To Paras, Nowdays, people who speak english are rich and who speak hindi are lower or middle class.

To Tejindar The cleanliness in vasant vihar etc is not just because they speak english and learned the cleanliness from british, but they are rich and have the facilities. There are many other cities in India which are clean and green too. In almost every city, you can see there are green and clean colonies, which are prime areas, only rich live there (not necessarily english speaking), who can spend money for hygenics. In the consumerist society it takes a price for hygenics. The poor people live in dirt not because of their choice but their helplessness. So, ultimately it is the government that should provide basic infrastructure for cleaning the cities. As for delhi railway station, it is the outside wanderers who make it dirty. As far as I know the railway clean the platforms at least twice a day. But they have no control on the railway track. There need to be some system where the gipsies and wanderers are provided with alternative facilties. It is the job of metro-authorities, not the PM. It is also the job of the state government. If anybody should be responsible for cleanliness it is the Delhi chief minister.

I wonder how one would compare the status of Penn Station New York with Indian stations. Even, in a rich and powerful country like USA, the stations in New York are not spotless clean. I wonder how they are in London and Peris. Just 2 cents....

Mr. Kak, There are many railway stations in India which are clean and the local management actually makes sure they are clean. Most of the stations on Konkan railway, on south central for example are well maintained. I should also point out the stellar performance of Pune station in this respect. The onus of keeping the stations clean is a responsibility not only to Nitish Kumar but also to the commuters using those stations. I guess people who use the stations in delhi are no so worried about cleanliness. If Nitish Kumar or Vajpayee are to blame for keeping the delhi station unclean, they should also be praised for keeping a whole bunch of other stations clean. Also, this business of writing open letters, in my opinion, is beheath a person of your standing. You could have done much better by writing your thoughts or experiences at these stations or being run into by cows in delhi. We are defenitely not a china to invest a lot on keeping the capital city clean at the expense of other cities. You, of all the people should have known that. Best Regards.

Subash Kak's statement "Musharraf is the author of the terror strategy of Pakistan. He has blood on his hands", may not be right. Terror campaign began during Jinah days. He called it DIRECT ACTION. Train fire during journey to Punjab yesterday - May 15th 2003 -may be of terrorist hands too. Ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs in J&K has been continuing for decades now. I have been saying it is a nation of criminals, conmen and degenerates who are the most uncivilized in the whole wide world. Hindus tried to civilize the muslims and the British but only partially succeeded. Sufism was the best outcome. No muslim believes in peaceful coexistence or assimilation with the Hindus whose boundless tolerance has been seen as weakness. No western media or muslim cares for the welfare of the Hindus nor in truth and justice as seen in no reprisal for most pograms of carnage or massacre or stoning by uncivilized islamists. Just a few weeks ago, Hindus got attacked by stoning both in ORISSA AND KERALA. How many western media carried this story of pain and agony of a marginalized society who seem to have no right to live or worship in their own ancient homeland. The best solution is to quit patronizing their business - gazillion islamic and western products and services including cigarettes, colas, and movies where any khan of any hue was an actor. Even the Indian justice system is not effective; most criminals get away scot free or with a minor slap on the wrist.

Mr Subash, I've been reading all your articles here on Sulekha and outside and I admire your writing. But this one seems to be written to just increase your count and meet some deadline rather than anything.. You seem to have submitted it (which was promptly accepted by Sulekha because of your ties) without even a basic proof read: "A people are free if they have the capacity to identify problems and come up with solutions" -- The sentence can't start with A people.. "It seems to me that we haven't done so well in enlarging the circle of our freedoms" -- plural freedom? The numbering was repeated as well.. Not that I am picky on Grammar or anything, as a matter of fact I dont give a damn about English structure as long as the contents are fine. But this just shows that the article was written in hurry to achieve something else than to pass on some message.. And the message as such is superfluous, known-to-all thing..I am sure Mr Kak, you have far more better ideas to suggest to PM. Oh yeah!

It was possible if British rule be continue. We have learned to live clean from British. If you go to any area where the people speak english and live in English culture, you will be found that area clean and green. In Delhi, Like Vasant Vihar, Greater Kailash, Golf Links are very clean and green because mostly people in these colony speak english and live in English culture. They have learned from the British how to live clean.

Subhash, Extremely valid points on issues of cleanliness, cow placement and beautification. Don't understand why you changed tracks in the last paragraph and included the Pakistan issue? Cross-border terrorism is the most important issue facing India right now and as such should be mentioned upfront - not as an afterthought. Would have been better to write a separate article on this issue. Another point - given the current rise in Islamic fundamentalism, is it not better to have a not-so religious general at the helm of our dangerous neighbor rather than a despotic "maulavi"? If we topple Musharraf - would it not open the gate for a "taliban" like radical government?

Recent studies reported in the news, have shown that an increase in sanitation, leads to weakened immunity. In fact kids in dustier or supposedly "dirtier" environments develop higher immunity to various common infections. In any case, a random rant in the form of an open letter online on Sulekha would not get enough attention to be even picked up and thrown in the waste paper basket!

"Musharraf is the author of the terror strategy of Pakistan." The prime reason for continued terror in Kashmir and India is Mushharaff and his gang of Generals who realized that they do not have chance against Indian Army and resorted to killing innocent people and low grade war. They use extremist Islamic fundamentalism to provide muslim zealots to kill and get killed. Any peace pact that leaves Mushharaff and his gang of Generals in power is not worth the paper it is written. Any peace pact that does not dismantle ISI is a complete failure.