Remembering Tagore

8226; The recent theft of the Nobel medallion and other artifacts, although unfortunate, has a silver lining ...

8226; The recent theft of the Nobel medallion and other artifacts, although unfortunate, has a silver lining 8216;Let the country awake8217;, IE, March 27. Tagore got his Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 and was the first Asian to so recognised. Generations of people were inspired by his poetry, stories and teachings. Today hardly anyone remembers him. At least this theft prompts us to remember the great patriot. One hopes the medallion and paintings are recovered. But even if they are not, if this incident can provoke more of us to read his work, at least some benefit would have emerged from this great loss!

8212; V.S. Venkatavaradan Salem

CEC8217;s test

8226; The impartiality of the Election Commission is the anchor of Indian democracy. The Commission should not only be impartial but also seen to be impartial. The CEC has the status equivalent to a judge of the Supreme Court. Therefore, it is necessary that the Constitution be amended to ensure that the CECs and ECs do not join party politics nor hold any office under the government after retirement so as to ensure the credibility of the august institution.

8212; Sheila Ghatate New Delhi

Great piece

8226; J.S.Bandukwala8217;s article, 8216;A fast ball into the future8217; IE, March 27 was a very thought provoking article and really tells a lot about the schisms in human relationships. In my opinion naming public institutions in the name of dignitaries is not a very good idea. In Bihar, there was one university, called Mithila University, which had its name changed several times: When there was a Congress government, Lalit Narayan Mishra8217;s name was given to it, later 8212; with the change of government 8212; the name also changed a few times. But in the articular case he cited, dropping the name of renowned musician is not correct and cannot be condoned.

8212; Prakash Lal On e-mail

8226; Only sensible voices like that of Dr Bandukwala, whom I personally admire, can make society see reason. If Hindu zealots can attack his home, then truly they can never appreciate Irfan Pathan8217;s contribution.

8212; Awadesh Vashist On e-mail

8226; What is this person trying to tell us? Is he saying Muslims in India have no future? What is he complaining about? Dilip Kumar, Shahrukh Khan and President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, none of them have suffered like their Pakistani counterparts. People like him are only triggering more anti-Muslim feeling in Hindu fanatics.

8212; Anand On e-mail

Only noise

8226; Empty vessels makes much noise. So is the case with Congress and SP . One believes in appeasement of the minority and the other believes in divide and rule 8212; and they still call themselves secular parties. Both need each other and this threat of withdrawing support is a gimmick and nobody will take it seriously.

8212; Varinder Sarin On e-mail

Exploiting the mood

8226; Prime Minister Vajpayee is trying to exploit the success of Indian cricket for the BJP, in the same way as the most evil man in the world, Hitler, tried to exploit the Olympic games. Political manipulation of any sport by the BJP or any other political party should never be tolerated.

8212; Paramjit Bahia On e-mail