AS much as it pains me to do this, I need to throw some cold water over these gushing reporters who think that Bopanna and Qureshi have managed to alleviate the bitterness between Indians and Pakistanis by reaching the finals in the US Open.

First of all, in both countries, people who can afford to play tennis regularly enough to rise up to that level are probably the elite of the elite. Trust me, there is absolutely no bitterness between the elite of Pakistan and the elite of India. In fact, there is probably very little bitterness among the elites of the entire world!

If you assemble kids of millionaires from the world over and ask them, you will probably find that they are all amazingly in agreement about everything. They will probably agree that they cannot figure out why the rest of the middle class, and the poverty - stricken masses, in their respective countries cannot simply forget the small differences and come together!

Here's what they would say: “Play tennis, enjoy life in the sports clubs, take daddy's new Mercedes for a spin, meet other young people in the ice-cream shop and giggle away lazy afternoons. Why can't these poor people just do that?

Instead of wasting time insisting on silly things like abolishing corruption, or access to jobs, or improving the roads, or building public transportation and infrastructure...oh the list is endless with these unhappy middle class people the world over! And add to that they insist on talking about history, conflict and wars that never end!

They just need to start spending more time in the club and enjoy the swimming pool or go shopping in Dubai! Everything will be fine.

In fact, learn from those great American TV serials. Are there any unhappy people in 'Friends' or 'Sex in the city'? No! Just as we learnt from them how to be happy, why can't you?”

B.K. VASAN

United States