Labour’s loves lost

Sir — There is no denying that child labour exists in India (“Exporters shrug off ‘child labour’”, June 30). We are one of the biggest players in the international fashion arena, a major exporter of apparel. With the opening out of markets, outsourcing of work has become easy. Buyers assign work to the domestic merchandiser who in turn assigns it to the karigars. The karigars, as daily wage-earners, are often the ones who insist that their children earn, even if they are only five or six. The government must understand that child labour will prevail till poverty exists, and education fails to reach all.

Yours faithfully.
Omi Gurung, Gangtok

Old and graceful

Sir — We were astounded to read the utterly gratuitous reference to our mother and ourselves in the article Soumitra Das wrote about Whiteaway Laidlaw (“A brief history of shopping”, July 1). As two daughters of Usha Khan, the actress who has been mentioned but not named in the article, we would like to point out that Uttam Kumar did not visit our house often. More importantly, our mother and our father, Aurelius David Khan, did not bring us up to laugh at our guests as Das implies (“much to the glee of the leading lady’s three little daughters”). We were also not exactly little when Tasher Desh was made. What really concerns us is the question of journalistic ethics. Das may have picked up from somewhere the anecdote he recounts, but that certainly does not give him the right to print it. Surely, all stories, especially those of a private nature involving two dead persons, are not for public consumption.

Das did not extend the courtesy of asking either of us (or our elder sister) if he could print an anecdote concerning us, our mother and an actor whom we hold in the highest regard. In our view, Das has not only violated journalistic ethics but basic trust as well.

Yours faithfully,
Neela Banerjee and Moina Jhala, Calcutta

Sir — The article on Whiteaway Laidlaw — the Harrod’s of yesteryear in Calcutta — and the newly renovated Metropolitan Building was a good tribute to the craftsmanship, quality and high standards maintained by the ‘famous five’, that is, Whiteaway’s, Hall & Anderson, Army & Navy Stores, R. Lazarus, and Ranken.

I still have fond memories of the Lazarus chairs and vaults, where the seasoned teak trays slowly settled down on the principle of air escape! Not a centimetre of distortion even after 50 years of use. May be they were a little snooty towards natives, but their products were excellent.

When my father went to Ranken to get his first suit made, he casually mentioned his upcoming job interview. When the suit was delivered, the neatly packaged box contained a card wishing him success in the interview, which, incidentally, he passed with flying colours.

Yours faithfully,
P.N. Chatterjee, New Delhi

History of neglect

Sir — Ramachandra Guha’s “Borderland travails” (June 21) rightly suggests that Nehru’s famous speech, made during the Indo-China war, needs to be seen in the right perspective. It must have been the long history of neglect that caused two generations of Assamese people to remember Nehru’s “heart goes out to the people of Assam” speech. Guha, however, needs to be corrected if he thinks that IIT Guwahati is located in the seat of Ahom kings. Indeed, the place is significant, but as a site of war between the Ahoms and the Mughals in the 17th century. There were no Ahom palaces either. During the famous war of Saraighat, one of the Ahom prime ministers had a war camp where the IIT is now located. Not far way from this was another pre-colonial township, remains of which are still visible.

Yours faithfully,
Arupjyoti Saikia, Guwahati