LETTERS : LETTER OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

Grateful thanks to 

Letters-99:Letter written by Nehru to Children of India

Letter written by Nehru to Children of India on December 3, 1949.

  

Dear Children,

I like being with children and talking to them and, even more, playing with them. For the moment I forget that I am terribly old and it is very long ago since I was a child. But when I sit down to write, I cannot forget my age and the distance that separates you from me. Old people have a habit of delivering sermons and good advice to the young.

 I remember that I disliked this very much long ago when I was a boy. So I suppose you do not like it very much either. Grown-ups also have a habit of appearing to be very wise, even though very few of them possess much wisdom. I have not yet quite made up my mind whether I am wise or not. Sometimes listening to others I feel that I must be wise and brilliant and important. Then, looking at myself, I begin to doubt this. In any event, people who are wise do not talk about their wisdom and do not behave as if they were very superior persons...

What then shall I write about? If you were with me, I would love to talk to you about this beautiful world of ours, about flowers, trees, birds, animals, stars, mountains, glaciers and all the other beautiful things that surround us in the world. We have all this beauty all around us and yet we, who are grown-ups, often forget about it and lose ourselves in our arguments or in our quarrels. We sit in our offices and imagine that we are doing very important work.

I hope you will be more sensible and open your eyes and ears to this beauty and life that surrounds you. Can you recognise the flowers by their names and the birds by their singing? How easy it is to make friends with them and with everything in nature, if you go to them affectionately and with friendship. You must have read many fairy tales and stories of long ago. But the world itself is the greatest fairy tale and story of adventure that was ever written. Only we must have eyes to see and ears to hear and a mind that opens out to the life and beauty of the world.

Grown-ups have a strange way of putting themselves in compartments and groups. They build barriers... of religion, caste, colour, party, nation, province, language, customs and of rich and poor. Thus they live in prisons of their own making. Fortunately, children do not know much about these barriers, which separate. They play and work with each other and it is only when they grow up that they begin to learn about these barriers from their elders. I hope you will take a long time in growing up...

Some months ago, the children of Japan wrote to me and asked me to send them an elephant. I sent them a beautiful elephant on behalf of the children of India... This noble animal became a symbol of India to them and a link between them and the children of India. I was very happy that this gift of ours gave so much joy to so many children of Japan, and made them think of our country... remember that everywhere there are children like you going to school and work and play, and sometimes quarrelling but always making friends again. You can read about these countries in your books, and when you grow up many of you will visit them. Go there as friends and you will find friends to greet you.

 You know we had a very great man amongst us. He was called Mahatma Gandhi. But we used to call him affectionately Bapuji. He was wise, but he did not show off his wisdom. He was simple and childlike in many ways and he loved children... he taught us to face the world cheerfully and with laughter.

Our country is a very big country and there is a great deal to be done by all of us. If each one of us does his or her little bit, then all this mounts up and the country prospers and goes ahead fast.

I have tried to talk to you in this letter as if you were sitting near me, and I have written more than I intended.

Jawaharlal Nehru December 3, 1949

Letters-99: Sardar Patel on Nehru

Excerpts From a Letter written by Sardar Patel in Abhinandan Granth eulogising Nehru

“Jawaharlal and I have been fellow-members of the Congress, soldiers in the struggle for freedom, colleagues in the Congress Working Committee, and other bodies of the Congress, devoted followers of the Great Master who has unhappily left us to battle with grave problems without his guidance, and co-sharers in the great and onerous burden of administration of this vast country.

Having known each other in such intimate and varied fields of activity we have naturally grown fond of each other; our mutual affection has increased as years have advanced, and it is difficult for people to imagine how much we miss each other when we are apart and unable to take counsel together in order to resolve our problems and difficulties.

It was, therefore, in the fitness of things that in the twilight preceding the dawn of independence he should have been our leading light, and that when India was faced with crisis after crisis, following the achievement of our freedom, he should have been the upholder of our faith and the leader of our legions

No one knows better than myself how much he has laboured for his country in the last two years of our difficult existence. I’ve seen him age quickly during that period, on account of the worries of the high office that he holds and the tremendous responsibilities that he wields.

