Sad reality

The news of cruelty against a girl in a live-in relationship in Gurgaon doesn’t come as a surprise. Many girls in live-in relationships become victims of abuse or have been killed. There is no end to this. There is no such thing as a live-in relationship in our culture, rituals and religion. Sadly, as society progressed and became global in approach, Western cultural ideologies got promoted, becoming the root cause of this deformity. 

Hema Hari Upadhyay, Khachrod

Time for introspection

A 76-run defeat at home before 82,000 stunned supporters is not misfortune but a mirror held up to India’s structural vulnerabilities. South Africa neutralised India’s spin threat with calculated aggression, posted a commanding 187, and then suffocated a batting lineup that had been mythologised beyond its actual resilience, bundling them out for a meagre 111 in under 19 overs. Twelve consecutive T20 World Cup wins had perhaps bred complacency disguised as confidence, and Ahmedabad violently corrected that illusion. India must now prioritise ruthless introspection over reputation management.

K. Chidanand Kumar, Bengaluru

Stray dog control

In response to a fresh Supreme Court directive, the Maharashtra government has told all civic bodies to remove stray dogs from public places, such as schools, hospitals, bus depots, railway stations, and sports complexes. A new government resolution mandates immediate action by concerned authorities to capture stray dogs, sterilise them, vaccinate them, and then relocate them to shelters. Alongside this, civic bodies must set up clearly defined feeding zones for community dogs. 

Akhilesh Krishnan, Vashi 

Save democracy

Apropos the editorial ‘Freebies are fiscal poison’ (Feb 24), freebies are poison not only for fiscal discipline but also for the very democratic character of our nation. We need to pursue economic policies through our political parties to empower the citizens. But India is now facing a fundamental choice between empowering citizens and cultivating dependency among them. The govt is interested in converting citizens into dependents on government aid in the form of cash transfers. If votes are sold for a paltry amount, democracy will surely die. 

Martand Pawar, Kalyan

Value of a life 

The metro accident that occurred in Mulund, Mumbai, is deeply tragic and has claimed the lives of innocent citizens. This incident has exposed the gross mismanagement in metro construction work. The project has been awarded to a relatively unknown construction firm—Milan Road Build Tech. The work is continuing with complete disregard for safety norms. Offering only Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the families of the deceased is not justice. 

Dattaprasad Shirodkar, Mumbai

RBI directive to banks

These days banks have started selling products like insurance, mutual funds, and other non-banking services for which they earn a sizeable income by way of commission. The RBI has come up with specific guidelines. Henceforth, banks will have to obtain customers’ consent before selling the products or services to them. In case it is done without customers’ consent or without imparting complete information about them to the customers and they suffer losses, then the bank will have to refund the entire amount to the customer for mis-selling of products or services.

Satish Murdeshwar, Pune

Welcome Keralam

This is with reference to the Union Cabinet decision to change the name of Kerala to Keralam. In Sanskrit, the word ‘Keram’ means coconut. And the word ‘Kerala’, or ‘Keralam’, is widely interpreted as the ‘Land of Coconuts’. All over the Konkan coast, you will find ‘naralibaug’, or a garden of coconut trees. Keralam is just one big naralibaug along the west coast of India. 

Biju Cherian, Vasai

Invaluable time

For antique clock enthusiasts, the news that the 171-year-old tower clock at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, is to chime again following its restoration should ring happy bells. The remarkable discovery made by the antique clock collector Robert Kennedy and clocksmith Nagaraj that the timepiece predates the ‘Big Ben’ installed at the Palace of Westminster, London, is a significant historical revelation and adds to the glory and grandeur of the tower clock. 

Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai