Sunday, August 5, 2001		Feedback

THIS refers to Aruti Nayar’s article "What is this man carrying on his head?" (July 22). It is quite ironical that despite the achievement of an aspirational lifestyle, man remains in the grip of a deep-rooted emotional turmoil. The curse of the second half of the last century has been man’s unchecked and mindless pursuit of material pleasures to the extent that he seems to have become an addict of luxuries and a particular lifestyle oblivious of his role in society or his contribution to its well-being and development of his own ‘real-self’.

The love of money and material comforts makes one strive for the realisation of unrealistic and unattainable goals, killing whatever ‘human’ or ‘spiritual’ is left in man. An unbridled gratification of sensuous desires has even erased the thin line between luxuries and necessities and man seems to have grown into an unfeeling and pleasure-loving robot.

In this mad race of the physical, man has left behind the core moral and spiritual values which are the real source of lasting contentment. Man needs to realise that material attainments, howsoever pleasing and soothing will only crush his spiritual and moral self.

The way out of this malaise lies in equipping oneself with moral and spiritual virtues and to impart these values to the coming generations. The present generation more than ever before, needs to think about the real significance of life and not on decorating it with temporary material comforts.

Ved Guliani, Hisar

No religion preaches material success. It is only from a superficial perspective that a person’s worth can be equated with his possessions. Such an approach is bound to bring an imbalance between ‘being’ and ‘having’. The more obsessed one gets with ‘having’, the more ‘being’ is relegated to the background. Judged by any standards, it is not good bargain to get material riches at the expense of one’s inner wealth.

P.L. Sethi, Patiala

"The bumpy road to peace" by Hari Jaisingh is a fine attempt to explore ways and means conducive to establishing peace in trouble-torn Kashmir. Kashmir is an obsession with the politically unstable Pakistan. Democracy has been threatened by totalitarian regime at regular intervals. Popular governments, if established at all, do not last long. So will of masses never prevails in Pakistan. Since the change of power is erratic and dramatic no established norms are adhered to and only the writ of the military junta runs. They always add highly inflammable material to the Kashmir issue to keep it burning.

Musharraf who was the chief architect of the Kargil misadventure, is now at the helms of affairs of Pakistan, with all powers at his command. He would never enter into a purposeful dialogue to bring peace to Kashmir. He had come to Agra to flaunt his self-assumed position as President of Pakistan. If Musharraf is sincere he should channelise all his resources towards ensuring the economic well-being of Pakistan.

Only economic and cultural relations will be successful in establishing peace in the sub-continent.

Karnail Singh, Ranjit Sagar Dam Project

"The bumpy road to peace" (July 15) by Hari Jaisingh was an enlightening piece of writing. The Pakistan President, who had been saying repeatedly that he would visit India with an open mind, revealed a diametrically opposite mindset. He stubbornly stuck to his one-point agenda of Kashmir beyond which everything appeared non-existent to him. His obsession with Kashmir prevented the two people from ushering in an era of cooperation on social, economic and commercial levels. When it came to putting an end to cross-border terrorism, which has been playing havoc with the lives of Kashmiris, he remained non-committal. It was his stubborn attitude that sounded the death knell of the Agra summit.

Tarsem S. Bumrah, Batala

The manner in which the Indo-Pak summit ended, it seemed that peace was really playing hide and seek with the people of both these countries, thanks to the attitude of present Pak military dictator. It has been rightly brought out in this write-up that the problem with the rulers in Islamabad has been their failure to come out of the set mould of anti-India hysteria. President Musharraf is no different. Let it be clear to him once for all that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

Onkar Chopra, Ludhiana

This refers to the write-up "Why do doctors need to advertise?" (July 22) by Chanchal Sarkar.

Some self-styled ‘experts’ mislead the public and undermine faith in medicine and nutrition as they promote their own brands of pseudo-nutrition. Those brands usually include the prescription of vitamins and/or minerals to prevent or cure whatever disease or condition is currently confounding the medical profession. The so-called megavitamin therapy, or orthomolecular medicine, is the current panacea for everything from schizophrenia to cancer.

As these ‘experts’ are treated with undue respect by the media, the public is often incapable of differentiating them from qualified scientist.

It behoves the members of the media and publishers to assume the responsibility for ensuring that statements and recommendations made to the public are based on scientific fact rather than on personal opinion.

Avtar Narain Chopra, Kurukshetra

Apropos of A.J. Singh’s article "Let us hear it... straight from the heart" (July 22), the main cause of misunderstanding among couples these days is that often people enter married life hoping to find unending happiness. Marriage can be joyful experience if both husband and wife try to make it so.

If it is essential for a husband and wife to learn to tolerate emotional qualities peculiar to each, it is even more important that they be able to talk over their differences with each other and to communicate effectively. Other ways of achieving harmony are to do things together, develop similar interests be quick to praise each other, be quick to admit if you are wrong, discuss problems and interests, express appreciation of gifts and above all avoid quarrelling in front of children.

O.P. Sharma, Faridabad