Mother India

Sir — In a country where women’s health is neglected most of the time, the report, “Mums who eat well have sons: Study” (April 2), might do the ladies some good. Since nothing is more valued in the Indian household than a son, families might start plying the would-be mother with food to make her beget a boy. Whatever the study might suggest, I think the gender of a baby is more a matter of chance than of diet. But the claims of the study will at least take care of the problem of malnutrition prevalent among the neglected mothers of this nation.

Yours faithfully,
Tapan Pal, Batanagar

Losing appeal

Sir — The circus around the recent bandh called by the Trinamul Congress provides an insight into Mamata Banerjee’s ridiculous style of politics (“Marriage for strike flops”, April 22). The Trinamul leader called the bandh in association with SUCI when many members of her own party were reluctant to join hands with a Left party. And then Banerjee announced that the bandh would be called off two hours ahead of schedule as concession to those hosting marriages. Banerjee apparently made this declaration without even bothering to inform the SUCI leaders.

If people stayed away from the roads on Monday it was because they would not let go of an opportunity to enjoy an extended weekend. Banerjee’s exhortations on the price rise had nothing to do with it. The public are no longer impressed with her bombast. They know full well that bandhs are not the solution to the problem. Had they been so, prices would have come down from Tuesday. The bandh was Banerjee’s desperate bid to make a mark before the panchayat polls. And so great is Banerjee’s urgency to make her presence felt that she has no qualms in teaming up with a Left party like SUCI. Little wonder that more and more members of her own party are losing faith in her. Although party members did not come out in the open against their ‘Didi’, their response to the bandh has been lukewarm at best.

Yours faithfully,
P.B. Saha, Arlington, Texas

Sir — Every time a bandh is called, be it by the Trinamul Congress or any other party, democratic rights are abused. The Constitution might allow political factions to voice their discontent, but this does not mean that they can bring the country to a standstill whenever they want. Bandhs impede economic progress. They also cause unprecedented misery to the poor and the sick. Although more and more people now go to office on bandh days, they always work under the fear that the cadre of the party which has given the bandh call might initiate violence. In most cases, they attend office only when they are forced to do so by their employers. If Mamata Banerjee wants to regain lost ground in West Bengal, she should think of methods other than bandhs to curry favour with the public.

Yours faithfully,
B.S. Ganesh,
Bangalore

Harmful joke

Sir — It is difficult to believe that a man can bite a snake, even if in a drunken fit. Subhas Banerjee of Durgapur bit a cobra in two because “he wanted to teach it how it felt to be bitten” (“Man bites, snake dies”, March 31). While the severed snake died, Subhas started foaming in the mouth. Subhas has thus proved that alcohol is more poisonous than snake venom. No doubt Subhas will gain a heroic status in the village after his feat. Hero or not, Subhas should have remembered that a state of inebriation can be no excuse for biting a blameless creature to its death.

Yours faithfully,
Rathin Chatterjee, Calcutta