You can make a difference!

Dinyar Patel has been writing a series of revelatory articles in The New York Times and more recently in The Hindu on the sad state of the archives in our country, which many of you have read on the RBSI.

I now request and urge the more concerned and regular participants of RBSI who share a deep love for rare books, history and heritage, to do what little we can as ordinary civilians and lend our support to Dinyar Patel for this cause. It does not matter which part of the world we live in today, since it's only our concern and voice that matters.

We could take our first step by writing about our concern to The Editor of The Hindu newspaper which has published this article yesterday to the email-id's mentioned below:

Letters to the Editor (Your complete mailing address is required):
letters@thehindu.co.in

cc to Readers' Editor:
readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

cc to RBSI:
rbsofindia@gmail.com

Let us remember that RBSI exists only because the items posted here have been preserved with great care! But then again, almost all these India-related books, paintings and art posted here are the ones that have been preserved by Institutions abroad, and not from India. We have millions more in India which demand immediate attention. This is where we come in.

I have always admired the many brilliant people on RBSI whom I have come to know personally over the past few years. Like most members, I too hold them in high regard for their erudite and articulate comments on the posts here. They all love history, books and heritage, and I am certain they can make a difference if they decide to!

Please write a letter to the Editor of The Hindu (mentioned above) with a copy to RBSI at rbsofindia@gmail.com, so that we can build a database for this cause.

Are we biting off more than we can chew? Maybe… but then:

...as Doug Larson says "Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible."

Yours in optimism...
Subbiah Yadalam

Articles published by Dinyar Patel:

In India, History Literally Rots Away
http://nyti.ms/GGbvWP

Repairing the Damage at India’s National Archives
http://nyti.ms/GG3j7d

India’s Archives: How Did Things Get This Bad?
http://nyti.ms/GI9FPy

The Parsis, Once India’s Curators, Now Shrug as History Rots
http://nyti.ms/GQqtn3

Our past is being moth-eaten
http://bit.ly/HVkx1Y