This refers to your cover story, Here Lies the First Human Perhaps (March 28). The idea of evolution taking place in parallel streams, with many sub-species of hominins emerging over the millennia, is a radical departure from current thinking. While it is intriguing, it still requires further confirmation, hopefully with the help of more sophisticated methods of dating.
Anwaar, Dallas
Outlook got more than the bare bones of the story right. One can only hope there isn’t a bone of contention there!
V.N.K. Murthi, Pattambi
As the Sanghis say, India is a great country; even the early humans knew that!
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
When exactly did apes evolve into human beings? Was it in linear fashion? That remains an unsolved puzzle. The Masol findings could be pathbreaking, but nothing so far has come up that conclusively proves the claims to be true.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
Many cultural, ethnic and religious traditions in South Asia can be traced back to the ancient times. If it is soon proved that the first man walked in Masol, there will be little doubt that we are his descendants.
M.K. Somanatha Panicker, Alappuzha
Sans scientific or archaeological proof, its status is that of myth, no better. I hope one of our so-called nationalists, who like to erase the line between mythology and history, don’t jump into this!
Vidwan Singh Soni, Patiala
Apropos your leader The Middle Path (March 28), I’m reminded of the conundrum George Orwell mentioned in his 1942 essay Pacifism and the War: “If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help that of the other. Nor is there any real way of remaining outside such a war as the present one.”
VNK, On E-Mail
Your second leader on Shahid Afridi is justified and timely. Afridi is a great cricketer and whatever he said, he had said as a sportsman, with a positive message of love and affection. It’s really unfortunate that he faces criticism in his country and may be stripped of captaincy.
M.A. Ahad, Bhubaneswar
A Pakistani lawyer has gone on overkill by taking Afridi to court over what he said as a sportsman. Let the cricketer play his game; what he says as a sportsman ought not to ruffle feathers at home.
J. Akshay, Bangalore
In Benaras Diary, Saumya Roy goes ga-ga over the malai gilori. For her information, Ram Asrey Halwai of Lucknow has been making malai paan for several decades. I had my first one 60 years ago, as a schoolboy.
V.K. Singh, Gurgaon
Apropos Can Modi Sarkar Pass the Great Urban IQ Test? (March 28), may I ask if our country can succeed in providing just the basics first? And is the ‘smart’ city model sustainable? In Mumbai, we had some areas with free WiFi, but within a few months, there were snags.
Kamal Anil Kapadia, Mumbai
Rome was not built in a day. Why, therefore, this unseemly haste in criticising the smart city initiative?
D.L. Narayan, Visakhapatnam
It will prove a Herculean task for the government to make even one city ‘smart’. Part of the problem lies with Indian people and their attitudes. People are not in the habit of caring for public property. Therefore, many of the gadgets used for ‘smartifying’ our cities are likely to be damaged. As for initiatives and slogans, let me remind you that Shashtriji’s ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ has done little to improve the lot of jawans or kisans and Indira Gandhi’s ‘Garibi Hatao’ failed to improve anything. ‘Swachh Bharat’ too will fail, as will the smart city initiative.
Mahesh Kumar, Delhi
Apropos Long on a Short Change (March 28), most of the decisions taken at the Nagaur meet of the RSS are progressive and laudable. The RSS’s decision to back women’s entry in temples where they are not presently allowed and its disapproval of reservation demands from affluent groups like the Jats and Patels bespeak a readiness to change with time. Modi should take a cue and, like his call for people to give up LPG subsidy, he should call for affluent groups—and for the rich among groups with quotas—to forgo reservation so that the deserving poor might be accommodated.
K.P. Rajan, Mumbai
No matter what uniform the RSS dons, its history cannot be forgotten: its leaders collaborated with the British and acted as informants. Moreover, its present leaders believe in casteism and communalism. All the rest is sweet talk—nothing more.
T. Nayak, Washington
The Constitution does not require anyone to chant anything. So the BJP’s political resolution that “Our Constitution describes India as Bharat also, so refusal to chant victory to Bharat is tantamount to disrespect to the Constitution...” is hogwash.
Mukul Dube, Delhi
I’d like to remind people who have trashed those who condemned the cold-blooded murder of Ishrat Jahan and others that the issue is not whether she or her companions were members of the LeT; the issue is that the encounter was fake—not permissible in a democracy.
Bhushan Lal Shishoo, On E-Mail
Actor Balakrishna’s claim in Deep Throat (March 21) that unless he kisses his heroines and impregnates them, his fans are sad, amounts to a withering dismissal of women—both as fans in their own right and as characters in the films. It’s nothing but the casual misogyny that’s rampant in the film industry.
