• This refers to Shekhar Gupta’s ‘The fright and the wrong’ . It should be pointed out that another message has emerged from the global financial crisis: the acceptance of capitalism as the accepted financial and social system for the world. Throughout the crisis, while voices have been raised about regulating capitalism and ensuring the necessary checks and balances, the very question of exploring an alternate system was all but abandoned. However, it is worth pointing out that the strain of capitalism practiced for the better part of this decade was not genuine capitalism, it was pure greed. The essence of capitalism lies in minimum government and maximum governance, something the West clearly forgot.— Karan ThakurManchesterUncle Sam will last• Shekhar Gupta’s ‘United states of the world’ was incisive. It is undeniable that the world economy is US-centred and will remain so. Post WWII, capitalist America has increasingly lived today’s dreams with tomorrow’s money. Its pioneering, though at times reckless, spirit of the Gold Rush days endures even today — be it Wall Street or Iraq. There will be little change in its ethos and approach, barring minor course corrections made under compulsion. The rules of the global economy have been consolidated by the US and all nations will have to adapt themselves to those as long as the US profits from its big science and military might.— R. Narayanan GhaziabadCommon tongue • INDER Malhotra’s M‘Struggling for words’ takes us back to when state boundaries were re-drawn on linguistic lines. Some feel that the formation of linguistic states was a blunder whereby outsiders are not allowed to work unless they learnt the local language. Hindi-speakers feel often that it is their prerogative to speak their mother tongue in every part of India. Moreover, non-Hindi-speaking outsiders to the same state also use Hindi with them, as do the locals. Thus the “language of the state” remains so only on paper. Is it not time to declare English the sole link language? We are fortunate that we have a language that is not our known, and yet unites us all without feelings of bias and hatred.— A.K. Dasgupta Kolkata Checkmate• Every Indian is proud of Vishwanathan Anand, who created history at Bonn by retaining the World Chess Championship against Vladimir Kramnik. In a career spanning over two decades, he has ended the dominance of the Ks of Russia. Unmatched consistency, absolute mastery and total involvement have been the hallmark of Anand. He has done India proud by winning world titles in three different formats of the game. He has single-handedly brought back the glory that should truly belong to India, the birthplace of chess. — Suman KukalChandigarh
