CAMPUS KILLERS
Your April cover story, Indian Students in the US: Escalating Attacks, is a hard hitting expose of the American education system. US campuses are indeed islands of excellence in a swampland of crime and insecurity. If citizens in states like California are living under a blanket of fear, the situation in Louisiana—America’s poorest state—can only be left to the imagination. Petty crime, organised crime, drugs and shootouts are an everyday reality in most American cities. Despite gun control measures, America is the easiest place in the world to buy guns. It’s no wonder that students and the Indian immigrant community get in the line of fire.
Vipin K. Attri
Los Angeles
The Scranton police’s assertion that Akkaladevi’s was a case of suicide and not murder is something that the Indian police will readily identify with! Like in India, the US authorities too readily try to ‘solve’ a case without a shred of evidence. The best thing would have been to tell the press that “investigations are continuing” instead of jumping to conclusions. Within a few hours detectives were ready to pass verdict, despite the fact that there are so many imponderables in a murder case. Don’t believe all those slick American crime shows on TV. It all boils downs to a dishonest/incompetent cop who wants to close a file ASAP, and damn the evidence.
Rajan Seth
New Delhi
America is the country that gave rise to the Saturday Night Special—an inexpensive shotgun, the low cost and availability of which make it attractive to low-income buyers despite its shortcomings. In fact, in 2003, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a suit against 45 gun manufacturers for creating what it called a public nuisance through the negligent marketing of handguns, which included models commonly described as Saturday Night Specials. The suit alleged that handgun makers were marketing guns in a way that encouraged violence in black and Hispanic neighbourhoods. The suit was thrown by an idiotic judge who in a bizarre judgement said the NAACP members were not “uniquely harmed” by illegal use of firearms and therefore had no standing to sue. Such being the official tolerance for guns, it’s no wonder US campuses frequently are caught in the crossfire.
Harish Krishna
Mumbai
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MOVING DELHI
Delhi’s transportation problems are myriad—a city of 16 million that is growing at the rate of 3000 vehicles a day. That’s more than the combines total of the other three main metros. The fact that the people of Delhi don’t face gridlock like Sao Paulo or Bangkok is a in itself a Houdini act! Most Delhiites manage to reach any point in the city in an hour’s time most times. Except for the morning and evening rush, when 90 minutes could be the norm, people still are better off compared to the Paulistas and Bangkokers!
Sandhya Balakrishnan
New Delhi
VAASTU WEIGHTAGE
The vaastu column is highly interesting. Although I have already built my house, I might build my next dwelling as per vaastu principles. It’s not an exact science, but when you think about it, the ancients spent so much time on it. We could use their knowledge, just in case!
Viraat Kohli
New York
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