G. Venkat Rao, Begumpet
Your leader on Sri Sri was an “edifying” peek into your world of suspicion and bitterness that fails to make sense. You talk of the servility of the state before a private organisation, but one fails to comprehend what this is all about. The event was attended by lakhs of people, yet we sought no special privileges from anyone. If you refer to the army helping in building a pontoon bridge, let me clarify that it was the Delhi government that called in the army. You talk of distortion of civic, legal and environmental aspects! It’s not clear why you are gunning for an organisation with a proven record of service in over a hundred countries—and you do so with unsubstantiated allegations. The Art of Living has never misused its reach over millions. We value our transparency, honesty, sincerity and, above all, service to humanity. We would be obliged if you would think your thoughts clearly and put them in print in a way we can discuss them. This leader, we are sorry to say, is neither here nor there. We can only humbly offer that the world does not move along your axis.
Darshak Hathi, Sreekumar, Bangalore
I am appalled by your leader (The Un-Godman, March 21) on Sri Sri Ravishankar. It’s alright to criticise him, and one may not agree with him, but I’m sure your leader writer would not have dared talk so viciously about a Muslim mullah, or for that matter, American preachers who perform fake miracles to convert Hindus to Christianity. A person who brings together Pakistanis and Indians and Israelis and Palestinians, highlights the ancientness and beauty of Indian culture and gathers two million people in three days deserves more respect. I’m a Frenchman and have my reservations about surrendering free will to a guru, but this is a 5,000-year-old tradition in India, a country where most Hindus will endorse the guru-shishya relationship. Your leader deserves a rejoinder—if you permit, of course.
Francois Gautier, Delhi
There is no doubt that P. Sainath is a man of many achievements. But his column If This is Pro-Farmer (March 14) reminds one of a statement that Mark Twain attributed to Benjamin Disraeli: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” The writer seems to have ignored the fact that agriculture contributes only 15 per cent of India’s GDP despite employing 48 per cent of the workforce.
Rajiv Chopra, Jammu
I had been wanting to share my pet peeves about India and Dilip Bobb said it all in 20 Things We Need Azadi From (March 21)! To thank Mr Bobb, here’s a little haiku I made up during one of my morning walks: Telltale trickle stains / around junction boxes / piss me off.
Hema Parthasarathy, Chennai
If Donald Trump (America Warns You, March 21) is getting a lot of traction for his anti-Muslim rants, it is perhaps because there is some substance in what he says.
Prakash Joseph, Oakville
Trump only appeals to some triumphalist Americans and some equally moronic Indians.
A.N, On E-Mail
It’s bizarre that Trumpism is luring America. How can such an enterprising nation be seduced by such absolute bullshit!
Arshid Hussain Wani, Pathan Pulwama
It’s still possile that Trump’s bluster will appeal to many Americans, who will proceed to give him the keys to the White House.
L.J. Singh, Amritsar
I write in response to the story about army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag’s political connections (Habeas Cardia...Et Backbone Too, Mar 28). Surely, the army getting ‘politicised’ now is a joke. The army high command was fully politicised from the 1950s, when Nehru patronised his relative B.M. Kaul and other incompetent officers at the expense of talent. Only for a brief period, in the ’60s-80s, was the top brass free of this disease. Remember how during Kargil the generals briefed BJP leaders, showing themselves answerable to one political party?
Biswapriya Purkayastha, Shillong
So what’s the president—the commander-in-chief of the army—doing about all this? He’s facilitating these corrupt activities and helping the RSS, and so must share the blame and responsibility.
Nasar Ahmed, Karikkudi
This is either a figment of the imagination or the reporter has a poor understanding of the functioning of the defence ministry. On the one hand, he’s pointing fingers at the present army chief. On the other, he’s blaming the government for abusing its authority and ordering the army to lay bridges. Why is he contradicting his own findings? He mentions Gen Suhag's being ticked off by the then chief Gen V.K. Singh, but doesn’t explain why he was acquitted of the charges and was promoted to be the army chief. Is it because the allegations against him were weak and unfounded?
Neha, Jammu
I refer to the story on marital rape (Vowed Into Violence, Mar 28). The spouses are the two wheels of a cycle—both are equal in that institution. No one owns the other. Both are independent, yet one too—that’s the best part. Mistakes happen, but they can be corrected. In Indian marriages, ‘rape’ is an alien concept. Since both man and woman are adults, they know pretty well what they are doing. If a man uses repated force on a woman, it shows he’s not doing well, and thus needs a marriage counsellor, not the courts of law.
M. Kumar, Delhi
I refer to the piece on the Trinamool Congress (Trinamoolah, Seven Days, Mar 28). The sting operation which has exposed a number of senior TMC leaders on the eve of the assembly polls underlines the fact that politics and corruption are inseparable partners and, in this digital age, every citizen with a smartphone is a sleuth. However, both the timing of the release of the sting and the persons behind it do raise grave misgivings about the real motive behind it. Given that the person had ‘trapped’ the BJP’s Bangaru Laxman, a Congress hand in the whole thing can’t be ruled out.
P. Arihanth, Secunderabad
