Like a drug, slowly but surely making its home in our veins,the yuppie culture is here to stay. Regardless of the fervour with which the firangs withhold their much coveted Green Cards from us,we have very willingly and unabashedly granted them a permit for Permanent Residence in our homes, in our lives, in our thought processes and all else. The pervasion of this dye is casting lasting and indelible shadows in the fabric of our lives.

A bow and a Namaste have long since been displaced by a perfunctory handshake and a hug. As far back as our memory takes us, the very first thing we liked to teach our toddlers was Jai Hind and Jai Jai. The breezy Hi ! and Bye ! and flying kisses have been blown in along with the wafting Westerlies and these are the first forays of our toddlers in the world of communication. The exercise of inking our thoughts on paper has since ages been forsaken at the altar of the computer mania. Yes, letter writing has been and is a skill..but what about the folding of the paper,the sealing of the letter using the index finger and spit when no one was looking,the affixing of the stamp, the trudge to the post office or post box ? What about the wait for the reply and the thrill of receiving it?