His thoughts have sometime a depth which it is not easy to fathom, but underlying them to all is a transparent sincerity and a robustness of youth which endear him to everyone without distinction of caste and creed, race or religion”

Letters-98: Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir

Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir

My dear little girl

For a long time I’ve been wanting to write to you in the evening after one of those outings with friends that I will soon be describing in “A Defeat,” the kind when the world is ours. I wanted to bring you my conqueror’s joy and lay it at your feet, as they did in the Age of the Sun King. And then, tired out by all the shouting, I always simply went to bed. Today I’m doing it to feel the pleasure you don’t yet know, of turning abruptly from friendship to love, from strength to tenderness. Tonight I love you in a way that you have not known in me: I am neither worn down by travels nor wrapped up in the desire for your presence. I am mastering my love for you and turning it inwards as a constituent element of myself. This happens much more often than I admit to you, but seldom when I’m writing to you. Try to understand me: I love you while paying attention to external things. At Toulouse I simply loved you. Tonight I love you on a spring evening. I love you with the window open. You are mine, and things are mine, and my love alters the things around me and the things around me alter my love.

My dear little girl, as I’ve told you, what you’re lacking is friendship. But now is the time for more practical advice. Couldn’t you find a woman friend? How can Toulouse fail to contain one intelligent young woman worthy of you*? But you wouldn’t have to love her. Alas, you’re always ready to give your love, it’s the easiest thing to get from you. I’m not talking about your love for me, which is well beyond that, but you are lavish with little secondary loves, like that night in Thiviers when you loved that peasant walking downhill in the dark, whistling away, who turned out to be me. Get to know the feeling, free of tenderness, that comes from being two. It’s hard, because all friendship, even between two red-blooded men, has its moments of love. I have only to console my grieving friend to love him; it’s a feeling easily weakened and distorted. But you’re capable of it, and you must experience it. And so, despite your fleeting misanthropy, have you imagined what a lovely adventure it would be to search Toulouse for a woman who would be worthy of you and whom you wouldn’t be in love with? Don’t bother with the physical side or the social situation. And search honestly. And if you find nothing, turn Henri Pons, whom you scarcely love anymore, into a friend.

[…]

I love you with all my heart and soul.

Letters-97: A child's letter to President Abraham Lincoln

Excerpt of Grace Bedell’s ( age 11) to President Abraham Lincoln 

(TRANSCRIPT – very little punctuation and many errors:)

NY

Westfield Chataque Co

Oct. 15 1860

Hon A B Lincoln

Dear Sir

My father has just [come] home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. [Hannibal] Hamlin’s. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you won’t think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brother’s and part of them will vote for you any way and if you will let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband’s to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try and get everyone one to vote for you that I can. I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty. I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter dir[e]ct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chatauque County New York

I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye

Grace Bedell

Lincoln wrote back to Grace just four days later. We will never know whether Grace’s letter was the deciding factor or not, but within a few months, Lincoln had grown a beard and was, according to the National Museum of American History, the first president of the United States to wear whiskers while serving as president. It became his signature look.

Grateful thanks to www.heartspoken.com

Letters-96: Einstein's Letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Einstein's Letter to President Roosevelt - 1939

Albert Einstein

Old Grove Road

Peconic, Long Island

August 2nd, 1939

F.D. Roosevelt

President of the United States

White House

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations.

In the course of the last four months it has been made probable through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America--that it may be possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.

This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable--though much less certain--that extremely powerful bombs of this type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove too heavy for transportation by air.

The United States has only very poor ores of uranium in moderate quantities. There is some good ore in Canada and former Czechoslovakia, while the most important source of uranium is in the Belgian Congo.

