Heritage on a plate
Sir — The humble kochuri is Calcutta’s great equaliser. Whether served with sweet cholar dal in North Calcutta, spicy red torkari in Howrah, or paneer-laced chhole from a Marwari kitchen, the kochuri unites the city in one crisp, fried ritual. Every neighbourhood has its loyalists, every vendor a secret recipe, and every Sunday morning there is a queue of hungry regulars. A century-old shop in Dharmatala might swear by hing and history, while a leaf bowl in Barabazar delivers a Bihari garlic punch. Migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and beyond have each shaped this breakfast staple into something beautifully plural. The tradition of polishing off piping hot kochuris for breakfast deserves a place on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
Prasun Kumar Dutta,
West Midnapore
Leaky defence
Sir — India’s performance in the FIH Hockey Pro League has laid bare some hard truths. The defence, despite fielding experienced stalwarts, looked alarmingly shaky. Conceding 26 goals in eight games should ring very loud alarm bells. There is a clear gap between the tactical discipline demanded at this level and what the Indian hockey team currently delivers. Craig Fulton’s European coaching methods are sound, but they require players to adhere to structure under pressure. A defensive unit must not drift like this. With the Asia Cup looming, India must tighten their backline immediately or prepare for more heartbreaks that can be avoided with better coordination.
Aranya Sanyal,
Calcutta
Sir — The Indian hockey captain, Harmanpreet Singh, remains a penalty corner wizard. But a team cannot survive on a one-man miracle. This dependency on him is unsustainable. Modern hockey rewards versatility and depth. If India wants to compete with the best, the team must develop at least two or three specialists who can deliver under pressure. There are only a few months left before the Asia Cup. The team must spend this time honing alternatives.
Hasnain Rabbani,
Mumbai
Sir — There is no nice way to say it: the Indian hockey team’s goalkeepers are not ready. Suraj Karkera and Krishan Pathak may grow into strong players but right now they are not in the league of P.R. Sreejesh. Unfortunately, international hockey will not wait for them to catch up. Defensive lapses are painful enough but when the last line of resistance looks this fragile, the morale of the team collapses. If India wants to stop conceding soft goals, goalkeeper coaching must be aggressive and focused. A team that wants to challenge the world cannot afford to be lenient in the most critical position on the field.
Fateh Najamuddin,
Lucknow
Invasive intent
Sir — The Karnataka Mis-Information and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill claims to defend “feminism” and “Sanatan Dharma” in the same breath. This cannot be anything but a joke. If the State wishes to support equality or protect religious identity, it should do so through dialogue and lawmaking rooted in constitutional values, not by drafting a censorship manual under the guise of fighting misinformation.
Alok Ganguly,
Nadia
Sir — No State can algorithmically patrol the internet with good intentions alone. Policing speech on the scale proposed by the Karnataka Mis-Information and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill guarantees arbitrary application. Instead of jailing people over a minister’s idea of accuracy, governments must invest in media literacy, education, and trust-building. There is no shortcut to a well-informed public. A crackdown on speech is just a long detour to a deeper problem.
H.N. Ramakrishna,
Bengaluru
Sir — Fifty years after the Emergency, the Karnataka government appears to have learnt nothing about the importance of safeguarding fundamental rights. This proposed bill against misinformation in Karnataka is not a fight against fake news, it is an act of legal overreach masquerading as moral clarity. Courts have already warned against such attempts. A truly democratic State simply needs to protect the right of citizens to speak — even when what they say is uncomfortable.
Ranganathan Sivakumar,
Chennai
Progress report
Sir — A decade into Digital India, the success story rings loud. But so do the alarm bells (Hits & misses”, July 7). Rural internet access remains patchy, data privacy laws lack teeth in enforcement, and cybercrime is rising faster than awareness. These are not minor wrinkles. They threaten to undo the public trust that digital governance depends on. The government must acknowledge the unfinished business behind the celebration of the Digital India initiative, especially in villages and small towns. A digital leap means little if millions remain stuck at the edge of the screen.
Sagartirtha Chakraborty,
Guwahati
Sir — Much of India’s digital growth is riding on borrowed tech. The applications may be Indian but the back-end often lives in foreign clouds, runs on global application programming interfaces, and depends on overseas capital. This is not autonomy. It is dependency. Without investing in homegrown code and infrastructure, India risks handing over its digital crown jewels to foreign firms. Strategic autonomy in the digital age demands more than UPI and Aadhaar. It requires building the engine instead of just the dashboard.
Jayanta Datta,
Calcutta
Sir — The Digital India success story glosses over one consistent failure — the collapse of domestic ecosystems. Whether in Artificial Intelligence, health-tech or cybersecurity, Indian platforms are often just shells filled with imported software.
Khokan Das,
Calcutta