Crowning glory

Crowning glory
Now that Sachin Tendulkar has been conferred with the honourary rank of a group captain in the Indian Air Force, I hope he continues to come out with “flying” colours as is his wont (‘IAF to honour Tendulkar with group captain rank’, DNA, June 24). I hope he lends some semblance of respectability to the batting line-up which came a cropper in the T20 World Cup and in Zimbabwe. Tendulkar should be now crowned with the Bharat Ratna.
—Hemant Hemmady, Virar

College admissions
The report ‘Forget junior college admissions till July 10’ (DNA, June 25) clearly shows that education is being handled with a careless attitude. The last-minute meaningless way in which the exam results are handled, makes a mockery of the entire system of education. The day is not far off when admissions outside Maharashtra may become problematic due to uneven standards of the SSC Board. Will there be light at the end of this tunnel of darkness?
—PRV Raghavan, Mumbai

Political decisions
Barack Obama has sacked General Stanley McChrystal, the field commander of Afghan operations, for making derisive remarks about the president and his team in bar-room banter (‘General’s fall’, DNA, June 25). This is reminiscent of the sacking of General Douglas McArthur by president Truman, though for more serious charges. In fact, many feel that Obama has over-reacted and the sacking of the general is too harsh a punishment for this indiscretion. This reminds me of the following humourous incident, apocryphal though it might be.

During World War II, a man shouting at Trafalgar Square that the prime minister of Britain was a damn fool was arrested. Next day the agitated opposition MPs demanded to know whether their country had become a police state for a man to be incarcerated for calling the PM a fool. Winston Churchill coolly replied that the man was arrested not for calling the PM a fool but for letting out a state secret during the war. This silenced the opposition.
—VVS Mani, Bengaluru

Numero uno
The Indian cricket team under the dynamic captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni deserves the nation’s warmest tributes for restoring its position as the ‘numero uno’ cricket team in Asia (‘No jinx, only joy, DNA, June 25). The Indian cricket team convincingly defeated the reigning champions Sri Lanka on their home ground. ‘Man of the match’ Dinesh Karthik deserves appreciation for scoring the highest runs and for taking the maximum catches. At last India’s pride has been restored in Asia as a superior cricketing nation!
—KV Satyamurty, Mumbai