In view of this situation you may think it desirable to have some permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America. One possible way of achieving this might be for you to entrust the task with a person who has your confidence and who could perhaps serve in an unofficial capacity. His task might comprise the following:

a) to approach Government Departments, keep them informed of the further development, and put forward recommendations for Government action, giving particular attention to the problem of securing a supply of uranium ore for the United States.

b) to speed up the experimental work, which is at present being carried on within the limits of the budgets of University laboratories, by providing funds, if such funds be required, through his contacts with private persons who are willing to make contributions for this cause, and perhaps also by obtaining co-operation of industrial laboratories which have necessary equipment.

I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsacker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated.

Yours very truly,

Albert Einstein

Source: AtomicArchive.com

Letters-93: Gandhii's Letter to Hitler

Wardha, C. P., INDIA,

July 23, 1939

DEAR FRIEND,

Friends have been urging me to write to you for the sake of humanity. But I have resisted their request, because of the feeling that any letter from me would be an impertinence. Something tells me that I must not calculate and that I must make my appeal for whatever it may be worth.

It is quite clear that you are today the one person in the world who can prevent a war which may reduce humanity to a savage state. Must you pay that price for an object however worthy it may appear to you to be? Will you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war not without considerable success? Any way I anticipate your forgiveness, if I have erred in writing to you.

I remain,

Your sincere friend,

M. K. Gandhi

To

HERR HITLER,

BERLIN,

GERMANY

Letters-92: Delhi Gang rape

... 

Last week's gang rape is a symbol of a vulgar society that a vulgar political class has manipulated into existence.  It is a symbol of the degradation of values that a corrupt ruling regime has imposed on an otherwise docile people of snake-charmers and sadhus.

Excerpt from the letter of Mr.N.Saratchandran, Thiruvananthapuram, to the Editor of THE HINDU, dated Dec 24, 2012.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Saratchandran and THE HINDU.

Letters-91: Dumping of Toxic wastes

A letter by Manicklal Chakraborty, Chennai, in the City Mailbox of the Chennai edition of The Times of India dated July 18, 2012:

Apropos the news report, "INDIAN PORTS STUCK WITH TOXIC WASTE FROM EUROPE" (July 17, 2012), the fragile ecosystem along the 7,600 km-long Indian coastline faces a serious threat.  Even as dangerous foreign waste continues to be dumped here, it is unfortunate that the shipping ministry promises immediate action but does little.  Before things go from bad to worse, the ministry of surface transport and the ministry of environment and forests must act to save our ecosystem.  Will they?

The article that appeared in the Times of India issue of July 17, 2012, under the caption, "Indian ports stuck with toxic waste dumped by Europe" by Arun Janardhanan, TNN:
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-17/india/32712799_1_indian-ports-toxic-waste-major-ports

For more info on Toxic Wastes from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_waste

An Overview of Toxic Waste Facts, Toxic Waste Information from the National Geographic:

Learn about the causes and effects of Toxic Waste at National Geographic, and ... Violations, like dumping hazardous waste:

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/toxic-waste-overview/

Grateful thanks to Mr.Manicklal Chakraborty, The Times of India, The National Geographic and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Letters-90: Cry, my beloved country!

Excerpt From a Letter from a reader in the Mailbox of The Times of India dated July 17, 2012:

....We live in a country of barbarians who have no fear of law or respect for civility.  The culprits are the authorities who are callous and nasty.  The recent incident in Assam is said to be of a jilted goon who has the patronage of the powers that be  The farce of a few arrests is laughable.  It is just a re-enactment of the charades we have witnessed against parents who kill children for honour and members of organisations who strip girls in the open.  The latest Taliban-type diktat against women in UP is another case in point.  The root cause of the malaise is politicians who do not move even their little finger for fear of antagonising vote banks. - Mukund Kumar, Mumbai

Grateful thanks to Mr.Mukund Kumar and The Times of India.

