Man child
Sir — The usual prescriptions for stress-busting are not working. It has thus become normal for stressed individuals to seek out familiar comforts from childhood. Rewatching old cartoons is one example. However, adults in China and other countries are turning to a surprising tool for stress relief — pacifiers. There has been an uptick in the sale of silicone human pacifiers that are designed for adults. Apparently, the act of sucking is associated with emotional security and can help calm frayed nerves. While the image of a grown adult with a pacifier in his or her mouth can seem bizarre, experts have warned that pacifiers offer only temporary relief and their long-term usage can be harmful. What happened to the good old practice of chewing gum, one wonders.
Bidisha Mitra,
Nagpur
Identity at stake
Sir — Who is a true Bengali, one may ask (“Amio Bangali”, Aug 24)? Those who identify themselves as Bengali and yet do not take cognisance of and condemn the humiliation of and the attack perpetrated on Bengalis living in states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party can hardly qualify as Bengalis.
One’s current place of residence is also a non-issue when it comes to identifying one’s mother tongue or place of origin. Mandar Bose’s assertion in Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella that “Mother tongue can be forgotten easily in just three months, only if one wants to, and if not, one cannot forget his or her mother tongue in even thirty years” rings true.
Kajal Chatterjee,
Calcutta
Sir — “Amio Bangali” should serve as a reality check for the prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the BJP leaders in Bengal. The statements made by some of the well-known personalities as well as some commoners about their mother tongue, Bangla, uphold the primacy of the language and underscore the importance of Bengali-speakers.
Murtaza Ahmad,
Calcutta
Sir — Migrant workers from Bengal, a majority of them Muslim, have been subjected to harassment for speaking Bengali and have been branded as Bangladeshis in other states. Many eminent Bengalis have voiced their feelings and concerns at the political weaponisation of the language by the ruling regime.
On August 27, 2019, the nobel laureate, Amartya Sen, delivered a lecture titled “On Being a Bengali” on the occasion of the celebration of the foundation day of the Institute of Development Studies in Calcutta. I was lucky to have attended the event. He dwelt on the subject, citing instances from medieval history and Rabindranath Tagore’s novel, Gora. He quoted Adam Smith describing Bengal as “one of the most prosperous regions of the world, and in this prosperity, the Hindus and the Muslims had a cooperative role.” Citizens should read the text of the lecture to enrich themselves and clear any misgivings about Bengalis and the Bengali language.
Jahar Saha,
Calcutta
Sir — Linguistic diversity is an integral part of the Indian ethos. Incidents of harassment of Bengali-speaking individuals living in other states have become commonplace in recent months. Reacting to this dangerous trend, Amartya Sen has stated that “there remains a possibility that I might be sent back to Bangladesh because my ancestral home is in Dhaka.” The Santiniketan-born world-renowned economist then added, “I don’t have much objection to it.” A new confrontational politics over language has begun in India. Does speaking Bengali necessarily mean that the speaker is a Bangladeshi?
Jang Bahadur Singh,
Jamshedpur
New life
Sir —The inauguration of three new sections of the Kolkata Metro was heartening (“Train of two cities”, Aug 23). The expanded Metro coverage will not only help people living in Calcutta but also those travelling to the city from districts like the North and the South 24 Parganas and Howrah.
The Metro services will not only reduce transportation time. They will enhance trade opportunities between Calcutta and the districts. The Metro expansion to cover both the airport and the two busiest railway stations, Howrah and Sealdah, will improve suburban connectivity to the city’s hotspots. The Central government has done a commendable job.
Jayanta Datta,
Hooghly
Sir — With the expansion of the East-West metro from Sealdah to Howrah Maidan, Phoolbagan and other stations on the Green Line (Howrah-Salt Lake Sector 5) will become busier than before. The authorities should regulate the entrance and the exit points to these stations to ease rush and for effective crowd management.
Mohan Lal Das,
Calcutta
Will be missed
Sir — Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian cricket team’s number 3, who scored 7,195 runs in 103 games, including 35 fifties and 19 centuries, has decided to hang up his boots (“The Storm-Buster”, Aug 25). Pujara’s compact defence and his ability to grind the new ball attack helped Team India immensely. He fell out of favour with the selectors after the loss in the World Test Championship final in 2023.
S. Sankaranarayanan,
Chennai
Sir — The announcement of retirement by the iconic cricketer, Cheteshwar Pujara, from all formats of the game is a great loss for cricket-lovers. Pujara was a trusted Test player with glorious records. His retirement marks the end of an era.
Kirti Wadhawan,
Kanpur
Sir — Cheteshwar Pujara’s calm composure, courage and resilience went unrecognised in Indian cricket. Pujara was the backbone of many victories, especially in India’s tour of Australia.
Vinay Mahadevan,
Dubai