Every time I try to write to you, about this subcontinent of ours, I get afraid of being exposed for afraud who doesn't know enough about it to be writing. And I try to overcome the fear, because there's usuallyso much at stake that it's worth a try. Even if I'm writing for a web site, in English, in the hope ofreaching South Asians. The whole exercise seems absurd, really. No wonder I fear it being discovered -- thatthe only languages I can read in are European ones, that my family in Kerala laughs at my anglo-accentedMalayalam, that they protect me and fear that I won't be able to handle myself on the mean streets of Indiancities without their help.