Letters-89: Devastating Floods in Pakistan

Sir, Aditya Sinha in "The flood of silence" (TNIE, August 21, 2010) is blaming the middle and media (of India) for a cold response to the devastating floods in Pakistan when he himself has given the reason for our lack of interest.  More than three unprovoked wars, repeated terror attacks, a hate campaign for the last six decades, sending militants to Kashmir, sowing seeds of separation, instigating the minority communities.... have left a bitter taste among Indians towards their neighbour.  Given this, it is pointless to blame the media and the middle class. - V.Sundararajan, Chennai. (Letter to The Editor, The New Indian Express of August 23, 2010).

My comment:  Perhaps Mr.Aditya Sinha expects every Indian to be a Buddha or a Jesus. We are ordinary mortals burdened with our own problems and difficulties.  More often we are not able to express our token of gratitude people who do some good or the other to us. So involved and enwrapped we are in our problems and so difficult is life. When such is the case, how we could take an interest or sympathise with people who add to our misery.

Grateful thanks to Mr.V.Sundararajan and The New Indian Express.

Letters-89: Devastating Floods in Pakistan

Sir, Aditya Sinha in "The flood of silence" (TNIE, August 21, 2010) is blaming the middle and media (of India) for a cold response to the devastating floods in Pakistan when he himself has given the reason for our lack of interest.  More than three unprovoked wars, repeated terror attacks, a hate campaign for the last six decades, sending militants to Kashmir, sowing seeds of separation, instigating the minority communities.... have left a bitter taste among Indians towards their neighbour.  Given this, it is pointless to blame the media and the middle class. - V.Sundararajan, Chennai. (Letter to The Editor, The New Indian Express of August 23, 2010).

My comment:  Perhaps Mr.Aditya Sinha expects every Indian to be a Buddha or a Jesus. We are ordinary mortals burdened with our own problems and difficulties.  More often we are not able to express our token of gratitude people who do some good or the other to us. So involved and enwrapped we are in our problems and so difficult is life. When such is the case, how we could take an interest or sympathise with people who add to our misery.

Grateful thanks to Mr.V.Sundararajan and The New Indian Express.

Letters-87: Tackling Maoism

1. Many political parties are reluctant to act firmly against political extremists. There are also the so-called intellectuals who have a soft corner for the extremists. Everyone speaks of winning people's trust but some governments, particularly in naxal-affected States, are responsible for making their States a fertile ground for extremism. Their indifferent approach to the problems of the poor has left several schemes meant for the deprived half-implemented - P.U.Krishnan, Udhagamandalam.

2. The main cause for naxalism to thrive is the lack of a proper delivery system and inclusive growth. India lives in the villages but growth eludes the villagers. Most of the funds allocated are not spent in the backward regions. The Centre has conveniently shifted the blame to the States where naxalism has been thriving. If this trend continues, Maoism cannot be rooted out in the near future - K.M.Lakshmana Rao, Vishakapatnam.

Courtesy: Letters to the Editor, The Hindu, Madurai, May 15, 2010.

Grateful thanks to M/s.P.U.Krishnan, K.M.Lakshmana Rao and The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

Letters-86: Tamil Nadu Legislative Council

In what can be termed "political opportunism", the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance Cabinet have decided to accept the DMK's demand for the creation of a Legislative council in Tamil Nadu. At a time when there are discussions on whether an upper house is needed at the national level, one fails to understand why parties want to create a new legislative council, unless it is for pampering some not-so-popular leaders and constituencies. Why not abolish the Rajya Sabha itself and instead nominate a certain number of eminent personalities to the Lok Sabha? - B.C.U.Nair, Hyderabad.

Courtesy: Letters to the Editor, The Hindu, Madurai, May 6, 2010.

Grateful thanks to Mr.B.C.U.Nair and The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

Letters-85: Live-in Relationships

The Apex Court ruling that live-in relationship and pre-marital sex could not be construed as an offence anymore, coming at a time when the joint family system (is collapsing?) and broken marriages are on the rise, is a bolt from the blue. When the modern-day youth feel proud aping everything Western and look down on anything traditional, the observation of the learned judges giving blanket permission without understanding the nuances of the age-old traditions and practices was not only a big surprise but comes as a rude shock to millions who still believe and uphold the sanctity of marriage because the children born out of wedlock will not only be deprived of the parental love and affection but also the elders' blessings. One wonders what would happen to societal norms and practices followed since centuries? - K.R.Srinivasan, Secunderabad.

