Letters to the editor

P.T. Usha and Milkha Singh were aberrations. You can be certain that India will never ‘dirty’ the Olympic podia in the next 50 years, at least with a gold in the running slot.

It was not as if India did not have running skills. When a deadly succession battle was raging soon after the death of Jehangir, a great runner by the name of Banarasi was chosen by Asaf Khan, the father-in-law of Shah Jahan, to run to the Deccan from Agra and convey the message that he must hurry towards Agra. Banarasi covered the distance in record time. Thanks to him, Shah Jahan became emperor. It was indeed a remarkable feat, similar to the feat by the runner from Ethiopia — and he didn’t need drugs to do that (‘Denial, the anabolic way’, IE, October 12). India needs runners like Banarasi now, if we are to cover ourselves with glory internationally in true sports like athletics, not cricket.

— A. Prasad Ahmedabad

Montane link

• I read, with keen interest, the article by D. Suba Chandran ‘Get on the Kailash Masarovar route’. Had the writer been born in Ladakh, his name would have been, perhaps, spelt as ‘Shubh Chandra’. You will recall that Lord Buddha, whom every Hindu in our country considers as one of dashavataara of Lord Vishnu, was born on a full moon day.

India is a fascinating study in both nature’s and culture’s infinite diversity. But, there is one core unity amidst this baffling diversity: our temples, masjids, Buddhist stupas and our gurdwaras: all of which make India truly unique. I have not had a chance to visit Ladakh. Suba Chandran deserves our deep gratitude for espousing the cause of the Ladakhi population. He has described them as “backward” and pleaded for building local infrastructure. What he has ignored, unwittingly, is Ladakh’s immense richness in its Buddhist civilisation and culture.

— Parimal Y. Mehta

Vadodara

Family luck

• The JD(S) in Karnataka is a particularly lucky party. Years ago its supremo, H.D. Deve Gowda, became prime minister although he had a paltry number of MPs under him and although he had not even been considered a dark horse since nobody in the country had heard about him. In much the same way, his son enjoyed power for 20 months in the state even though he happened to be too young and inexperienced in politics. It seems that family-controlled parties are a favourite of both the BJP and the Congress, who have both patronised the JD(S) by forming governments with it in Karnataka. Given this run of luck, it is no wonder the Gowda family keeps visiting temples and astrologers. They want their luck to go a long way.

— V.S. Ganeshan Bangalore

Accidentally Gandhi

• While appreciating Hitesh Parmar’s knowledge of historical dates I cannot but lament his pathetic attempt to compare Rahul Gandhi with Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He forgets that Gandhi and Bose were elected and accepted unanimously by the Indian masses for their work and sacrifice while Rahul Gandhi has simply inherited the position by the accident of birth.

— Kishore Karnad

Sunnyvale, CA