Sir, the DayAfter story on "Killer Tsunami" touched our hearts. But it was also a matter of great pride that the Government of India led by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh refused to accept the charity of the Western countries like the United States and the United Kingdom to provide relief and succour to the Tsunami hit Indians. In fact India had also offered help and relief to other Asian countries in this time of grave natural disaster of the 21st Century. The message is simple and clear for both of us, the Indians and the rest of the world, that we shall carve our own future and meet our own challenges on our own and not on the charity and patronage of so-called developed world and rich nations, who are actually very poor in heart and as the experience of the United Nations shows, make big promises which are seldom fulfilled. I am proud to say that out of a grave natural disaster has emerged a great resolve to meet the biggest challenges on our own and not slavishly look to others for help and patronage. It makes our country emerge as India of our esteem. We are proud that most Indians have come forward in a big way to help our Tsunami hit in the South, specially the badly hit Andamanese and Nicobarese.

Your story Killer Tsunami: Apocalypse Now, has a grave lesson for humanity, specially for us the Indians. There are limits to nature’s patience with the callous and ruthless exploitation of its resources and stability for sheer human greed. When nature, in its agony, protests, the result are seaquakes like the Tsunami which has devastated many regions of South Asia and some parts of Africa too. And oil and marine resources hungry West must also learn that if it is Asia today, it can be Europe, Australia or the Americas tomorrow. Nature’s agony and anger shall none. For god’s sake learn the lesson before it is too late.

As a young sportsman myself, I was happy and encouraged by your brave editorial on "Cleansing dirty sport". You have rightly underlined that Indians sport must be liberated from the stranglehold of the Dalal Street and commercial corporates turning Indian sports sick and professional sports merchants rich. Like you, we too have great hopes from the new minister for Sport and Youth, Shri Sunil Dutt, who is respected for his courage and honesty all over the country and outside. I join my voice with yours to appeal to all concerned to help clean the sport management from crocks and incorrigible. Communalization, urbanization and commercialization of Indian sport must stop. Why not start a national campaign with the slogan "Badmash Hatao, Khel Bachao".

India, once a big name in the world of sport has been slipping down and down the perrorming scale thanks to dishonest power grab of the Indian sport management by non-playing sports bosses. The biggest bane of the degenerating Indian sports has been the reckless and shattering urbanization of Indian sports. The vital and honest Indian lives more in the rural areas than in metropolitan sports bazaars which have been turned into self-acclaimed capitals of Cricket, Hockey and Soccer. It is time that all lovers of sport and the Sports Minister, Shri Sunil Dutt being at the help of affairs, to deurbanize Indian sports to bring health, vigour and fair play in the field of sport.

You rightly pointed out in your editorial, "Cleansing dirty sport" that in order to rescue our sport from the fedudalism of the corporate crooks we need to usher in a new sports democracy. We need to rid Indian sport of the city slickers and non-playing feudal lords who strut about as sports kings and sports managers even though the only sport they specialize in is killing talent and playing dirty tricks. Let sport be managed by playing sportsmen and let rural Indian have its deserved and fair share in the world of sport. We need nothing short of a sports revolution of the magnitude of a green revolution. If we take the sports down to the panchayat level and decentralize its promotion, we can certainly achieve some worthswhile results. And if we cannot do, with a determined, concerned and dedicated person like Shri Sunil Dutt as the Sports Minister, it will be never. Let’s do it.

Sohan Solanki, Jodhpur

How right was Sunil Dang in pointing out in his "Secrets of the Congress" that the Indian youth should sit up and play its role to check the rot in its own ranks and corruption and degeneration which would engulf the country if the youth continued to engulf itself and old leaders of the old political parties continued to neglect the youth. We, the young people of India, together and cutting across the caste, religious and regional barriers, are biggest majority in the country and amongst the biggest majorities in the world. Unfortunately our leaders are by and large aged, adamant and self-centered. Why cannot we be our own leaders? Yes, why not.

You raised a very pertinent issue in your story "Secrets of the Congress" that youth of Indian should play its role in checking the rot in its own ranks and spreading corruption and degeneration in the country. I suggest that we, the young Indians, should join hands and form a National Youth Front, cutting across all political parties and states. And let it not be a second, third or fourth front of the kind power hungry petty politicians seek to form from time to time, close to elections to elections, to fall apart later over sharing of seats and ministerial berths in governments on stupid issue like supporting governments from inside and outside. Let it be the First Front of Youth India and show our ideology-less leaders of compromise and merchandise politics that their time is running out. They must reform themselves or quit. Let the youth carve out its own destiny and the destiny of the nation which is going to be their responsibility in the years to come.

Your story Tussle over Reliance, sadly underlines how, politics, like religion, is also running the corporate India and how personal ambitions and egos of small-minded offspring of men and women of great visions, shatter great institutions in their little dogfights. Why single out Mukesh and Anil Ambani , take any big industrial family in India today and you find it cracking up in the turf wars of pygmy children of great pioneering giants of industry. It only shows one thing. The time of personal and family-empirares in industry is running out. There is need for ushering an era of professional industries and business structures, funded by people and managed by professional. Why not have a law banning family multinationals and multiple industries empires. It should be made essential for family enterprises to broadbase and extend their share structure and relinquish the scorpion grip of families for families’ sake industries.

Radhu Kripalani, Mumbai

Whether it is Ambanis, Goenkas or even great industrial houses like the Birlas. It seems that there are bad times in store for industrial feudalism. The day will come that these families will fall victim to the ego hassles and turf wars amongst the family members themselves and cunning inroads by political manipulators who could use a Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha ticket to make inroads into the fortunes of the industrial families. Religion ruined Indian politics. Now Indian politics seems to be all set to ruin Indian business and industry, will sanity prevail in all concerned.

Kiran Joshi, Ahmedabad