PLEASE HELP IF POSSIBLE... A small problem

[Frederick Noronha <fred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: "Gaddam Srikrishan" <srikrishan@xxxxxxxx>
>To: <fred@xxxxxxxx>
>Subject: A small problem
>Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 10:42:14 +0530
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2014.211
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2014.211
>
>    Hello Mr. Frederick Noronha   I would like to introduce myself to you.
>My  name is Gaddam Srikrishan and I am working as a Systems Executive in
>India's  leading publishing organisations. My job is basically the job of
>System  Administration.    These days I am trying to learn Linux 
>Operarting System. I find it very complete in the sense that it comes
>bundled  with all apps as well as app development tools, and if properly
>used and  exploited, has tremendous potential in this versatile OS.   My
>purpose of this mail is basically to get  an answer to my small problem.
>The thing is that right now I am learning Shell  Scripts and that too from
>a book I downloaded from net and at the end of each  chapter they give some
>questions. Likewise there's a chapter about Shell  Scripts. In the
>questions there's a question like getting the input from a user  and to
>determine whether the input is a palindrome or not.    If they had asked me
>to do so in C I  could have done very easily, but here I don''t know how to
>reverse a string  using the regular UNIX commands. Not only that I am not
>even able to access any  of the character in any string variable, like I'd
>have done in C using the array  and pointer methods.    I have been so
>desparate to get  solution but through all my contacts I not able to get
>the solution. The I  turned to the Net and visited the LINUX site from
>where I got your E-mail  address. I ask all my apologies if you find  any
>problems in my e-mailing.    Thanking you very much and hoping an answer 
>for my petty palindrome problem   Yours Gaddam Srikrishan