• I am a 19 year old engineering student aspiring to do an MBA from IIM. But lately, my thoughts are wandering: Can things be so bad? Can a man just not stand up to injustice? Is this the fate of every Indian who tries to check corruption? May Manjunath’s soul rest in peace. Where are the politicians who should be standing up against the criminal and corrupt? Why has our morale plunged so low? Will the honest ever be able to come out in the open again? — Binny Kochubaby Baroda His brave choice • What a tragic end to a young hero! It’s rare that one finds such missionary zeal in people these days. Even among those pledged to make a positive difference to the community they live in, how many would have had the courage to choose death over a small compromise? Let’s not forget Manjunath was just a junior officer in a behemoth. Even while making the choice he would never have known that his death will get noticed and will inspire a nation. What could possibly have been on his mind when he made his brave choice? — Veena Mumbai Black markets • Men like Manjunath will be gunned down as long as the black marketeers are not checked. Just do away with subsidised kerosene and the artificially high prices of petrol while compensating the poor by hiking the minimum wages for daily labourers. The only ones who will lose in this scheme are the politicians who own petrol pumps and thrive on absentee ownership. — Aksh Bha New Delhi Before Chappell • I have been following Indian cricket for the last 40 years and have enjoyed the game along with the politics that comes with it. I saw the rise of Gavaskar and Kapil and the rift between the West Zone and the North Zone during those years. I saw the first win in West Indies and England and how Kapil Dev and his men stopped the Great Richard and the West Indies from winning the third consecutive World Cup. I saw the rise of Saurav Ganguly from an 18 year kid who went to Australia and failed miserably, and came back to lead India for the longest period of time. He lifted the Indian team to a level where others would give them due respect. He treated the Australians and the English the way they traditionally treated us. Until Greg Chappell ousted him from the captaincy. — Jahar On e-mail One to Ganguly • Rahul Dravid and papers like yours have been ridiculed by Team India’s abject surrender to South Africa. The irony is that Ganguly alone has scored 159 runs in a first class match, that too against Maharashtra! Please desist from indulging in calumny through your columns and use your judgement. You have been steadfast in your support for Chappell who has been a failure as a coach earlier. And you have consistently opposed Ganguly who has a proven track record of performance and leadership. — Peediaj Rochester Shame! • The way the Kolkata crowd behaved during the South Africa-India cricket match is shameful. It shows that they consider only Saurav as their own player, not the Indian team. — D. Ramachandra Reddy Hyderabad
