MONICA BARBER,
Madam, - As usual Kevin Myers hits the nail on the head, in this case Cherie Blair's (An Irishman's Diary, December 19th). Nowadays most women want to be a chief and would die rather than be an Indian. The very idea of not having a platform, of not being noticed, would be unbearable for them. This is the reason they all love juggling.
This art used to be confined to a few circus artists but now, in order to gain attention and boost their public image, feminists feel the need to add more balls to an ever increasing circle. Even more spectacularly, balls are frequently interspersed with children. This extraordinary performance must cause great discomfort to the children.
Meanwhile, the few Indians remaining look on from their superior position of self-confident security. Not having to spend long hours practising juggling, they spend time doing the groundwork of keeping the wheels of society moving. Caring for their own children, supporting needy family, relatives and friends, working, unpaid, for charity. They move silently through the fabric of society. They do not receive accolades or public acclaim that the (supposedly) clever jugglers do.
Perhaps, like me, the other Indians are bored out of their minds, listening to self-appointed chiefs whingeing about their interminable juggling. Drop a few balls, sisters, along with the image. As G.K. Chesterton said: "How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone?" - Yours, etc.,
MONICA BARBER, Belmont Avenue, Dublin 4.