LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Undue Importance to Muthalik and Dhavlikar Frankly, I do not know why we attach so much importance to the ranting of people like Pramod Muthalik and Sudhin Dhavlikar. Both crave for publicity and we are unfortunately giving it to them. Muthalik surely has a right to set base in Goa but if he tries his stunts here, he will be shown his place. And let us not even for a moment think that our Chief Minister Parrikar is against Muthalik and credit him with having obstructed his entry into BJP. He did so solely not to lose secular votes in Goa. We have not forgotten Parrikar’s silence when Mutahlik had earlier said he had invited the CM to inaugurate his office. Dhavilikar’s closeness and links to extremists organisations are well known and his past preposterous utterances even better. Despite having a majority of his own, Parrikar rewarded him with PWD and Transport portfolios – both milking cows – despite his past. Dhavlikar is more concerned about pubs and bikinis than lives that are being lost on the roads due to criminal negligence of PWD. I drew personally his attention to trenches and pits being dug by Water and Sewage Department and which are left uncovered or badly filled for months. These and unpainted speedbreakers have been and continue to be the cause of several deaths, which our ever efficient Police call “self – accidents”. Besides, he belongs to a party that shamelessly retains its old name, after having been humiliated in its attempts to turn Goa into a district of Maharashtra. Such people are best ignored. He now denies having said what thousands had clearly heard about pubs and bikinis. Jose Maria Miranda, Panaji Sachin-Sharapova Row, Much Ado About Nothing What happened at Wimbledon last week at a press meet during the tennis match between the two masters Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, wherein several former celebrities had come to watch the contest, including Sachin Tendulkar from India, Andrew Strauss and David Beckham from England among others is worth pondering. A reporter innocuously asked the Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova whether she knew who Sachin Tendulkar was. She replied in the negative. That was sufficient for the Sachin supporters in India to let the hell loose. In no time 50,000 comments were posted on her Facebook page some of which were abusive. That is exactly what happens when people behave in a reckless manner without sparing even a few moments to analyse the situation. First and foremost cricket is a sport almost unknown in Russia, unlike football which is played, watched and enjoyed the world over. Let us recollect that there are barely a handful of countries playing cricket and the bare fingers of the two hands would be sufficient enough to count them. So it is no wonder that the Russian tennis star was totally unaware of Sachin. Sachin Tendulkar has made the Indian cricket proud through his immaculate contribution to the game and his stream of records defines what a great cricketer he is. But that is for a person who knows cricket and keeps track of the achievement of the cricketers. It is ridiculous on the part of the wounded Sachin fans to rebuke Sharapova for no fault of hers. In fact this episode should be an eye-opener for us to understand how little known is the game of cricket and accordingly not be unduly boastful of our limited achievement in world sports. MICHAEL VAZ, Merces Following Traffic Rules we Indians are the most unruly when it comes to following any of the set rules and directives. We nurture a strong fondness for not only flouting rules or act in contravention of the laws prescribed, but also take an absolute pride in doing so with an impudence that is startling, to say the least. Traffic infringement is a favourite pastime that we regularly indulge in! Authorities posted along the way to check any defiance in traffic rules remain mere spectators as violators adventurously dodge them, sometimes with the help of other motorists who blink their lights to ‘warn’ them of the ‘disaster’ ahead. Double-parking in public places, disinclination to park and walk a few meters to one’s destination and a host of other causes are sufficient reasons for our cities to perennially wear a disorganized look. But for a moment, let us move away from the cacophony of the traffic melee and fix our mind on the most simplest of forms that describes an administration’s efforts at regulating order within its jurisdiction! I am referring to the sign boards put by the authorities at various places cautioning or advising the public about the manner of conduct at that point. Sign-boards along the roads help us navigate on the thoroughfares and prevent accidents and are designed to create order on the roadways. Likewise, the purpose of a ‘No Entry’ sign for instance is to regulate traffic without creating bottlenecks on that stretch of road. Yet if one were to very diligently follow the various traffic sign-boards put up one is sure to land up in the hospital with broken bones. How many times for that matter have we seen cars parked in the areas allotted for two-wheelers? Do the people not honk their horns a bit more loudly as they approach the ‘No Horn’ zone? The ‘No Parking’ boards are paid scant respect by motorists! ‘No Dumping’ signs installed at various points by municipal and Village Panchayat authorities to discourage discarding of garbage only invite the opposite reaction. If the government doesn’t have the will to enforce these directives, why squander public money over such wasteful exercises? PACHU MENON, MARGAO navhindtimes.in/letters-editor-2/
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 18:14:42 +0000
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