to show the ball its way to the boundary.
We have never heard a word of arrogance from him, not a hint of pride, not a dash of narcissism. We have never heard Tendulkar being caught up in controversies, scandals, trouble. His face glows with the dignity of a man who has never lied,cheated, indulged, complained. Is it possible that we will ever see as big a reputation and as small an ego together again?
Thank you, Sachin, for being the greatest.
Shariq Khan
by email
What’s on YOUR mind?
We welcome original, unpublished letters from our readers. You could either respond to a specific article inKhabar or write about issues relevant to our community. Letters may be edited for length and other considerations. Longer submissions by readers may be considered for the “My Turn” column.
Email: letters@khabar.com • Fax: (770) 234-6115.
Mail: Khabar, Inc. 3790 Holcomb Bridge Rd. Suite 101, Norcross, GA 30092.
Note: Views expressed in the Letters section do not necessarily represent those of the publication.
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