Drink, but don't be merry Sir - You can 'drink and holiday in London', as Rupali Ghosh says, but aren't you a 'bad girl' then ('Bottoms up', Aug 27)? Ghosh may be optimistic, but drinking and women simply don't go together as far as social acceptability in India is concerned. Exceptions are only some social spaces, among some social groups and in some special cities. No wonder Bangalore, with its carefully cultivated bar culture, recurs in Ghosh's article. Elsewhere, girls might be drinking with enthusiasm but social response is still negative. In Calcutta, and this is personal experience speaking, except for five star spaces, restaurants do not entertain 'unaccompanied' women who wish to have a drink. Two women are not 'company', one man is. If the restaurant condescends to serve, it chooses the drink the women may have. This may be beer, or innocent looking vodka with orange or tomato juice, or rum which can go with a cola. Whisky is a strict no-no. And places where a lone woman can enjoy her drink aren't even dreamt of. Whither 'liberation'? Yours faithfully, Jaggoseni Sen, Calcutta Anarchy at large Sir - If a political party comes to power with the slogan of revolution, rules for 23 long years and still screams for inquilab, then there is something seriously wrong with it. The revolution that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) seems to have brought can be found only in its organizational setup, its party offices and in the living standards of its leaders. There is little else to boast about as far as West Bengal's overall development is concerned. An excess of trade unionism has badly affected the state's economy, while there have been few instances of industrial development. The state has also become dependent on foreign aid for drinking water, maintenance of roads and other development projects. There is hardly any government department which runs profitably, and existing factories are closing down. The less said about administration, the better. As employment is scarce, the young are forced to hawk wares on the streets or work for political parties. It is unfortunate that West Bengal, which used to be a leading state even a few decades ago, is now one of the backward ones, and Bengalis have been relegated to second class status in their own state. Yours faithfully, M.J. Zakaria, Calcutta Sir - Shefali Guha, in her letter ('Thorns in the oasis', July 23) looks at the CPI(M) through her parochial lenses. The CPI(M) has always been with the people, but ground realities have made it realize there are loopholes in its administration that cannot be plugged within a few days. The candid confessions of the leaders regarding their mistakes are gestures that have brought the party closer to the people. The CPI(M) must have learnt a few lessons from its mistakes. The Trinamool Congress, which has emerged as the CPI(M)'s main contender in the state, has also been duping the people for a long time. It would be a mistake to think that the Trinamool Congress's promise of a golden West Bengal is in any way more sincere than the promises made by the ruling party. Yours faithfully, Ujjwal Kanti Chakraborty, Bankura Sir - The editorial, 'Have gun will win' (July 30), presents a comprehensive analysis of the origin of the present spate of violence and bloodshed in West Bengal. The CPI(M) is indeed guilty of 'having eroded the strength and autonomy of the law and order machinery'. The editorial goes on to equate the politics of Mamata Banerjee with that of the CPI(M) and accuses her of the tit-for-tat kind of politics. In certain real situations, however, such a means becomes inevitable for the opposition party. The case of the civic repoll (due to a defect in the electronic voting machine) in ward no 16 of the Salt Lake municipality is a good example of this. What took place was malpractice involving the administration, the party heading the ruling Left Front and armed goons. Surprisingly, the polling was not disqualified by the Election Commission. Under these circumstances, what could an opposition party do but ask its armed members to chase away the goons? Yours faithfully, S. Mallik, via email Sir - For once Jyoti Basu is absolutely right in saying, 'They [the Trinamool Congress] want president's rule here because they know they can never win the polls' ('Basu slips into campaign mode', Aug 20). After the occurrences during the municipal elections repoll in Salt Lake, it is amply clear that if elections are held with the CPI(M) ruling the roost from the Writers' Buildings, other parties can only dream of capturing it. Who else but the ruling Left Front would know that unless president's rule is imposed, it would not be possible for the Trinamool Congress, which now has a huge wave in its favour, to win the polls. The Left Front itself came to power in West Bengal following president's rule. The National Democratic Alliance team which toured the strife torn areas of rural Bengal recently has recommended president's rule in the state. But there is little hope of anything being done in the regard, because, as usual, the Congress in Parliament can be expected to play spoilsport, being the 'B' team of the CPI(M). Yours faithfully, Ranjan Guha Majumder, via email Death by neglect Sir - The editorial, 'Substandard' (Aug 23), has justifiably hit out at Russia. There can be no doubt that one-party dictatorships assign little value to the lives of their citizens, and leaders with tough KGB backgrounds such as Vladimir Putin may well send 118 sailors to a watery grave without batting an eyelid. Maintenance of nuclear submarine fleets on shoestring budgets without adequate financial allocations for emergencies and rescue measures is utterly condemnable. The truth is perhaps that Russia preferred to murder its servicemen rather than seek foreign assistance because it feared that foreign powers (mainly the United States) would, in addition to rescuing the trapped men, have a good look at the technical and security details of the state-of-the-art submarine. That Russia did not want. One may compare this with the Kandahar hijacking incident where India let go three terrorists in order to save the trapped passengers in the aeroplane. Yours faithfully, Santanu Ganguly, Calcutta Sir - The sinking of the Kursk in the Barents Sea off Murmansk was a great tragedy for the Russian people. The maintenance standards of Russian equipment need a great deal of improvement. In Russia, the national flag was flown at half-mast and merrymaking stopped to pay respect to the dead crew of Kursk. In India, though, no such respect was paid to the hundreds killed in Kashmir. Why should Atal Behari Vajpayee get away scot free when Putin is having to shoulder the responsibility for the submarine mishap? Yours faithfully, A. Ghosh, via email Sir - The callous attitude of the Russian administration towards the trapped crew of Kursk is mindboggling. Should national ego be upheld at the cost of the lives of the men in uniform? The United Nations must insist that all vessels cooperate fully with the nearest rescue vessels in international waters so there are no unnecessary deaths. The Indian navy can learn an important lesson from the Russian tragedy. Nations must show that they care for their valiant defence personnel. Yours faithfully, Sush Kocher, Calcutta Letters to the editor should be sent to: The Telegraph 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street Calcutta 700 001 Email: ttedit@abpmail.com Readers in the Northeast can write to: Third Floor, Godrej Building, G.S. Road, Ulubari, Guwahati 781007