Best Letters Of The Week

Of two princes

The editorial “Unfair to pull Akhilesh down that soon” (TSI, Apr 15) by Arindam Chaudhuri was interesting. Every politician’s kid, with significant political ambitions, evokes the same Pavlovian media response: fawning prose, repetitive themes and near-identical language. The similarities between Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav are obvious. For the youth, the 41-year-old Rahul and 38-year-old Akhilesh both represent change. Rahul Gandhi exudes remarkable sincerity as he addresses large audiences. Akhilesh, on the other hand is humble, affable, greets his party seniors with folded hands and recollects their names with astounding fluency. This is politics as family business. The two leaders are both young and successors to political dynasties. While Rahul projects a national persona, Akhilesh cultivates a more rooted image. 

Soumyadeep Ukil

Kolkata

 

Education for all

This refers to "India's best fall back colleges" (TSI, Apr 15). The article is an excellent piece of guidance and a ready reckoner to those who narrowly missed the bandwagon of the elite colleges. A comprehensive and incisive survey that will cheer them up. It identifies the hurdles in the education system and also where the government must intervene. Education must be privatised and the doors for the foreign universities must be opened for the country to reap the demographic dividends. The Indian education system has basically aped the West but it is high time we take a leaf out of the Chinese strategy, where the objective of the education policy is to sustain the rapid growth that its economy has been currently experiencing. Given our massive population, it is imperative that we provide quality education to every one.

Col (Retd) AE Charles 

Coimbatore 

 

Insatiable aspirations

This refers to “Till divorce do us part!”(TSI, Apr 1). It is a fact that 60 to 70 per cent divorces occur in couples in the 25-35 age group. The young generation is more ambitious. Most young couples are working and devote much less time together and there is a widening communication gap as they do not find enough time to talk at peace even at night. Marriage is all about compromises and adjustments from both partners but since the break up of joint families, the youngsters are not trained for compromises. The best for the couples is to sort out their marital problems themselves instead of taking it to court. 

Mahesh Kapasi

New Delhi