Rightful indignation

Sir — Politicians belong to an intellectual plane that is quite the opposite of the one inhabited by an artist. Art cannot be made to serve any end since its only commitment is to its own self. Sonal Mansingh upheld the cause of art by announcing that she will return the prize-money she had received for the Kalidas Samman award (“Sonal in full swing, VIPs walk”, May 11) when the BJP-president, Rajnath Singh, left midway through her performance during the award ceremony. She has proved yet again that true artists do not have any political colour.

Yours faithfully,
Mirza Hassanuzzaman, Calcutta

Hero worship

Sir — The attention being paid to Haseena Nasreen by the media has started to get on one’s nerves (“Fan stumps Dhoni with hug”, May 7). All that she did was travel from Behrampore, Murshidabad, to Calcutta to hug and wish Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his birthday. By no way can this be considered an extraordinary feat. The brouhaha, in fact, is rather silly. Girls of Nasreen’s age often are smitten by celebrities and there is no reason why the nation should obsess with them because of this. Is there a dearth of news? Why then was so much space devoted to a non-event?

Yours faithfully,
Ritesh Banerjee, Calcutta

Sir — It was generous of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to oblige his fan, Haseena Nasreen, by accepting the birthday card meant for him, along with a warm hug. Nasreen’s passion for Dhoni made her triumph over hurdles like the tight security cordon in order to catch a glimpse of her hero. Dhoni is not only a skilled player but is also known to have a charming personality, a fact that was proved by the way he behaved with Nasreen. Added to these qualities, Dhoni’s impeccable dress sense and unique hairstyle have won him a long queue of female fans. However, for one lucky Nasreen, there will be a thousand others who may never get the chance to meet him in person.

Yours faithfully,
Shreya Rout, Asansol

Sir — Haseena Nasreen’s life must have changed forever when she hugged the man of her dreams. She will cherish the incident throughout her life.

Yours faithfully,
Rita Sharma, Calcutta

Sir — The unabashed display of affection for a cricketer by the girl from Behrampore is unlikely to go down well with many people. But Nasreen is definitely not the first girl to have behaved in such a way. In the third test match of the India-Australia series of 1959-60, a young girl had defied the security personnel to kiss Abbas Ali Baig right in the middle of Bombay’s Brabourne Stadium, when the the batsman had completed fifty runs. That this episode did not get as much publicity as Nasreen’s is only because of the absence of media frenzy in those days.

Yours faithfully,
Saghir Asad, Calcuta

Sir — It is shocking that some relatives of Haseena Nasreen have been angered by her innocent display of adoration for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (“Kin fume at Dhoni fan”, May 9). Her ‘bear hug’ was merely an expression of youthful exuberance and, as such, it is very much within the accepted norms of human behaviour. What is even more disquieting is the fact that Nasreen’s kin are objecting to her behaviour on the ground that she is a Muslim girl. This only shows how appallingly prejudiced they are in their outlook. Would they have castigated Nasreen as vehemently if her religion and that of Dhoni had been the same? There was a similar uproar in the Fifties, when Abbas Ali Baig had been kissed. But religion was not made into an issue then.

Yours faithfully,
Debasish Chatterjee, Calcutta