Flower power: I have been associated with Calcutta for nearly 60 years. I feel extremely delighted to hear about any real improvement of our city. Kudos to the report on the restoration of the Lily Pool at Rabindra Sarobar (Pool Project to bring back blooms, July 1). I had visited the Lily Pool with my family about 35 years back. The new-look Lily Pool will surely give children and others another reason to visit the place and enjoy the serenity. We wish the restoration is completed soon.

B.N. Bose,

Dum Dum Park

In Calcutta, politics is all about vilifying the other party.

To defeat its opponents, a party must learn the art of maligning. It must not resort to improving civic facilities on getting elected. This is the situation of the new civic board (Pump fault in street flood, July 1).

The new mayor has found waterlogging a pressing problem but he hasn’t yet understood that waterlogging does not need talks, it needs immediate action.

Every aspect of waterlogging — drainage, sewerage and pumping stations — should be analysed and their conditions judged. Then each problem area must be addressed.

Moreover, these systems need frequent cleaning and maintenance; this should not be left for post-monsoon works!

The list of faults of the previous mayor and the civic board may be long but the new mayor, if he has to fulfil his leader’s dream of turning Calcutta into London, should substitute his long, droning speeches with immediate and upgraded work.

Amrita Mallik,

Salt Lake

With reference to “Sovan show draws a snooze”, August 4, Calcuttans are tired of the false promises made by successive mayors as the end result is a big “zero”. No wonder some bored members of the audience decided to snooze since they know promises made by the newly appointed mayor too would meet the same fate.

Also, Sovan raised his leg while speaking perhaps to kill a mosquito that was biting him; it will remind him of the mosquito menace in the city.

A.S. Mehta,

It was heartening to learn about Shubhendu Biswas, the horbola or mimicker of sounds (Tiger’s roar in his throat, June 7). I feel the art of horbola is an intrinsic part of our folk culture that is on the verge of extinction. A few decades ago, there were horbolas in many villages of Bengal who amused people. Today they are fast disappearing.

Prahlad Agarwala,

Majdia, Nadia

Sukanta Chaudhuri was an integral part of my masters at Jadavpur University. It was primarily because I would be taught by a scholar of his stature that I joined JU after graduation in Delhi.

I found he was a thoroughly engaging speaker who never consulted even a scrap of paper while holding forth on a dizzying range of subjects. All periods of English literature existed simultaneously in his imagination. Shakespeare and Renaissance poetry were presented in a manner at once staggeringly learned yet lucid.

In his festschrift to Arun Kumar Dasgupta, Sukantada wrote: “The term ‘humanism’ began by describing a model of philological scholarship but came to embrace an ethical ideal”. Having never known AKDG as a teacher, our ideal teacher is the writer of those words.

I am so honoured to have had him as my mastermoshai (A fine balance between ideas and emotions, July 6).

Subhankar Bhattacharya,

Address not given

Being a student of medicine, I never had the opportunity of being taught by Prof Chaudhuri. But fortunately, I could lay my hands on some of his mesmerising creations. One such marvel is his translation of Sukumar Ray’s Abol-Tabol. I would request every Bengali to go through it just to believe that such translation is possible! May I ask the teacher a humble question: Sir, who taught you English?

Sougata Halder,

With reference to “Curfew on tracks, stranded at station”, July 15, re-scheduling of trains and the subsequent harassment of passengers have become a common affair for the Indian Railways. For the stranded passengers, it is a nightmare because of paucity of passenger amenities.

For the last five to six months, most long-distance trains leaving from and arriving at Howrah station have been delayed by a few hours. Passengers require a decent shelter at the station but have to contend with unhygienic toilets and baggage lifters. Rescheduling of trains aggravates their woes. At night, the platforms are taken over by vagabonds and rowdies.

The railway minister is so busy introducing trains or opening reservation counters that passenger amenity has become a casualty. Acute paucity of rakes compels the authorities to re-schedule trains so frequently.

Subhankar Mukherjee,

Address withheld on request

I doubt whether the ban on late night parties will serve any purpose (City’s Cinderella code sets in, July 19). Rather it will now become a headache for apartment owners, who will have to bear loud music and drunken behaviour as parties shift to homes. The authorities are imposing restrictions on pubs but they cannot stop today’s party animals from enjoying the night.

What about those constables involved in merry-making in an upcoming residential project when they were supposed to be on duty? Isn’t there any ban on such irresponsible behaviour?

Crime cannot be controlled by a host of restrictions without solving the issues in a comprehensive manner. Apart from calling Calcutta a city of bandhs, people will start calling it a city of restrictions — enter at your own risk.

Saurav Gupta,

Narendrapur

The railways’ decision to serve special meals on trains for diabetics is welcome (Diabetic meal on trains, July 27). This will address a long-felt need of a large number of passengers who prefer low-calorie meals for health or other reasons. It is heartening to note that passengers’ genuine needs are being met.

Ranajit Chatterjee,

Address not given

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