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Global Gujarati fights faulty globe
Global Gujarati fights faulty globe
Author: Indiawest
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 30, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/453793.cms
A Massachusetts mom wants to know
how she can persuade a popular toy company that Kashmir is not an independent
country.
Purvi Master chanced upon the misrepresentation
of Kashmir, when she went to a toy store in Burlington to buy toy manufacturer
LeapFrog's 'Explorer Globe' for her six-year-old son.
She and husband, Jayesh, observed
that the 'Explorer Globe' depicted Kashmir as a separate country. When
they examined other LeapFrog products, the couple discovered that the company's
error was repeated across its range of toys including a world map sold
with the Quantum Pad Learning System.
Since then, Master has unsuccessfully
tried to educate the company's executives and researchers and persuade
them to redress the error.
Master has written letters about
the toys to the Indian consul general and ambassador, and her brother-in-law,
who is an American citizen, has written several emails to LeapFrog.
"When I saw that, it hurt. Because
I'm an Indian," Master, who hails from Gujarat, told a Boston-area weekly.
"Even today, when I think about it, it hurts. How can people so easily
separate Kashmir?"
"Kashmir, in every way, is part
of India," Kaushal Mody, Master's New Jersey-based brother-in-law, who
works for JP Morgan, wrote to the company. "Just like the United States,
India has been fighting against terrorism for a couple of decades now.
Being Indians, it is very hurtful to see world-class educational toys from
a (reputable) company like yours from the greatest democratic nation, carrying
a totally wrong message."
LeapFrog's email response was routine
but accepted that "sometimes, it is difficult to accurately identify regions
under political change at these times."
"When we make revisions to the
items, our research staff will again review the current world situation
to correct any border changes and other information that may have changed,"
it added.
Defending its current position,
LeapFrog reportedly said, "We are aware of the issues surrounding Kashmir
and are greatly concerned that our products contain accurate information.
When we have a production of a toy with world information, our research
team uses the best and most accurate information available at the time,
to include in the product content."
"Kashmir was never an independent
country, so it seems that the research team has not done an accurate job,"
Mody wrote in one of his emails to LeapFrog. "How about showing California
or New York as a separate state?... I am sorry to say but if your educational
toys provide incorrect knowledge to kids around the country, I would rather
not buy those toys."
Master is not about to give up
her fight yet. Expressing fears that American children, who learn geography
by playing with toys like LeapFrog's will grow up with an erroneous impression
about India, Master plans to continue her letter-writing campaign to Indian
officials and the news media.
"I have no idea, actually, how
far I can go," she said. "I just want to let people know who can do something
about it. They can make the company correct their mistake. All my interest
is to correct the mistake."
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