Letters from Readers
[The image at left is from Bill Fitzpatrick's article "Americana: Guns: The Battle over the Second Amendment" in Khabar, March 2014, which says, "For most of our nation’s history, most legal scholars and American citizens understood that the Second Amendment gave militias, not “the people,” the right to bear arms. But today, nearly three-fourths of the American people believe the Second Amendment gives the people the right to bear arms."]
A Suicidal Addiction to Guns
On the one hand, the United States for the past
several decades has been revered all over the world,
without exception, for establishing the highest standards
and making advances in almost all facets of
life, including science and technology, government
and politics, medicine, art and culture, music, military
operations, and sports. Almost every individual
aspires to learn and apply knowledge they have acquired
in the U.S. in their homeland. It is because several
systems here serve as an irrefutable and indisputable
standard that the rest of the world would like to
emulate. Yet, on the other hand, the illogical and
insensible adherence to the Second Amendment
is paradoxical to the greatness of America, indicates
a historically prevalent cowboy mentality, and should
now be considered unacceptable. This is one practice
the rest of the world finds baffling—and almost
unanimously ridicules.
And now schoolteachers will be equipped with guns? Seriously? Perhaps I should, as a physician, be allowed to carry a gun in my clinic or during rounds in the hospital since I’m always at a risk of a patient or a family member assaulting me or my staff members. Lawyers and judges in courtrooms are particularly vulnerable since they are surrounded by a constant threat of attack by criminals. Designated security staff members are probably not going to be able to protect anyone in a timely manner, since they typically are stationed at main entrances. Taxi drivers, store managers/ employees, airline staff members, and for that matter everyone else at risk should be at liberty of possessing a firearm for self-defense. Perhaps we can no longer trust our police department to serve that role. Not to mention, the sales of firearms will actually increase and serve to sustain the firearms industry. Although all of this seems cynical, it is an unpleasant and unwelcome reality that shows our regression as a human society to less civilized historic times of existence.
No, the only people permitted to possess arms should be law enforcement officials, just like syringes for injection of medications are best handled by nurses, cockpits of airplanes by pilots, and the building of dams by engineers and skilled construction workers.
Sanjay R. Jain, M.D., Ph.D.
Morehouse School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA
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Don’t Give Modi a Pass
In pointing out the differences between Trump and Modi (Editorial, “Trump and Modi: Two of a Kind?” Khabar, March 2018), you failed to mention that (a) Trump was born to wealth (never mind that it wasn’t acquired honorably) while Modi was a chaiwallah, (b) Trump went to an Ivy League college (never mind that he can’t spell) whereas Modi went to some forgettable college, and (c) We hardly see or hear of Modi’s wife whereas Trump has a glamorous First Lady (never mind that she’s his third wife).
But seriously, in pedestalizing Modi, don’t expect us to ignore the elephant in the room. Both Trump and Modi have narrow nationalistic views rooted in tribalism, and even if neither of them is personally a supremacist (whether white neo-Nazi or RSS inspired Hindutva), they embolden their followers to hate those who are of a different color or religion. The lynchings in India and the shootings of Indians here are a direct consequence of these two being in power. The much touted economic progress in the U.S. and India and even their democratic foundation will be short-lived if this divisiveness continues.
Nevertheless, Khabar should be given credit for including the ideas of those who have different (and enlightened) values regarding nationhood, people like Shashi Tharoor. Unlike Fox News, Khabar truly is “fair and balanced” for accommodating opposing views.
Ron Jacob
Johns Creek, Georgia
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Thank you for Bharti Kirchner’s article (“Musings: When the Rains Come,” Khabar, February 2018)! It was a joy to read about her childhood experiences and the mystery of monsoon rain. I don’t remember Barsaat, but remember some beautiful images from later movies, as well as the romance of rain. In Jodhpur, on the rare occasion when it rained, we used to go on the terrace to catch the raindrops as they fell. In western Washington the first time it rained, I told my husband we should wait to go out until the rain stops. He said, “If you wait for the rain to stop here, you won’t get anything done!”
I have enjoyed reading Khabar magazine for its thoughtful editorials, humor, and well-researched and informative articles.
Hemlata Vasavada
Pullman, WA
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Both Shashi Tharoor’s “Cookies over Biscuits” (article, Khabar, January 2018) and Mahesh Patel’s “Learning English the American Way” (in Readers Write, Khabar, March 2018), amusing reads, resonated with me. Having lived in Kenya and London before moving to the U.S., I had to adjust from British English to American English.
Here are some very common words:
| British Torch Bath Chips Sauce Toilet Lift Football Rugby Postman Pavement Aubergine |
American Flashlight Shower Fries Ketchup Restroom Elevator Soccer Football Mailman Sidewalk Eggplant |
I am sure there are many more. I had to adjust to spellings as well—Colour (British), Color (American); Humour (British), Humor (American). Driving as well: In Kenya and England, it is left side driving whereas here it is on the right side. Many other things are different. As my friend remarked, if Americans could, they would walk on their hands rather than feet!
Mahadev Desai
Atlanta, GA
What’s on YOUR mind?
We welcome original, unpublished letters from our readers. You could either respond to a specific article in Khabar 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. 3635 Savannah Place Dr, Suite 400, Duluth, GA 30096.
Note: Views expressed in the Letters section do not necessarily represent those of the publication.
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