Festival thoughts

8226; Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, is around the corner. Since the last festival, ...

8226; Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, is around the corner. Since the last festival, India has been traumatised 8212; first by the tsunami, then floods all over the country, and more recently the earthquake in Kashmir. These calamities have taken a toll of some 50,000 lives, with millions affected with no homes and shelter even to this day. Given this context, the Deepavali festival is required to be celebrated with moderation and in the memories of the dead and the displaced. People need to go out and help the poor and the needy. Wherever this is not possible, it is required that you contribute to your preferred charities who may be doing work in these areas.

8212; S. Kamat Goa

Bihar8217;s voters

8226; The assembly elections in Bihar is very much on the national centre stage. The exit polls done by various news channels indicate a hung house. It is a matter of concern that in the first two phases of elections, the polling percentage was below 50 per cent. It seems, given the fact that Bihar8217;s voters are voting for the second time this year, there is widespread voter fatigue. But this is not the time to display such fatigue. Voters should come out in large numbers and vote decisively for one party or the other so as to get themselves a stable government. The voters of Bihar should understand the crucial importance of their participation in the poll process.

8212; Md. Mudassir Alam New Delhi

Pay up

8226; In your editorial, 8216;Capital squatters8217; IE, October 27, you had hit the nail on the head. Yes, the Supreme Court8217;s outburst made it clear that all the VIPs who overstayed in their official accommodation should be made to pay the excess rent 8212; the market rent, that is. And, finally, the government must change its rules and regulations after the apex court8217;s outburst, otherwise public cynicism about the government and its working will only grow by the day.

8212; Bidyut K. Chatterjee Faridabad

BJP planning

8226; The RSS8217;s five point 8216;Chitrakoot8217; formula is an important milestone in BJP8217;s sojourn towards becoming a party with a difference. How the 8216;Hindutva ideology8217; is to surface and be exploited in political terms, and whether the BJP will achieve the magic figure in Parliament, remains to be seen. The RSS will now have to redefine 8216;secularism8217; to suit its much hyped 8216;cultural nationalism8217;. Its hunt for a party president to replace L.K. Advani and a future prime ministerial candidate to be a substitute for A.B. Vajpayee is going to be an uphill task. Being in power 8212; and even being an effective opposition 8212; makes a lot of difference.

8212; Shreekrishna N. Phadnis Mumbai

Nature friendly

8226; The steady occurrence of disasters point to the impact that pollution has on the environment. This is not my theory but the theory of nature. First, it was Mumbai that was not just knee-deep water but neck-deep in water, and now a string of southern cities, including Chennai and Bangalore, are flooded. Some time back snow fell for the first time in a Gulf country. Then you had the tsunami and the disastrous earthquakes, Katrina and Rita. If we want to survive on this earth, we must try to living in sync with nature, not work against her.

8212; Dhiraj Kumar New Delhi