Heritage nightmares

8226; It is highly appreciable that your newspaper is carrying stories about our ...

8226; It is highly appreciable that your newspaper is carrying stories about our heritage sites being lost due to neglect. However, the reason for this is not government apathy alone. Indians, as a whole, are not only unaware but also not inclined to preserve their heritage. Minorities feel temples are not their concern, Hindus feel mosques and gurudwaras are not their concern. We are a disunited people who have no time for the concerns of the nation. Our selfish lifestyles leave no space for aesthetic or historical concerns. Maybe we should educate ourselves and stop being proud of our 2000 years of history when all that we care about is our own 80 years of life.

8212; Sahiba Punia Chandigarh

8226; The report on Bodhgaya IE, 8216;Nirvana Nightmare8217;, June 16 has missed a crucial point. Whereas Bodhgaya has a lot in common with India8217;s other heritage sites, it stands apart in one respect: it is located in India8217;s most lawless state. Even a passionate believer in nirvana has to first survive the journey to Bodhgaya, which is possible only if s/he has accumulated sufficient merit from past lives! The entire area is plagued by crime. I have heard many stories of buses and trains being ambushed by bandits carrying crude weapons. An unfortunate traveller might even end up as a victim of an ongoing caste war, a heavy price to pay even for nirvana!

8212; Praveen Hanasoge On e-mail

8226; How can we accuse ASI and other authorities of not maintaining sites when we ourselves don8217;t give a damn for them. In Mumbai, even educated Mumbaiites don8217;t have a civic sense. For most families going on a tour to the Taj or elsewhere is like going on a picnic. We have organisations which want a temple in Ayodhya but don8217;t care for our existing heritage!

8212; Varsha Chandwani Mumbai

8226; Well done, Express, for your heritage series. This issue needs to be kept alive. Indian culture and history depends on the maintenance of these relics. Also, these places, once properly managed, can boost cultural tourism to the tune of many billions. Express should take a lead in establishing a politically independent think-tank to study the matter and suggest a master plan to solve the issue. Good luck!

8212; Kamalesh Sharda Toronto

White elephants

8226; Does India need governors in the first place? If the answer is a genuine yes, does India need so many governors? Does anybody know how much a governor is costing the tax payers each year and how much of that money is well spent? Can we not do away the office of governors altogether and save hundreds if not thousands of crores of tax payers8217; rupees each year? In a country where tens of crores of people go to bed hungry, is it not a criminal waste to have so many white elephants?

8212; R.P. Rammohan Hyderabad

Catch the poachers

8226; Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi has now surrendered in a Haryana court
in a case involving the killing a black buck. While the authorities raise a huge hue and cry when celebrities are involved in such cases, a large number of endangered animals like the tiger, black buck, leopard, and so on, are illegally poached all over the country but very few poachers are caught. If the police are really serious, they should catch the real poachers.

8212; Mohd. Mudassir Alam New Delhi