Horror show
Sir — Psychological thrillers are the world’s leading choice for book and movie adaptations, according to a study. But even benign narratives are being distorted to meet the insatiable appetite for thrillers and horror stories. For instance, audio dramas available on radio and YouTube have started producing adaptations of Sukumar Ray’s Abol-tabol by distorting Ray’s characters and weaving gory tales around them. Instead of such a farcical tribute, perhaps a more nuanced reading of Ray, whose works reflected socio-political realities, would benefit listeners given the current times.
Jharna Saha, Haldia
Glorious tally
Sir — In its best-ever show at the Asian Games, India has won more than 100 medals in the 19th Asiad at Hangzhou, China. This will infuse Indian sports with renewed vigour and confidence. Breaking its previous record of 70 medals at the Asian Games in 2018, Indian players, especially its sportswomen, have made the nation proud.
N. Mateeni, Mumbai
Sir — With splendid performances in archery, wrestling and kabaddi, Indian players at the Asian Games have brought home an unprecedented number of medals. It is exciting to watch the sportspersons making their mark.
Kirti Wadhawan, Kanpur
Sir — The Asian Games are more than just a sporting event. It is proof of the camaraderie among Asian countries that are home to hundreds of ethnicities and languages. Historically, trade among these countries has been smooth and has played an important role in ensuring social unity. It would be wise to keep utilising shared platforms like the Asian Games to cement geopolitical ties.
Arka Goswami, Durgapur
Voicing truths
Sir — The Nobel Peace Prize for this year has been awarded to the jailed Iranian women’s rights activist, Narges Mohammadi, for her fight against the oppression of women in that country and for promoting human rights (“Peace Nobel for jailed Iranian activist”, Oct 7). Iran has arrested Mohammadi on 13 occasions, convicting her five times, and sentencing her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes. She also jointly received the Olof Palme Prize 2023 and the Unesco/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
Last December, she wrote a shocking letter revealing the condition of women in the notorious Evin prison. Iran has, unsurprisingly, condemned the prize as “biased [and] political”.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad
City of rats
Sir — Rats are a menace in several Indian cities (“Rats run riot under the city”, Oct 6). Pest control authorities have failed to bring their population under control in spite of using traps and poison because rats quickly develop immunity to certain toxins. Some of the bigger species can grow up to the size of a cat. Poor waste management, unsanitary living conditions and crumbling urban infrastructure provide rats with breeding grounds. Humans might have driven many animals to extinction, but our filthy habits make us vulnerable to pests. We need to change our habits to tackle the problem of rats.
H.N. Ramakrishna, Bengaluru
Inclusive rhymes
Sir — It is heartening that Hullor, the Bengali quarterly children’s magazine published by the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, introduced four pages containing poems in Braille in its September issue (“Poems in Braille in kids’ magazine”, Oct 6). The effort of the magazine to include young readers with special needs is laudable.
Sourish Misra, Calcutta