It was wonderful to see the beautiful, stylish and international look of Calcutta’s pride — the tram — in the pictures published with the report “Street car named style”, Sept. 16 It is good to know that the Calcutta Tram Company is not only beautifying the vehicles, but also going for an upgrade by using modern technologies.

Sourish Mishra,
Salt Lake

There is no denying that the new trams with an international look will fit into the mall culture of the state. But these attractive trams will be a drop in the ocean as CTC is introducing only four new trams while a total of 130 trams ply in the city.

Govinda Bakshi,
Budge Budge

Callous citizens, unsafe city

The tragic end of a village housewife searching for her husband, a van-puller in north Calcutta, with one child in her arms and two in tow was disturbing (“Mother’s death dive”, Sept 17). Any distressed person, especially a rural woman wandering with three children in a city like Calcutta, was expected to attract attention.

Had people been a bit responsive, the woman and her child could have been saved. It’s the reflex action of two young men that saved the other two kids who were also pushed into the Hooghly by the mother.

I recall a similar incident in the late Sixties, when some passersby and myself had noticed a woman from the villages roaming near Alipore zoo. She revealed she had come from Balasore in search of her husband, who worked as a domestic help somewhere on Park Street.

We brought her to Alipore police station. The cops contacted some people from Orissa staying in north Calcutta and an elderly Balasore resident took the woman back home. The husband was later traced by the police and he immediately left for Balasore.

We must remember a distressed person is no different from a mentally sick one.

Also, if a woman of dishevelled and harassed appearance could escape notice for hours, then terrorists may consider the city a safe haven.

Nishith Mitra,
Malancha, Mahinagar

Apropos the report “Ragging axe on 24 JU students”, September 17, it was encouraging to read that all the students found guilty of ragging a junior were suspended by Jadavpur University.

Instead of taking punitive action against such students, most colleges and universities try to hush up the matter in the name of giving the guilty students a chance to learn from their mistakes. Thus the perpetrators go scot-free while the victim continues to suffer trauma. Some even drop out of the institution fearing repercussions of lodging the complaint.

It is bizarre that more often than not, such incidents of ragging occur in engineering and medical colleges, where the best brains, supposed to stay immersed in academic pursuits, come to study.

The step taken by Jadavpur University will embolden other institutes in tackling the menace of ragging.

Arindam Basu,
Saptagram

Apropos the report “Daughters live mother’s dream”, Sept. 19, hard work, determination and struggle are the secrets to success, which was proved by the Jana family. Saraswati worked as a domestic help, washing utensils and sweeping floors to give her daughters the gift of education, which she was denied in her childhood. Her daughters lived up to their mother’s expectations, burning the midnight oil. Such students from impoverished families deserve a financial boost.

Atif Ayaz,
Serampore

Kudos to Metro for the report on three daughters fulfiling a mother’s dream. The media should highlight such news as that would not only encourage the underprivileged but also reflect the social changes around us.

A.S. Mehta,
New Alipore

Apropos ‘Writers’ runs into writers’ block, Sept. 16, employees at the citadel of power playing havoc during office hours and the authority standing a mute spectator is not acceptable. The six employees have been showcaused but this is not deterrent enough. These employees are shielded by their union. The sudden jerk of work culture caused them irritation and they turned violent. When the state, under the leadership of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, is heading towards industrialisation, these babus cannot stay asleep. They are part of the government machinery. If they are allowed to turn the CM’s do-it-now sermon into a toothless political slogan, it paints a gloomy picture of the state.

God save the IT sector from the virulent attempt of introducing trade unionism under the aegis of Citu state secretary Shyamal Chakraborty.

Subhankar Mukherjee,
Borehat, Burdwan

The incident of detachment of the coupling between the engine of Coalfield Express and its first compartment should not be taken lightly (“Engine leaves train behind”, Sept. 13). A serious accident may occur if timely action is not taken in such cases.

Though the driver is responsible for the safety of passengers, the guard — who stands at the rear end of the train — has equal responsibility in alerting the driver in case of an untoward incident.

Dinabandhu Mukherjee,
Behala

It is bizarre that a coupling in the Howrah-bound Coalfield Express was snapped. All the staff members of the section concerned is responsible for this scary incident.

Prahlad Agarwala,
Majdia, Nadia

I am delighted to know that Rotary Club of Calcutta Mahanagar is providing a study fund to a number of children of jail inmates (“Study fund for inmates’ children”, Sept. 22). This step will surely help the families of inmates.

S.K. Kundu,
Barasat

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