Insult to injury

Insult to injury
This refers to ‘Folly on private wheels’, (DNA, March 15), the aam aadmi for politicians is a car owner. Globally such a practice is called “unsustainable development” — making poor poorer and rich richer. The commitment to check the spiraling prices of basic foodgrains by the government illustrates their commitment to the aam aadmi. But their reluctance to raise petrol prices, while letting sugar prices triple, adds insult to injury.
KP Padiyar, Navi Mumbai

We will miss him
With the death of Marathi poet and litterateur Vinda Karandikar we have lost one of the outstanding literary figures of our times (‘Marathi literature loses its maverick genius’, DNA, March 15). As Thomas Jefferson said of George Washington, anybody can succeed him but no one can replace him. Among the many tributes paid to this genius, his mastery of English has been glossed over. I had the privilege of being taught Shakespeare by him when I was a student. What was astonishing was Karandikar’s grasp of Shakespeare, the man, his life and times. I will be grateful to Prof Karandikar for kindling my interest in English literature. He will be sorely missed, but his literary legacy and human qualities will forever keep his memory alive.
S Gangadharan, via email

Confusion in the hills
Ranjona Banerji’s ‘Crescendo of confusion in the hills’ (DNA, March 16) was an enjoyable piece on the song ‘The hills are alive’ from The sound of Music. Her argument that “story-telling and therefore listening is one of the oldest human arts and plays a vital role in our lives — it fires our imagination” is indeed very sound and vastly applicable today. She makes a strong case for good translations of Indian stories if English texts are deemed too obscure. Kapil Sibal will do well to give some thought to this since the hills are alive with the “sound of confusion” as the writer bemoans.
V Subramanyan, Thane

Protecting our interests
It is distressing to see the haste with which the UPA government is trying to pass the bill on Nuclear Liability without a debate on its ramifications (‘Clouds loom over nuclear liability bill’, DNA.Sunday, March 7). The bill, as it stands now, limits the liability of the operator to pay a compensation of US$64 million to the victims of a nuclear accident. The bill also ignores the provisions of various international conventions which are more victim-friendly. It is clear that the bill has been drafted with the sole aim of protecting the US companies from incurring losses with scant regard for the life of our people.
V Venkatasubramanian, via email