Farewell, nightingale

• In the passing away of M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian music has lost a icon. Her...

• In the passing away of M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian music has lost a icon. Her voice will remain forever enshrined in our thoughts and memories. To our generation, her voice epitomised all that was great in music. There have been many versions of Venkateshwara Subrabhatham, Sahasranamam or, for that matter, the Hanuman Chalisa. But the rendition of these by MS remained enshrined in our hearts that it was her versions of these that prevailed. Such was the greatness of the lady that the proceeds of the sale of her music were willed way for charity. She is irreplaceable and we should consider ourselves lucky that we lived in the same period that she sang in. What I find most disturbing is that most newspapers (including yours) could not spare more than a few paragraphs to write in her memory. When you are in a position to waste reams of newspaper on the Ambani feud or some stunt of a politician, surely MS deserved more for
her acts of charity and the joy that she gave to millions?

— R. Parthasarathy Mumbai

End of an era

• M.S. Subbulaksmi, a singer extraordinaire, whose death brings back to the memory what Jawaharlal Nehru said when Gandhi died: ‘The light has gone out of our lives’. Her music had an indescribable quality that transported listeners to a heavenly realm. It was not merely the tune, timbre or quality of her voice but the devotion and humility she infused into it that held listeners across the world enthralled!

— H.R.B. Satyanarayana New Delhi

You must be joking!

• An international Airport in Bangalore? You must be joking! In your editorial (‘Flying at last’, IE, Dec 13) you had the stupid wisecrack about “small countries” like Thailand and Malaysia quietly built their infrastructure to woo foreign investments. I have lived in Bangkok and compared to this city any Indian city is a trash can. There is no way Indians will be able to maintain a high-class airport once it is built by the German company. About 80 years ago, Calcutta was Asia’s premier city. Look what we have done to it. I can bet my top dollars that the Bangalore airport project will never take off; and, even if it does, it will crash in no time.

— Joseph Christie On e-mail

BJP internal feud

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• It seems Smriti Irani gave a statement with her natural instinct and sincerity (‘Star gives BJP soap opera a twist’, IE, Dec 13), but she had to withdraw it under pressure from others within the BJP. This reveals the deep-rooted differences within the BJP.

— Divyesh Raythatha

Dover Congrats, Sachin

• From the bottom of my heart I congratulate the little master and master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar, to becoming the only person who has made about 70 centuries in both one day and test cricket in the history of the world cricket. This person is very cool and never gets involved in any controversies. He has devoted his time to cricket. This is why he could achieve this honour.

— Md Sabir Ansari AMU, Aligarh

4 minutes, 1 window: How thieves pulled off the quickest-ever heist at Louvre Museum

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Thieves steal pieces from France's royal crown jewel collection in a daring heist at the Louvre Museum, using a crane to enter and escaping on motorbikes in just four minutes. The incident raises concerns about the museum's security and outdated measures, despite its popularity among millions of visitors.

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