Courtesy: Mail Bag, The Hindu, Sunday Magazine

Grateful thanks to Mr.K.R.Srinivasan and The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

Letters-85: Pull up Varsity

1. The news that radioactive material, which caused critical illness to many and even a death at Mayapuri, New Delhi, was auctioned by the Chemistry Department of Delhi University (The Hindu, April 28, 2010), is shocking. Doubly shocking was that the material, which was procured from Canada for conducting experiments, was lying abandoned for long before being sold as scrap. This was clearly an act of criminal negligence for which legal and administrative action must be taken against the university authorities. The Vice-Chancellor must assume moral responsibility for this serious lapse and proceed on leave till an independent probe can fix responsibility and punish the culprits - J.M.Manchanda, New Delhi.

2. The tracing of the source of the radiation scrap opens up several issues with respect to the sale and condemning of equipment using radioisotopes. Why were regulations not followed when such an equipment was condemned in 1985 but not returned to an appropriate agency for safe disposal? Does the government cell overseeing the sale and disposal of condemned machinery not have a protocol to monitor the use of such equipment?

The blunder by university and the government cell makes this an act of "culpable homicide not amounting to murder". Will the officials responsible ever be identified and punished? - S.Purushotham, Kochi.

Courtesy: Letters to the Editor, The Hindu, Chennai, April 30, 2010.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Manchanda, Mr.Purushotham and The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

Letters-84: TV Serials

It is undeniable that TV is a companion to home-makers. At the same time, it has insulated us from neighbours. Many thefts and robberies could have been averted had there been a healthy relationship among tenants in flats. Though producers claim that their serials portrayed how good prevails over evil, it is the vices that get registered in the minds of the young. As the visual medium has a strong influence over impressionable minds, serial-makers should desist from producing screenplays that negatively impact on society - R.Sridharan, Chennai.

Courtesy: Letters to the Editor, The Hindu, Chennai, April 27, 2010.

Grateful thanks to Mr.R.Sridharan and The Hindu, India's National Newspaper.

Letters-83:

IPL has become the Indian Paisa League and all political parties are trying to milk the cow. Shashi Tharoor was batting well on a sticky wicket but Lalit Modi delivered such a googly that ground umpires A.K.Antony and Pranab Mukherjee could not take a decision. They referred the case to third umpire Manmohan Singh who took the final decision in consultation with ICC referee Sonia Gandhi and declared Tharoor hit wicket. Tharoor got out due to his own mistakes. But this has now opened a Pandora's box and the entire IPL has come in the firing line - Damodar Joshi, via email, Letters, Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, April 22, 2010.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Damodar Joshi and Deccan Chronicle.

Letters-82: "Igniting a Passion"

I chose passion over pragmatism when I changed my field of study from science to arts. I faced disapproving glances but I am resolute now. In the end, we have to live our own life, so we should set it up to our own taste, even if it calls for rebellion - Aastha Sharma, Kangra, HP.

Courtesy:Reader's Digest (India), Sep.2009.

Grateful thanks to Aastha Sharma and Reader's Digest.

Letters-81: Live-in Relationships

(Regarding the observations of the Supreme Court on Khusboo's petition about premarital sex and lived-in relationships)

Is there adequate protection in law for those involved in such relationships in case of a break-up? Has our society matured enough to accept a single-mom? There are plenty of social and legal issues that have been overlooked. Premarital sex and live-in relationships have never been illegal. The court should have held that against the case and should not have stepped ahead to give legality to such relationships - S.Balaji, Chennai.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Trichy, March 27, 2010.

Grateful thanks to Mr.Balaji and The Hindu.