Hello, not goodbye
Sir — There are numerous reasons for losing contact with friends who were once close to us — some of them might have gradually drifted apart over time and, in the case of others, we may have accidentally lost all contacts from our phones and have no way of getting them back. A similar mistake almost brought an end to Nasa’s Voyager 2 mission. An antenna of the spacecraft was accidentally shifted 2° off its normal trajectory by a miscalculated command sent by Nasa. As a result, Voyager 2 is no longer receiving any command or sending back data. The good news, though, is that normal communication with the spacecraft will resume in October when it automatically resets. If only our phones, too, had such a reset button to retrieve deleted contact information.
Jayati Mazumdar, Calcutta
Hatred kills
Sir — The cold-blooded massacre of four people, three passengers and a Railway Protection Force official, in different coaches of the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express is shocking. A video of the shooter, an RPF constable named Chetan Singh, warning passengers to vote for the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and for the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, if they wanted to remain in India sent shivers down my spine (“‘Modi on lips, hate kills’”, Aug 1). When polarising speeches full of hatred are fed to the people on a daily basis, it is inevitable that some of the hatred will find expression in acts of violence. Unless we tackle the politics of religious divisions head-on, we risk falling further into an abyss of anarchy.
Kamal Laddha, Bengaluru
Sir — The shooting of four people inside a moving train in Maharashtra should be condemned unequivocally. The incident will further heighten anxiety among passengers after the Balasore tragedy. It seems that the railway authorities are unable to protect the lives of citizens even as the Centre promotes high-tech trains. The government should take preventive measures.
M.N. Gupta, Hooghly
Sir — Railway authorities have termed the shooting by the RPF constable as the act of a mentally unstable person instead of a hate crime against Muslims. This deflection arouses suspicion. A thorough investigation is required as three of the four victims were Muslims. Singh’s comments reveal that he was religiously motivated.
M.C. Vijay Shankar, Chennai
Sir — The killings on a moving train are a sign of the chaos into which India has descended. Violent crime thrives when the authorities fail to condemn such incidents. This is a warning against the politics of polarisation.
Fakhrul Alam, Calcutta
Sir — It is astonishing that those entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the nation’s citizens are attacking them. An RPF constable shot dead his senior and three Muslim passengers in the very train where he was posted on duty, allegedly proclaiming that only those who support Narendra Modi or Yogi Adityanath could stay in India. How can a country progress if the law enforcers behave in this manner?
Md. Salman, Mumbai
Ignored wisdom
Sir — The Supreme Court’s observation that the violence against women in Manipur cannot be excused simply because similar incidents are happening elsewhere seems to have fallen on deaf ears (“Answer to ‘whatabout’ brigade”, Aug 1). The apex court should take strict action against the Manipur government’s negligence and bring the criminals to book.
Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur
Show the spots
Sir — Not for nothing has the National Democratic Alliance government been referred to as the ‘No Data Avaliable’ government by the Opposition. The failure of the Central government to provide data about cheetah deaths in the Kuno National Park is another example of its tendency to deal in rhetoric instead of hard facts (“Hidden spots”, July 31). The fact that many of the cheetahs died owing to infections caused by the collars they wore in India’s humid weather beggars belief. The government’s negligence in handling Project Cheetah thus lies exposed.
Anthony Henriques, Mumbai
Sir — It is not unreasonable to believe that a few cheetahs have died recently as they were accustomed to the arid terrains of Namibia and South Africa and are finding it difficult to adapt to the humid Indian weather.
H.N. Ramakrishna, Bengaluru
What a spell!
Sir — The veteran English bowler, Stuart Broad, bid an emotional goodbye to international cricket at the end of the Ashes series at The Oval (“Honours even after last-day ebb & flow”, Aug 1). Hitting a six in the last ball he faced as a batsman and taking a wicket in the last ball he bowled was a fairytale ending to a storied career.
Rohan Mahajan, Jammu
Sir — Perhaps the greatest disappointment of Stuart Broad’s career came in the form of the six sixes that he conceded in an over to Yuvraj Singh in 2007. However, he recovered remarkably from that low to finish with 604 wickets in a Test career spanning 167 matches (“Broad, finest entertainer, can yet cast a spell”, Aug 1).
Devendra Khurana, Bhopal
Recipe for comfort
Sir — Chicken soup has always been associated with relief from the common cold during the monsoon. While it may feel emotionally comforting, it does not really cure a cold. But a bowl of piping hot rasam can. It is packed with mustard seeds that contain compounds like allyl isothiocyanate which have antibacterial qualities.
Sourish Misra, Calcutta
