Poor syllabus
Sir — Students slogging under an 8-hour-a-day school schedule will find the recent proposal by a school in America tempting. Alpha School has pitched a routine where students will need to spend just two hours a day in school. Instead of teachers, the students will have Artificial Intelligence guides. The focus is on learning real-life skills — learning to ride a bike is an example — rather than spending hours on academics. The annual fee is $65,000, but there is a provision for students to receive financial rewards. While such a system may be an eventuality, traditional schools instil social skills. One wonders how socially aware students taught by AI will turn out to be. More importantly, why must parents send their wards to robots to learn to ride a bike?
Siddharth Roy,
Calcutta
Friends in need
Sir — The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin took place against the backdrop of the global economic turbulence set off by the punitive tariffs imposed by the president of the United States of America, Donald Trump (“DASHKAPITAL”, Sept 1). Welcoming Narendra Modi to the summit, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, asserted that it was the right choice for both India and China to be friends and not allow their border disputes to define their relations.
Xi should be reminded that the strained relationship between New Delhi and Beijing in recent years is not entirely attributable to border issues alone. There have been reports suggesting that China backed Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. If the elephant and the dragon want to dance together, China will have to demonstrate its willingness to
stand with India. China must support New Delhi against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on Indian soil and refrain from blocking the names of Pakistan-based terrorists that are suggested by India to be declared as terrorists by the United Nations. China needs to
show a genuine change of heart.
S.K. Choudhury,
Bengaluru
Sir — The Congress’s criticism of Narendra Modi’s engagement with China raises important questions about India’s foreign policy (“New template”, Sept 1). While dialogue and diplomacy are vital, one cannot overlook China’s ongoing territorial aggression and economic assertiveness. The Modi government’s focus on reconciliation risks undermining India’s sovereignty and empowering China’s geopolitical ambitions. The silence on critical issues like the Yarlung Tsangpo project and the unchecked Chinese imports can be seen as signs of weakness. A robust strategy, prioritising national interests, must replace India’s appeasement approach.
Vijaykumar H.K.,
Raichur
Sir — The recent meeting between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping has become a talking point. One wonders how this meeting will be viewed by those who, not so long ago, called for a boycott of Chinese goods under the ‘atmanirbhar Bharat’ slogan in the aftermath of the Galwan clashes. The Indian government had banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese applications and restricted Chinese imports. Will the Modi-Xi meeting lead to a shift in India’s stance?
P. Suryanarayana,
Kochi
Sir — This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-India diplomatic relations. Both powers need to handle this relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective and uphold multilateralism in an increasingly multipolar world. Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Tianjin for the SCO summit is the prime minister’s first trip to China since April 2020 when India and China became embroiled in a military standoff on the Line of Actual Control. But now India and China are taking a step ahead mutually for trade considerations.
Dimple Wadhawan,
Kanpur
Sir — The tariff turmoil set off by Donald Trump has brought two hostile nations, India and China, closer. Their intention to reset bilateral relations is evident from the recent interaction between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping at the SCO summit that was hosted by China. But several doubts persist about this thaw in a relationship based on necessity. India’s priority is to resist Trump’s tyrannical attitude. A strong axis of Asian countries with China and Japan seems the right strategy. India must not hold back from making Trump pay the price for his hubris.
Mihir Kanungo,
Calcutta
Victorious lot
Sir — The precondition to judge a victor or a loser is that the fight must be between equals (“Glorious loss”, Aug 31). Bengalis as a community had historically suffered owing to the colonisation, the shifting of the imperial capital from Calcutta, the Partition and the famine. However, there is no reason for Bengalis to be ashamed of their defeated past. Nobody can dub Bengalis as ‘heyros’. Despite repression, Bengalis contributed significantly to the freedom struggle.
In the present times, when Bengali migrants are being humiliated in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, it does not highlight their defeat but shows their resilience. The essence of victory and defeat can be found not just in the literary characters that the author, Debnita Chakravarti, highlights but also in real-life incidents.
Kajal Chatterjee,
Calcutta
Festive reading
Sir — As the scent of shiuli fills the air, a wave of nostalgia washes over many of us —this is the time of the arrival of the pujabarshikis. Long before smartphones became the norm, autumn afternoons were spent buried in the pages of Anandamela, Shuktara, and Kishore Bharati. The Puja editions were festivals in themselves. We saved up pocket money and queued at bookstalls to buy the first copies. The publishing houses must be lauded for maintaining this long-standing tradition.
Susanta Roy Chowdhury,
Calcutta