Letters from Readers

Incident at India-Pakistan Border: Colonial Mentality Continues

During a recent trip to India, I traveled to the Attari-
Wagah India-Pakistan border to witness the famous
military ceremony at the border, the daily lowering of
the Indian and Pakistani flags. I was accompanied by
two of my very dear family friends, both of whom had
served and retired from the Indian Air Force (IAF).

A horseshoe shaped stadium-type seating accommodates
the thousands of people who visit from both
sides of the border. There are a lot more people on the
India side, and there is a lot of patriotic fervor in the
people attending. When we arrived, about 5,000 people
were already seated. Indian soldiers were assisting people
with the seating, and we were directed toward seating
on the left-hand side of the stadium, quite a bit away
from the event.

The seating closest to the event, we were informed,
was reserved for foreigners. But I saw a fair amount of
Indians also seated in that section and I was not sure of
their status. I informed the soldiers that my hosts were
retired Air Force personnel and perhaps they should get
some consideration on that account. My host, the retired
squadron leader, who is 80 years old, also made
the request, and offered his official Air Force-issued
identification card.

But we were politely asked to take our seats in the
next section and that the soldier could not do anything
about this. I was quite shocked: I thought they would
make some accommodation for a retired military officer.
Having lived in the United States for the past 29
years, and having witnessed the respect and courtesy
that is extended every day to men and women in
uniform, I know in the U.S. they would have instantly
accommodated the request.

After having heard enough, I told the soldier in
charge that I did not think we would see this sort of
apathy in any other country, wherein a “foreigner” was
being favored over their own retired military officer in
an event which is primarily a display of national pride.
The soldier was patient and did hear me out, but he told
us that he understood where we were coming from but
that he would get into trouble if he bent the rules. I told
the soldier that I was a U.S. citizen myself and asked
if that would help. I was told that if I had my passport
he would gladly let me and my hosts sit in the better
section. However, I was not carrying my passport,
and to be honest, even if I were carrying it, I was
at this point so miffed, I would not have sat in that
section anyway out of defiance. By this time it was
almost 5:30pm and since the ceremony was about to
begin, we took our seats in the assigned area, witnessed
the ceremonies, and went home.

I had been most excited to visit the Attari-Wagah
border ever since I had read the book Freedom at
Midnight, but my visit turned out to be bittersweet, in
light of the above incident. I was saddened that even after
70 years of independence from the British, we Indians
are still carrying these vestiges of colonialism and
we do not respect the sacrifices of our own men and
women of uniform. God bless India!

Manjunath A. Gokare, Esq., Attorney-at-Law
Alpharetta, Georgia
By email

“Golden Songbirds…”: Incomplete without all the rasas

My interest in the June 2017 cover story (“GoldenSongbirds of Indian Cinema”) stems from the author’s
unique approach in tabulating Indian cine songs based
on classic navarasas identified in Sanskrit literature.

Perhaps because of concern that the article
would become too long, she did not include all nine
rasas, but that left the article incomplete. At least
she could have listed all nine of them, since Sanskrit
language is a scientific language where any deficiencies
are not endured.

The nine rasas (emotions) are hasya (joy; related
to humor, sarcasm), karuna (sadness; compassion,
pity—which is not shokam or grief), shringara
(love; beauty, devotion), raudra (anger; irritation, violence),
veera (courage; confidence, pride), bibhatsa
(disgust; depression, self-pity), bhayankara (fear; anxiety,
worry), adbhuta (wonder; mystery, curiosity),
and shanta (peace; relaxation, calmness). Although
the author has created the category of bhakti (devotion)
and vatsalya (affection), they can be an offshoot
of other rasas but are not authentically included in
the nine rasas.

Many well-known authors in Sanskrit and the
Indian languages have acquired the deftness to slide
from one rasa into another and one can also see how
one particular cine song can be accommodated in
two or more rasas. That is the beauty of Indian arts.
There are many songs that have slipped into the
category of cine songs but they carry the profound
depth and art of classic literature.

Some of the soft imagery used in the cover
story shows Western instruments. Using Indian
instruments like tabla, flute, etc. would have been
more representative.

The changing scenario in Indian music is not
threatening but enriching our old system. Our culture
has always been inclusive and not exclusive.

Bhagirath Majmudar, M.D.
Atlanta, Georgia
by email

Love Melvin Durai’s Humor

I loved the humor in the column Fun Time (April 2017), specially this paragraph, “Just like that, a colossal
mistake was made, the type of mistake that in certain
countries would result in the culprit being brought
in front of a judge and given a stiff sentence, if
not a few months in prison then at least a few weeks of
listening to Donald Trump speeches.”

The last sentence brought a good laugh in me.
Mr. Durai, keep the humor alive. It releases quite a bit
of stress.

Ajay Mehrotra
Greenville, SC
by email

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