Kumble’s gesture

The Tri-Nano-Congress (TNC)
The Tata Nano has showcased our engineering prowess to the whole world. It’s a car for the people who never dreamt of owning a new one ever.

Let us hope it comes to the market by November 2008 as scheduled and sets the sales charts afire. Thanks to the mishandling of the Singur land issue by the Left Front government in West Bengal and the later events, and the politicising of the matter by Mamata Banerjee, the car for the Auto Expo 2008 display had to be made at the Tata Motors plant in Pimpri, near Pune.Basically the Tata project came along and rescued Banerjee from the wilderness.

She should thank the Tatas. In fact, I would suggest that she rename her party as The Tri-Nano-Congress (TNC), which also signifies her nano-amount of thinking.

Also, Ratan Tata can alternately consider naming the car as Tata Mamta, considering the huge amount of free publicity Banerjee has generated for the Tatas.
—BK Deshpande, Nagpur
II
With the Nano, the Tatas have demonstrated that ‘Small is beautiful’ is no more a ‘Made in Japan’ slogan. India can do it even smaller and cheaper.

The successful launch of the Nano is, therefore, much more than an engineering marvel. It is a huge psychological victory for Indian technology and expertise.

There are many ironies in our country, which, we claim, is among the emerging nations in terms of economic development. Perhaps the biggest irony is the fact that India still seems to be lagging behind in terms of infrastructure.

In the absence of infrastructure, adding more and cheaper vehicles to our roads can only spell disaster. Just as a blindly airline-friendly civil aviation ministry masterminded chaos in Delhi and Mumbai airports by permitting hundreds of additional flights despite the paucity of runways or parking spaces, the government has similarly authored mayhem on city roads by its deliberate refusal to invest in urban infrastructure.

Auto-makers would earn the nation’s gratitude if they put collective pressure on the authorities to do something about this before more low-cost cars crowd our narrow urban thoroughfares.
—Md Ziyaullah Khan, Pune

Viren’s retirement
The decision by Viren Rasquinha to retire from international hockey (To hell with hockey, DNA. Sport, January 16) is a sad commentary on the state of the game in our country. 

It is not everyday that you get a champion sportsman like him, and he’s only 27! The Indian Hockey Federation has, doubtless, treated him shabbily.
—Sonali Advani, Mumbai

Full Monty
With reference to the article, ‘John to do the Full Monty’, (DNA AfterHrs, January 16) and the interview with the representatives of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, the whole thing just seems like a publicity stunt for this particular NGO which is well-known for its aggression.

However, I am not sure whether photographs of John Abraham covered in lettuce leaves or cabbages (because I am certain that all the relevant portions will be well hidden) will help the cause of animals.

It may force someone — like me — to start an NGO called, ‘People for Ethical Treatment of Salad’ or PETS.
—Reema Barua, via email

Kumble’s gesture
Anil Kumble must be complimented for not pressing charges against Brad Hogg in the larger interests of the game (‘Statesman Kumble spares Brad Hogg’, DNA, January15).

He has made it clear that this move was not in anticipation of the Aussies reciprocating the gesture. If the ICC does not lift the three-match ban on Harbhajan, the tour can still be called off after the fourth Test. So nothing is lost and cricketing history will remember Kumble as a gentleman-captain.
—V Subramanyan, Mumbai