I have noticed recently that the letters in this column are getting longer and over the set limit of 250 words. These letters occupy most part of this column. This is at the expense of other letter writers who try to contain their letters within the allocated space.
Too long letters are unwieldy and put me off from reading. May I suggest that the editorial board should set a realistic limit for the length of the letters and that any letter which overshoots that limit should be either truncated or not published at all.
Too long letters put me off from reading or from digesting the gist of the message in them. Also, the letters should focus on issues which concern us here in our country of residence, rather than placing too much emphasis on matters relating to our mother land. I have noticed that some of your contributors send long winded letters on issues concerning India.
This may be ok in some respects like the previous campaign for direct flights to Ahmedabad or the hike in visa fees for India or even the restriction on the value of gold ornaments that one can take with him or her to India. Long winded letters become boring and make me skimthrough them instead of digesting the contents. There is a tool called “word count” on most computers and I would urge the compulsive long letter writers to make use of that.
Dinesh Sheth
Newbury Park, Ilford
