MORE THAN RUM & COKE
The cover story on Trinidad and Tobago’s acting prime minister Senator Lenny Saith was an eye-opener. The tiny, twin-island nation of T&T has given to the world famous cricketers, and a celebrated author of Indian origin. In government, PIOs like Senator Saith play a vital role. He is also the minister for energy and energy industries, public administration and information and can trace his origins to Meerut and Bihar. This is one diaspora that has really close ties with India. In fact when India went out of the World Cup early, the ticket sales plummeted and we had sights of major matches being played to empty galleries. It was so bad that even matches involving home team West Indies were playing to empty
stands.
Atul Gupta
New York
Trinidad and Tobago is a nation with a majority PIO population. It is keen on investment from India and provides a climate of reduced bureaucracy, an open economy and rule of law. Trinidad and Tobago is an easy place for Indian businessmen to work, settle and invest because they speak English and a large percentage of the population has historical ties with India.
Amar Singh
Auckland
The acting prime minister of T&T reveals some interesting facts. he says much of the Indianness that is there is frozen in time. That’s because the connections with India were severed once those Indians moved to Trinidad. So the customs prevailing in India largely towards the end of the 19th century and early 20th century exist even today. Food habits got altered slightly. People who went at the time generally consumed spices, but in the absence of spices in the Caribbean, they changed their food habits, the flour in India gave way to the white flour. Now that’s food for thought.
Maya Kapoor
Georgetown
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WHAT’S UP DOC?
The discriminatory clause that would have excluded Indian doctors from the job interview and appointment process if their Highly Skilled Migration Programme (HSMP) visas were not current on and extended beyond August 1, 2007, is an example of how European governments treat people of colour. In introducing the clause, the British Government showed extreme callousness. For the past several decades, Indian doctors have been working in hospitals where local doctors wouldn’t tread. For instance, Indian doctors have for long been operating on American and European citizens affected with AIDS. It is a well known fact that during surgery—especially ones that involve contact with bones—nicks and cuts happen. That’s instant infection.
But then Indians shouldn’t really complain. We have been treating our lower castes in even worse manner for hundreds of years.
Sanjay Anand
London
CATCH ‘EM YOUNG
Your Youth section last time was brilliant. The selection of stories on Sanjaya Malakar, Sunita Williams, Sacha Dhawan etc was good and makes you proud to be an Indian. However, you guys should include some India-based stories too in a separate youth section. That would be awesome. Till then, we can keep browsing the magazine.
Kalyan Singh
Sydney
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