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The choosen ones

Your editorial on the sanctity of the Padma Awards (TSI, Feb 1-7) is an eye-opener on the lackadaisical manner in which the candidates for a prestigious national award are selected. It would have been better if they had used the ‘random number generator’ software to generate a few telephone numbers. The PMO can then identify the names of the owners of these telephones, who would be honoured with the Padma Awards. At least, now the selection would appear objective and nobody would have complained. If someone feels his name has been left out, although he deserved the award, then it can safely be attributed to his “bad luck”, as his telephone number was not chosen by the computer! It is a national shame that a ‘diamond’ like Resul Pookutty has to be discovered by the jurors in another country and rewarded with the prestigious Oscar. We, his fellow countrymen, have miserably failed to discover the diamond amongst us. What does this prove? That, we as a nation, have not attained the maturity levels, despite our bragging that we have one of the largest scientific and technical manpower and a bubbling economy, which can outpace the developed nations.

Subroto Sinha

Pune Love thy neighbour

As a perceived snub to Pakistani players by the Indian Premier League, (TSI, Feb 1-7) I strongly believe that they should have been picked. The matter could have been handled by the IPL board respectfully, as we Indians are known to invite everyone and have high degree of tolerance. If there were any issues, they should have been put on board earlier. I agree with Prasoon Majumdar’s take and also with what SRK said on the issue that the youth should circumvent all that is said about India and Pakistan by the politicians and say, "It is a great neighbour to have. We are great neighbours, they are good neighbours. Let us love each other." We should remember that cricket is religion in our country and it can remove differences and establish peace.

Nirmal K

Guwahati Climate mania

Man has always sensationalised each and every event. Whether it was the Skylab falling or the Y2K syndrome, hype has always been more than the real thing. The latest hype was the 'climate change' mania that gripped the world (TSI, Feb 1-7). It turned out to be a con game and sadly all the intellectual fools in the world fell for the trap. First, we had the failure of the Copenhagen summit and now the Pachauri report. Nature has always been unpredictable and yet we are trying to understand it. We cannot predict climate because of its unpredictable nature. Instead of thinking far ahead, we need to make small changes in our daily routine. Let us not worry about climate change but we should try to tame the weather by our efforts. India needs to improve its hygiene habits. We are torn between greening our environment and greening our bank balances. Eco-system is trivial for us because we cherish the economic system and must restore it for coming generations. However, we should try to protect the climate intelligently.

Loveen Motwani

Pune