A good parent leads by example
Parental pressure definitely affects and discourages the personality, growth and development of a child (‘Focus: Parental pressure’, Gulf News, May 1). It has been observed that children often close their ears to frequent advice, but they generally open their eyes to genuine examples. Instead of pressuring children, we must strengthen the foundation of the family through quality time.
The central aspect of quality time is togetherness. It is the time for quality conversation sharing day-to-day experiences, meaningful thoughts and feelings through the language of love. Parents must find time for such dialogues on a daily basis in bringing up the younger generation in a healthy and peaceful family environment. This will enable children to maximise their strength and inborn potential to face all challenges ahead.
From Mr Abraham Mathew
Sharjah
Negotiations necessary in Yemen
The Gulf News story on dialogue being the only solution to Yemen’s crisis was good to read (‘‘Dialogue only solution to Yemen crisis’ NZ PM’, Gulf News, April 28). The ongoing crisis in Yemen can be solved by the legitimate government and this is why it should be reinstalled for negotiation purposes. This was the comment given by the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key who was visiting the UAE and Saudi Arabia last week. As a non-controversial country, New Zealand has seen dramatic growth over the years and its Prime Minister’s suggestion to Yemen’s government for peace and stability in the region for the future should be taken.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Bengaluru, India
Protest success despite efforts
When the entire public transport system went off the road, millions of commuters were left stranded in India (‘Millions hit as buses, taxis stay off road across India’, Gulf News, May 1). The trade unions, controlled by the Opposition parties, conducted this strike to kill two birds with one stone. They want to topple the central government by setting the country aflame. Commuters faced hardships with buses, taxis and auto rickshaws going off the roads, while transport services were hit in Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Assam and Haryana.
Though it was a general transport strike, originally called by the central trade unions, major industries remained open with the majority of the workers reporting for duty. In West Bengal, despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s warning, the majority of the state government employees stayed away from offices. Indian politician Surjya Kanta Mishra, who was at the forefront of the rally taken out by the left front said that threats issued by the Chief Minister did not work at all as the strike was complete. Despite allegedly using goons who were aided by the police, the people responded to the call in a positive way and protested the terror. Banerjee has been vindictive and her attempts to threaten employees and businessmen using the police has totally failed. The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, Rahul Sinha, said that one should not forget that the same police, who were inactive when booths were captured and votes were turned over during the civic polls, arrested injured workers, who had been attacked by these goons.
From Mr Sunny Joseph
Mala, India
Unnecessary strikes
Most of the people, especially the drivers [India], are illiterate about traffic rules and its impact on safety and security of citizens. This is happening because if you are influential, you can easily escape from your wrongdoings. Most of the current rules, safeguarding the road traffic are primitive. The pillion drivers can travel without having proper head gear. Safety belts for front passengers are not yet compulsory. During the night, one can drive a vehicle without using headlights, ignoring the safety of the approaching vehicles. Police should be checking vehicles by hiding around corners. Buses can pick and drop off passengers on the go.
Education has nothing to do with the quality of driving and adherence to the law. This is evident in Kerala, the most literate state of India, where people drive vehicles as they wish. They are demanding more airports rather than more vehicle friendly roads.
From Mr Girish R. Edathitta
Kerala, India
Horrendous lack of humanity
I was horrified after reading the report published in the news about the girl being thrown from a bus in India (‘Girl dies after being thrown from Badal family’s bus’, Gulf News, May 1). Being an Indian, I find this extremely malevolent. I cannot believe that things like this are even taking place. I agree that the world is a cruel place, but this is outrageous. I am surprised that the fellow passengers didn’t help the victims. Aren’t all of us brothers and sisters? Where was the help? Ensuring the safety of women is the responsibility of the whole state as well as the country. I pray things like this never happen again.
From Ms Annet Cecil Thomas
Sharjah
India needs to step up safety for women
A 13-year-old girl died and her mother was seriously injured on jumping out of a moving private bus to avoid molestation by some youth in India. When both of them tried to get off the bus, the driver increased the speed. No one in the bus came to the rescue of the victims, which is highly deplorable and indicates that women in India are very much at risk and are not safe.
Lewd acts, filthy language, verbal abuse, unwanted touching, sexual harassment and rape are very common in India. Regardless of age and religion, women in India continue to confront discrimination, humiliation and sexual harassment.
There is a great need to formulate stern policies to protect women in Indian society and take preventive measures such as deployment of security guards in the buses, provision of CCTV and public awareness.
Recently, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has started appointing female bus drivers, which is a good step and I hope that the initiative will help in curbing sexual assaults somehow.
From Mr Mumtaz Hussain
Dubai
Depressing stories
When the earth shakes, even the strongest of structures crumble to dust (‘Nepal quake toll passes 6,200’, Gulf News, May 2). Nepal, a land truly blessed plentifully by Nature’s beauty has now had a taste of her fury. After the massive quake, heart rending stories of survivors flooded the news. The death toll increased with each passing day, my prayers are with the people of Nepal.
From Ms Nanditha Vinod
UAE
Help others whenever possible
While waiting for my check-in at the Lebanon international airport in Beirut, I saw a Nepali maid desperately pleading with the check-in officials. Since I had enough time before my flight, I asked her if I could help. She said she came to know after landing at the airport that the 40kg in luggage weight was to be divided into two bags and that she didn’t have an extra bag. She showed me all her luggage was medical materials, camping items and food. She was carrying it for her mother and neighbours since her father might have perished in the aftermath of the earthquake. I helped sort out the problem with the officials by sorting out her bag when I saw another Nepali who was travelling light. In the end, I thought I did my bit for mankind and I got the best gift of my business trip: their blessings for me and a tight bear hug. I want to share this story because I think that during times of distress, most material benefits assist people, but I connected to them emotionally at a time of despair. It was a lesson of life that I learnt. People need to let go of their ego and help whenever they see people in trouble because you never know what life has ahead for you and you end up in their position.
From Ms Sandhya Kalavar Shama Shetty
UAE
Nepal needs stronger infrastructure
The earthquake of magnitude 7.8 that shook Nepal was its biggest earthquake in 80 years. The death toll has now risen over 6,000 and could be as high as 10,000. More than 14,000 people have been reported with injuries. Some casualties have also been reported in the adjoining areas of India, China and Bangladesh. Hundreds of buildings collapsed, leaving thousands homeless and many are still searching for their loved ones.
So, what caused this earthquake? Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake. There are two tectonic plates that meet beneath the Himalayas along a fault line. The India plate is moving north at around 45mm per year and pushing under the Eurasian plate. Over time, that is how the Himalayas were created. These two plates rubbed against each other which caused the earthquake.
If the architecture in Nepal was built like the buildings in Japan, this massive destruction would not have occurred. Though Nepal is known to be an earthquake-prone area, most of the buildings in Nepal are not earthquake-resistant.
However, no one can change what has happened. We must all contribute to help our brothers and sisters in Nepal. I hope to see a safer Nepal in the future!
From Mr Hemang Dash
Dubai
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