SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
A cautionary tale
A teenage white supremacist who raged that people of colour are replacing whites in America shot 10 people to death recently, almost all of them blacks and live streamed the carnage on a social media platform. There appeared to have been plenty of red flags about the gunman's extremist views and his intent to conduct mass murder. Visceral hate for blacks and Hispanics devoid of any foundation led the malcontent to commit one of the worst mass killings in US history.
This incident should serve as a cautionary tale for people in India where public discourse is being steered and dominated by right wing elements and the ostracisation of minorities (read the Dalits, Muslims & Christians) is taking place at a rapid pace. The worst part is that the government is complicit in this whole exercise by its acts of omission and commission. Children of impressionable age are being given training in firearms (which itself is an illegal act under the Constitution) and being handed out trishuls and daggers by extremist outfits with the Centre conveniently looking the other way.
It's not difficult to fathom that as a nation hell-bent on embracing bigoted exclusivism/chauvinism, aided and abetted by the powers that be, we are fast sliding down a slippery slope to certain doom. The recent events in Sri Lanka where the rulers wanted to prop up Buddhism to the exclusion of every other faith should also serve as an eye opener. An inclusive and tolerant society which carries everyone along irrespective of race, religion, faith or colour has been the only successful model in the history of civilisation as borne out by millenia. India should learn from events before it is too late, or is it already too late?
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Victory shuttle to baddy glory
The triumph of the Indian men's badminton team in the recently concluded Thomas Cup where they laid waste the efforts of 14-time champions Indonesia to clinch the title ranks right up there with India's 1983 cricket world cup win, Neeraj Chopra's and Abhinav Bindra's Olympic golds and Prakash Padukone's All England title in the 80’s.
India had never played in a Thomas Cup final before and were up against the most decorated team in badminton history but they were not overawed by the enormity of the occasion. Instead with their ' never say die' spirit they repeatedly dug deep in their reserves to come back fighting after initial reverses to turn the tide in their favour. It is commendable to note that in this sterling display of athletic prowess en route to clinching the title, they also vanquished the much fancied Malaysia and Denmark, a veritable triumph of mind over matter.
Kudos boys for keeping the Indian flag flying high and giving us something to cheer about in these bleak times.
Rekha Sarin, Benaulim
Importance of water in our lives
This has reference to the article ‘Water the life-sustaining liquid - conserve it’ by Shanti Maria Fonseca (Herald May 16, 2022). That was an enlightening piece from her, an eye-opener on the importance of water in our lives. We can live without food but we cannot survive without water. Rightly said, water is one of the most important natural resources of the planet and should be freely available to all people. Taxing people for water may seem like a crime but wasting water is also a crime. This is what we need to understand. It is important therefore, that we need to preserve our natural sources of water.
Today, we find our rivers and lakes getting polluted on account of dumping of industrial waste and garbage. Shanti rightly states, rich or poor everyone needs water. Life without water is impossible. So let's stop polluting and wasting water. Our life depends on water!
At the same time, we should strive for the Living Water that Jesus promised us. We shall thirst against after drinking the water that we have but with the water that Jesus gives us, we shall never thirst again. That is the Living Waters!
Melville X D'Souza, Mumbai
Builders flouting fire safety norms
The fire tragedy occurred in a commercial building near the Mundka metro station in outer Delhi, which reportedly consumed 30 innocent lives, is yet another stark reminder of how fire safety norms are flouted by building owners with impunity. Buildings must be planned, designed and constructed to ensure that fire safety measures are in place in strict accordance with National Building Code of India’s guidelines which regulate the building construction activities across the country.
Even though NBC makes these measures mandatory, majority of multi-storey buildings continue to ignore and violate the safety norms, and often play with human lives.
In fact, many buildings lack even basic fire safety systems, like fire extinguishers. Also, there is no statutory provision for regular verification of adherence to fire safety norms in multi-story buildings. Delhi is already gripped by a punishing heat wave, and the fire tragedy only adds to the melancholy of the national capital.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Hats off to our shuttlers
Not even a diehard Indian badminton fan had foreseen India lifting the coveted Thomas Cup in badminton. Only when the Indian shuttlers carried India into the finals, beating Malaysia and Denmark en route, did they make headlines though some gave them little chance against the formidable Indonesians in the finals. Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had other ideas; these gifted players scripted history to take India to its maiden Thomas Cup title, the biggest in men's team badminton.
They downed 14-time winners Indonesia in a comprehensive manner, 3-0. Lakshya laid a perfect foundation for India as he came from behind to outclass world number five Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Considering the fact that the world's ninth ranked player was not at his best in the tournament, Lakshya's win over Ginting was truly a great feat. After being a set down and trailing in the second set, the Indian stunned his opponent through his trademark smashes and cross court drops to come up trumps.
It has to be said that had Lakshya gone down in the opener, the task for the rest of his teammates would have been tougher, physically as well as mentally. Then it was the in- form Satwik and Chirag who outsmarted the more fancied duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in a three- set thriller. The fearless Indians seemed out after they were inches out in the first set.
But the fighters had not come to Bangkok to settle for a silver for their country; they displayed skills, temperament and nerves to push their opponents out. Kidambi Srikanth is a big match player. The soft spoken man from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh was unbeaten till the moment of reckoning, the finals. And the 29-year-old was in no mood to let Jonathan Christie spoil that record. A straight-set win for Srikanth, and India had made it.
Behind the superlative performance of Indian badminton players is their painstaking hard work and supreme confidence. Meticulous planning by the coaches has paid dividends. More than anything, each player played to his potential to act as game changers for Indian badminton.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
