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I don’t agree with the many etiquette experts you have interviewed in the cover story ‘Where have good manners gone?’ of the latest issue (EW December). According to them manners are culturally defined and hence country-specific. I disagree. Good manners are universal and transcend national, cultural and religious barriers. For example letting pedestrians especially women, children and the aged cross the road is good manners. In India my experience has been that no automobile or two-wheeler driver stops to let pedestrians cross over, instead they speed their vehicles. In the West pedestrians get the first right of way.

The experts are defending the indefensible. My advice to them is to shed hypocrisy and admit that Indians are globally infamous for their bad manners. Culture has nothing to do with it; it’s all about education. Seldom do schools or colleges in India pay attention to inculcation of good manners and life skills in students. If we want well-mannered citizens with kindness and consideration, we must make sure we catch ’em young.

Thank you for the marvellous December issue of EducationWorld. Your cover story ‘Where have good manners gone?’ and the special report ‘India’s budding home schooling movement’ covered uncharted territory and made compelling reading.

It is so true that the manners of homo sapiens indicus — particularly the male of the species — are appalling and in urgent need of correction. I wish you had focussed more on the disgraceful behaviour of Indian males towards women on an everyday basis, and upon the contempt that the middle classes routinely display towards the poor and people below them in the social hierarchy. The revolt of Dalits convul-sing Maharashtra currently has a lot to do with the sheer bad manners and "contumely" of the me-first, shoving, pushing and grabbing middle classes towards the socially disadvantaged. If India is not to go up in flames, it’s very impor-tant for schools to begin teaching good manners and conduct right from kindergarten as they used to in the old days.

I also enjoyed reading your special report on India’s nascent home schooling movement. With pupil-teacher ratios in private schools rising year by year and government schools shunned by even the poorest households, the home schooling movement is certain to grow. But as Summiya Yasmeen warns, home schooling requires great dedication and commitment from parents. It’s not an easy fix.

EducationWorld has matured into an excellent global standard publication.

Keep up the good work!

I enjoyed reading your cover story ‘Where have good manners gone?’ (EW December). It focusses on an important issue, although it states some harsh truths and holds up an ugly mirror to Indians who are generally hated worldwide for their hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness.

However your brilliant analysis attributing the "national manners deficit" to communists and socialism is a bit over the top. In reality, India’s communists typified by Jyoti Basu and West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya are infinitely more refined than politicians descended from money-lenders and traders who are the greatest contributors to the national manners deficit. However, since you were the founder editor of India’s first two business magazines, it would be too much to expect you to acknowledge the ugly face of Indian capitalism.

I enjoyed reading your special report ‘India’s budding home school movement’. It was informative, well-researched and the interviews with parents who are home schooling their children in India were particularly revealing. However, I don’t think home schooling will ever become as big a phenomenon in India as it is in the US.

Home schooling requires parents to have unusual dedication to children and patience. It means parents have to give up watching television soap operas and those delightful moments when children are not at home. Most important, it requires at least one parent to give up his/ her career and stay home. And after all this, there’s always the danger that home schooled children may grow into unsociable and insulated adults. India is a plural society and social interaction with peers from across the social divide is important.

Moreover India hasn’t yet developed a support infrastructure for home schoolers. Like you mention in the report, most of the learning resources are of American/ British origin. The learning material available on the internet is also largely developed by westerners, and therefore may not always be relevant in the Indian context.

Congratulations on completing seven years of uninterrupted publication. I understand it is very difficult to survive for so long in the business of publishing, especially when producing new genre magazines such as EducationWorld. I truly appreciate your patience and perseverance.

I have read all the issues of EducationWorld but the seventh anniversary issue is perhaps the best ever in terms of the look and feel. The magazine looks great and gives a bird’s eye view of all the good work EducationWorld has accomplished over the past seven years.

Keep up the good work and I hope to read EW for many years to come.

Suresh J.S.
Bangalore