Letters from Readers
Great article by Archana Shah (“A People in Peril: Indians in South Africa,” June issue). Indians suffered under apartheid and now it’s a “reverse apartheid.” Educational standards have dropped significantly. Jobs are preferentially given to the Africans, then coloreds, and then whites, and lastly Indians. We have been classified as “last class citizens.” Crime is very high and there is more African on Indian crime than African on white. It’s almost a double whammy—you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Corruption is the order of the day in South African society.
Romanth Waghmarae
online comment
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Treating cows nicely pays off!
I am tickled reading an article on the internet that says how much American dairy farmers pamper their Holstein cows and treat them like queens.
“Cow comfort has become a key concern for the nation’s farmers, who have known for generations that contented cows give more milk. The traditional techniques for keeping cows happy aren’t complicated—feed them well, keep the temperature comfortable and give them room to move around,” according to one source. But some dairy farmers are turning to a new array of creative options intended to keep cows more productive by installing waterbeds for their cows to rest in and playing classical music! Some even hire animal chiropractors to give older cows a tune-up. Some also upgraded ventilation in their barns and installed misting technology to keep the herd cool. Many have also installed large rotating brushes that gently scratch the cows’ backs and massage their faces and shoulders.
“The result has been milk with fewer impurities and in greater volume—cows that used to give about 80 pounds of milk per day now average about 90 pounds,” notes an AP article by Dinesh Ramde in Business Week, May 29, 2012.
In India where cows are worshiped along with idols of Krishna and Radha, they aren’t treated well in real life. Maybe this news may encourage Indians to treat cows better. But, in a land of two-legged cows and buffalos aplenty, this may be an impossible dream.
Sanjay Goel
Atlanta, Georgia
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Re (“Musings: Devotion or Disregard?” June issue)
Oh, Please! She would not dress in a Christian church or a Jewish synagogue like that. I am not religious, but even I think that the woman was unable to transfer her sense of decorum in a Western religious setting to an Asian setting. Not bright.
Ujjvala RahnOnline Comment
Does God really care what we are wearing? The issue is not between you and God…it is between you and others. You dress not to disturb the devotion of others. Though there is no fine line, extremes should be avoided.
Partha Sarathy
Online Comment
Sonia Sharma raises an interesting question: Does God really care what we are wearing? In most places of worship, people dress according to local norms of decency out of respect for the place and for fellow devotees. Exceptions are Digambara Jain and Shaivite ascetic monks who worship almost naked as they are beyond feelings of shame and modesty. In my opinion, devotion is a one-way street, and God (or Mother Nature, depending on your belief) probably does not care what we wear. If s/he did, we would have been born with clothes.
Ramana Dharaby email
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