To the Editor... - June 14, 2002

Learning Arabic

The article 'Why we need to learn Arabic' (Friday, May 24-30, 2002) was useful and motivating. I am a teacher of English language and am keen to learn other languages. After having gone through that article, I made up my mind to learn Arabic. I feel it would be an asset. I express my sincere gratitude to those who shared their experiences in that article.
– Smitha Manoj, Dubai

Going natural

I have been debating about writing to you for some time now, regarding the weekly column by Suparna Trikha in your magazine. I find it very surprising that you continue to devote space, often a full page, to such repetitive and unsubstantiated information, when there are so many developments in the fields of Health, Beauty and Alternative Medicine. Almost daily, there is a plethora of validated scientific information on various subjects in these fields, which is hardly covered in the press. Perhaps your research team, or a qualified expert, could source breakthrough information on facial rejuvenation, hair loss, weight loss and other subjects of concern to your readers.

I would like you to know that by writing to you, I am also voicing the opinion of many of my friends who are also subscribers to your magazine. We feel that the world is passing us by while we are being bombarded time and again with the benefits of using castor oil, rose water and green pea powder.
– Maria Khattar, Ph.D, Dubai

Suparna Trikha replies:

Dear Ms Khattar,

I agree that there are many break-throughs in the fields of health and beauty and, therefore, such a booming cosmetic, pharmaceutical and health food industry.

However, there is also a growing consciousness among people all over the world about the goodness of natural products in relation to skin, hair and body healing, and I find an increasing number of people would like to use simple, safe and easy-to-make kitchen recipes to treat skin and hair problems.

Wanted: some jokes

I am regular reader of your magazine and find that it provides good weekend reading. You can make it more attractive by setting aside a page for riddles, jokes, poetry and short questions and answers on general knowledge.

Please consider this suggestion.
– Naseem Abbas, Dubai

Only for the privileged?

Your magazine is read by a large number of people in the UAE. Hence I am left wondering why you have always chosen to ignore the living standards of maybe 75 per cent of your readers and focus only on the upper crust.

Your article focusing on women and their cars (Friday, May 17-23, 2002) featured women with Lexus, BMW and Jaguar cars. Not all women drive such luxury cars. You must realise that there are women like me who absolutely adore their Mitsubishi Galants though it may be a '94 model secondhand car. Believe me, I treat it as an equal to any race horse on the road.

You had also featured an article in the fashion section of your magazine (Friday May 31-June 6, 2002) covering fashion wear from Gucci with a price range of around Dh6,000 and more for each article of dressing. Kindly take into consideration that the combined earnings of the husband and the wife in a majority of families in the UAE do not exceed more than Dh6,000, and they too read your magazine since it comes free with a Dh3 newspaper.

I do not say that you stop showing the higher ranges but instead also consider the average person. There are many international magazines that cater to the privileged class.
– Nisha Gijo, Dubai

The price tags of the clothes we feature in our fashion pages do not always have more than three zeroes; sometimes they have just one. For instance, check out Summer Chic
(Mar 29-April 4) and Country Chic (May 3-9). But thanks for your suggestion – Editor

Illuminating

This is regarding the feature on Laila Al Shaikhli (Friday, May 31-June 6, 2002). It was interesting to read about the behind-the-scenes activities that go into the making of a TV show like Dunia. I agree with her idea that television should play a greater role in projecting social issues.
– Richard Dias, Abu Dhabi