While I acknowledge that Anonymous, who wrote [#1]Indians must make radical changes[/#] (March 29), has the right to free speech, his views, I am sad to say, are the stupidest things I have ever heard. I know this is harsh, but I'm sorry, this is how I feel.

First of all, regarding his claim that Tamil sounds 'harsh and uncouth'; any language could be considered so, if one happens to know a person who speaks it in such a manner. The writer seems to think that English is pleasant to the ear, but having been in England for three years now, I have come across regional varieties of English which - for example, up north in Newcastle, the way the people up there speak - could be considered 'harsh and uncouth' by the writer. Not everyone in the west speaks 'posh' English-lah.

The writer seems to be entranced by western cinema as well. While I am admittedly not an expert on Tamil movies and I don't understand the language, I know, unlike the writer, not everything from Hollywood is good. Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, for example, is probably the most violent movie I've ever seen.

Then again, the writer might just be cynical about all the things that are happening in our country. While the west may have a lot of things we can learn from, don't forget, there are a lot of things they are learning from us. To hold the view that our culture is inferior is simply too insulting to our intelligence.