Letters to Editor

Compensate the teachers
This refers to Arindam Chaudhuri's editorial “Eleven things that can transform education in India” (TSI, Jan 8). The eleven point agenda proposed by Arindam to transform education in India is not only thought-provoking but exhaustive,  very timely and definitely practicable. In my opinion, a country that is endowed with good teachers of adorable character and enviable knowledge is the most blessed one in the entire universe. Education shapes every human being to blossom into a well developed personality. While the eleven jewel- points of Arindam would sure transform education in India, due recognition given to the teachers in the form of Padma Awards, compulsory training to them to upgrade their knowledge in the latest developments in their related fields of study, hike in their salaries at par with that of the highest paid secretaries to the government and most importantly, adequate retirement benefits to the teachers would have a salutary effect on the teaching fraternity. This would lead to real transformation of education in India.
Tharcius S. Fernando
Chennai

This wicket is diff icult
Apropos of the story “Enter, the night watchman” (TSI, Dec 25), the emergence of former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan as one of the front-line leaders in the country might augur well for the strife torn nation that has been on the brink for quite some time now. As a politician, Imran has managed to present an image of a nationalist and is by and large considered impeccable. His party too has been taking giant strides and has been able to capture the imagination of the country’s largest votebank, the youth. Imran has however to be cautious about the pitfalls in Pakistani politics and should realize that running a country is quite a different ball game when compared to captaining a cricket team. Further, an ageing Imran has lost quite a bit of the charisma that had made him such an endearing figure to his countrymen. The people of Pakistan should support him only if he can rein in the rampaging ISI and the army which is all powerful. He should also be able to keep the US at bay as America has been an overwhelming presence in the sub-continent. With the present dispensation of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani being on a weak wicket Imran is definitely in with a bright chance.
Ramya Aravind
Bangalore

Speaking sanskrit
Apropos “Simply Brahmin” (TSI, Jan 8), Sanskrit has become the primary tongue for many of the residents of Mattur village in Karnataka. It has been in the forefront of a movement to keep spoken Sanskrit alive. This village and the neighbouring Hosahalli are mainly populated by Sanketis, who speak Sanskrit at home. And, it is not just them who speak the language. The village has a fair share of people from other communities, and all of them are exposed to Sanskrit. Local teachers attribute the fluency to the dedication with which a “new language” was learnt. Sometimes I wonder whether the present generation would question these beliefs and practices? I understand they do. But they are taught to understand the faith, and not question it !
P. Arihanth
Secunderabad

Boycott not
In his article “It’s a Dow Olympics’’ (TSI, Dec 11) Prasoon S Majumdar calls for the boycott of 2012 London Olympics pointing that it’s  sponsored by Dow Chemicals, the perpetrator of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. Actually boycotting such a fabulous event is not a sensible option. Nor it can pay back the money to the victims and their families. It will help nothing more than merely adding fuel to the fire. It is a crime against our talented young players. Despite the fact we had been kept under colonial yoke by Britain for centuries, our leaders always preferred peace and good relations with world. This bad decision may not only provoke London but it may also stir entire nests of the already poignant EU hornets resulting a tough crack in multilateral ties. In Mangalore air disaster could state-aided Air India pay the compensation? Did anyone prompt to boycott it? Why not? Instead of boycotting, a fresh talk with London would be more effective. Let us expect retaliation in London Olympics from our talented young participants beating the hosts.
Ibrahim Nasthar
via email

Not all that rosy!
First of all, congratulations to team TSI for the exemplary work that you have been doing over the last years in coming up with the most incisive analyses of various current and contemporary issues. With reference to the article “Manufacturing Danger” (TSI, Dec 25), the issue related to India's aggravating current account deficit has been doing rounds for quite some time. However, the severity of the issue seems to have eluded our policy makers. A few years down the line the situation is all set to aggravate and it becomes all the more delicate and horrid as the nemesis this time is in the form of China, which can be recalcitrant and irrational, all at once. Though the solution suggested in the article – to come up with bilateral trade agreements with Japan and S. Korea – looks cogent, the task in hand is onerous. Our economy, which looked all set to achieve and sustain the two digit growth rate, is staggering now. The situation is not all that rosy now.
Rajeev A. Nair
Chennai

Need to change approach
Arindam Chaudhuri  has been very candid and consistent in his editorial “Eleven things that can transform education in India” (TSI, Jan 8) when he says that it is only education that may bring about the metamorphosis, the sorts of which we long for the development of our people and the society overall. So, is it only education that can prove as a panacea for the ailments of Indian social system today? What about the consistently high rate of growth of population by virtue of which another Australia is added every year to our country of more than one billion population? What about the priorities and preferences of the people in our country when even a rickshaw puller has a number of cellular phones and with all the multimedia accesses and a host of other electronic gadgets that surround the miracles of information technology but unfortunately their children prefer to abstain from schools? Personal disposable income of the targeted social strata has miraculously gone up and so has their standard of living. In fact, it is only the matter of preference and not paise, it is only the matter of insight and not the investment and it is only the matter of lack intellectual awakening and not the infrastructure that has become the Achilles’ heel of what can be called as stagnant development of the Indian economy. In fact, it is high time we launched a campaign to make people realize the urgency and utility of education via intellectual renaissance and cultural revolution.
Shreeprakash Sharma
Samastipur, Bihar

Overload menace
Apropos “The killing machines” (TSI, Dec 25), I would like to state that it is not only in Delhi but other cities like Kolkata are also equally affected. Although there are adequate Motor Vehicle rules available yet the load careers freely flout the rules for not only overload but also projection of iron rods etc beyond limit. Besides lorries, small pick-up vans too fearlessly indulge in over loading and feel complacent just because they are hand in glove with police. 
Lt Col Ranjit Sinha (Retd)
Kolkata

A wonderful book
It refers to the editorial “The winning losers” (TSI, Dec 25). My heartiest congratulations to Arindam Chaudhuri and his colleague A. Sandeep, the Group Editor of Planman Media for the release of their book “CULT” that has been widely acclaimed by the corporate world. His earlier book “Thorns to Competition” co-authored by his wife Rajita also proved to be an asset for the business community as it made the complex aspect of business extremely simple by presenting a set of competition beating strategies to sell a product. The book “CULT”, a classic CEO guide, dealing with the leadership and business strategy will prove helpful not only for the professionals but for the management students too.
Suman Kukal
Ambala Cantt