A drive to a new life

In today’s busy schedule, we forget about the responsibility to look around us and see the plight of the less fortunate. Our children do not know of a world where there are children who go to bed hungry or do not have opportunities for schooling and even access to the basic amenities in life. My family and I took a connecting flight recently to Dubai via Mumbai, after our Bengaluru flight was cancelled. The trip from the domestic terminal to the international airport in Mumbai was indeed an eye opener. The taxi driver took a shorter route, which ran right through the middle of a slum. The sad sights were like scenes straight out of the movie Slumdog Millionaire. My daughter was shocked. She kept asking: “How do they live here? Why do they play in the middle of the road? Why do they bathe and cook food on the streets? Why do they look torn and untidy?” After seeing that sight my daughter stopped complaining about living in a house that does not have a swimming pool. She thinks twice before asking for a new toy and, much to our joy, sorted out her old toys and asked if we could have it delivered to the children she saw in Mumbai. A 10-minute drive and we are amazed at the impact it had on our child. I urge all parents to let their children know of a world of this kind, so that we can create a new generation which is less selfish and has more empathy and compassion.

From Ms Shemeem Banu
Dubai

The good and the bad

I visit my friend’s office on Hamdan Street in Abu Dhabi regularly and always faced driving and parking problems. There are hundreds of cars parked everywhere. I was on holiday for a month in November. After I came back I went to visit my friend and was shocked to see that all the cars were parked only in the designated parking spaces. There were even a few parking spots available. I did not have to go through the trouble of fighting for the tightest space. Then I realised that this was due to the help of the Abu Dhabi traffic authorities. I would like to thank them for this and wish them all the best in their efforts to discipline drivers and beautify the great city of Abu Dhabi. I also admire their efforts in controlling reckless drivers by using all the modern systems for traffic control. However, there are minor errors that should be eliminated. The road towards the new Shaikh Zayed Bridge has a speed limit of 120km/h. There is a radar installed right after the bridge where the speed limit changes to 100km/h. There is no reason to reduce the speed limit. If such a system is in place then there should be enough warnings regarding speed change before installing the radar. I am sure many drivers must have been caught.

From Mr Viren Narkar
Dubai

Negligence in the air

I am utterly shocked and at the same time amused at how the ‘pilot’s’ licence and other academic certificates were not authenticated by Indian budget carrier IndiGo (“Pilot forged papers to obtain flying licence”, Gulf News, February 28). This is an extremely important issue and I am of the opinion that the airline should be heavily fined for negligence and risking the lives of passengers; there should be no pardon. I am happy to read that no major accident ever happened. The aviation industry should send an order to all airlines in India to carry out due diligence checks of those pilots who have joined less than two years ago.

From Ms Priti MacKinnon
Dubai

Unfair competition

There are too many rules in the International Cricket Council-run cricket world now and many of them make no sense at all. Either the umpire should be given the authority or the sanctity of the “appeal” allotted to each team should be upheld. It makes no sense appealing and then being robbed of the wicket because the umpire is given the benefit of the doubt. I also suspect that 50-overs cricket is against the bowler who has far too many restrictions, while the batsmen can get away with many more shots and a wider array of skills. We have the Dilshan scoop and the Pietersen switch-hit, while bowlers have to worry about their steps, the leg-side ball and much more. It is such an unfair competition.

From Mr Suvank Rout
Sharjah

Disrespectful

Living in today’s modern world many of us have forgotten what is respectful and what is disrespectful. We forget basic manners. When you do not have respect for yourself, how will you have respect for others? Would you chew gum and talk to an employer during a job interview? Never. If you think that it is acceptable then be sure to never get hired. Would you chew gum and talk to your senior manager during a meeting? If so, then be sure to get fired. What I find totally disrespectful is when people burp after eating their meal and without even excusing themselves. Other disrespectful behaviour I hate is when people point fingers at others or call them names. Finally, aggressive drivers and road rage is what we see every day. Let us improve and change ourselves. There are a few good people out there from whom we can learn a lot.

From Mr Mathew Litty
Dubai