This refers to your cover story The Flu Shot (June 1, 2020). The economy is no doubt in a tailspin, but only spin doctors have come to the rescue. Economic pundits and stock markets have given the economic stimulus a thumbs down. It failed to put money where the mouths are and did nothing for demand generation. Giving fodder to the horse is of no use if you put it behind the cart. The Opposition has failed to corner the government over this failure. RBI’s undeserved and unwarranted rate cuts will have no effect apart from bleeding senior citizens who are staring at fixed deposit rates of less than six percent and no social security pensions. The government should reach out to MSMEs, help them woo back the workforce and arrange for working capital. The dead can’t be resurrected, but the dying can be saved. Instead of announcing big numbers, the government must ensure that the stimulus greases the jammed wheels of industries.
Ashok Goswami, Mumbai
The Prime Minister’s speech boosted one’s motivation—the Rs 20 lakh crore package shows empathy for the country in these challenging times. On the flip side, the implementation of these goals is important. It is also disappointing to note that the package includes liquidity measures announced by the RBI earlier. The Centre has to focus on reaching out to migrants, especially since they lack documentation. Also, the economic package has to be disbursed without corruption. But Modi is right when he says that India can lead the world—we have a young, capable population. Our Rs 20-lakh-crore dream will come true soon.
C.K. Subramaniam, Navi Mumbai
On page 23, there is a quote of Vikas Srivastava, who has been erroneously associated in the article with “IIM-K”. He is an esteemed faculty member of IIM-L (Lucknow).
Avik Debnath, Calcutta
Me, Myself And I In 1949, when Russell Lynes, managing Editor, Harper’s magazine, asked Andy Warhol for biographical information, the 21-year-old artist responded with this postcard.
This refers to the cover story Things That Got Covided (May 18). History has witnessed many curses of nature as well as manmade disasters, but humanity has not changed. People greedily exploit those who are weak and keep them suppressed. Any improvement in the standards of education, hygiene, habits etc of the poor is not in the interest of upper classes simply because they will not be able to exploit them. Kings, emperors and those leaders concentrating power by sinister designs while donning the garb of democracy ensure the poor remain poor. Labour laws have to be more stringent to suck the blood of the poor. There is a vacuum in the leadership of the unorganised working class. Migrant labour will silently return to commercial hubs once they exhaust their remittances. And things will continue as before.
M.N. Bhartiya, Goa
One of the most enduring sights and sounds of India is the red-hued spittle mark and the jarring ‘thoo’. While the threat the pandemic poses is predicted to bring about a paradigm shift in our hygiene habits, the end of spitting seems nowhere in sight. I say this out of personal experience. Sometime back, a colleague walked into my office with this mouth-watering delicacy in his mouth. The gentleman happened to be a senior government officer, so superciliousness took the better of him and he kept sermonising for more time than his ‘paan’ permitted. As I and my friends watched anxiously, the red liquid trickled from the corners of his mouth. He comfortably picked up a saucer from my table and spat! While shock, dismay and ridicule followed, my friend amusingly explained that ‘Sir’ was helpless for he had only two options to get rid of the fluid: down or out! And it is the ‘out’ option he exercised like everyone else. In case COVID-19 could leave its imprint on this unsightly habit, it would be quite a gain in these ungainly times. It would be a story I would love to narrate to my grandchildren—how the red fluid finally got covided!
Sangeeta Kampani, New Delhi
UGC’s suggestion of shifting the new academic session in colleges from July to September and to postpone all tests conducted by the National Testing Agency may seem too dire, but the COVID-19 pandemic in India might not have peaked yet. Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS, has said that according to modelling data and the way our cases are increasing, it is likely that the peak can come in June and July. He further said that there are many variables and only with time, will we know how effective the lockdown has been. Obviously, right now, everything is uncertain. There is a need for reinvention, innovation and maximisation of all available digital resources to reach out to students and continue education. That is the way forward for us. Nowadays, many students are getting their scheduled classroom work on a smartphone. After COVID-19, it is going to be a changed world—online classrooms and work-from-home may become the norm for education and employment.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
The photoessay Ahead Is Home, Behind Is Hunger (May 18) aptly depicted how the COVID-19 crisis has thrown the lives and livelihoods of workers into disarray. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has plunged millions of people into extreme poverty and uncertainty, but those working in the informal economy, with fragile sources of income, are the worst affected. Loss of wages, lack of employment and rising casualties have prompted the mass return of these migrants to their native places. What they had saved for their beautiful dreams is getting spent in their fight for survival—all that remains is a blank future. The world might learn to live with the virus, but the hardships and pain people had to go through will remain engraved in the bosom of humanity.
Gaurav Pant, New Delhi
This refers to Small Screen, Big Locha (June 1). The pandemic has left its mark on the way films are being released. In the present uncertain times, releases cannot be put on hold indefinitely. This is all the more true of the not-so-big banners, which look at quick recovery of costs and profitability to stay in the game. Theatre owners and multiplexes may not like the idea since it puts their earnings in jeopardy, but at the same time, they do not have any valid reason to cry foul. With ‘social distancing’ the new norm, even after the virus bids us goodbye, the circumstances that have driven us to switch to OTT platforms are here to stay. The booming sound and the big 70 mm screen in a packed theatre is going to be replaced by TV and mobile screens. ‘Small’ is the new ‘big’ now.
Kamna Chhabra, Gurgaon
