Freshness lock

Sir — In the age of hi-tech refrigerators and microwaves, preparing meals in bulk and reheating them as and when needed is a great way to save time in the kitchen and can also help to reduce food waste. More important, this can help women spend more time outside the kitchen. Yet, there is a popular belief that food can be reheated a maximum of one time before it becomes unsafe to eat. If food has been hygienically prepared, cooled quickly after cooking (or reheating) and stored cold, reheating a dish more than once should not increase the risk of illness. While it cannot be argued that there is no substitute for a freshly-cooked meal, as long as women are expected to balance the demands of both their work and home lives, bulk cooking may be a godsend.

Rukmini De, Calcutta

Stellar growth

Sir — The United Kingdom has slipped one place below India to become the sixth-largest economy in the world. This will deliver a further blow to the new Conservative government in London as it grapples with an already brutal economic shock.

In contrast, government forecasts show that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7% or more this financial year. Even the International Monetary Fund predicts that India’s economic strength will be just behind the United States of America, China, Japan and Germany. This is good news for New Delhi and indicates that its policies are working.

N. Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

Sir — India has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. The report came two days after the Indian government published data showing that the Indian economy grew at 13.5% year-on-year. While this number was slightly lower than what the Reserve Bank of India had forecast, the growth rate was still the highest among the developing countries.

Sadiksha Agrawal, Ujjain

Free at last

Sir — Teesta Setalvad has been granted interim bail by the Supreme court giving the activist some much-needed relief. Setalvad has been accused of conspiracy and forging material to malign the Gujarat government with regard to the 2002 riots. While opposing her bail, the solicitor-general, Tushar Mehta, described Setalvad as an intelligent person. Is intelligence a crime in India?

Arun Gupta, Calcutta

Sir — None of the arguments made by the solicitor-general, Tushar Mehta, against granting bail to Teesta Setalvad held water. The activist was accused of fabricating documents to malign the Gujarat government. Yet, none of these documents has been produced in court. This confirms the suspicion that the charges against Setalvad are trumped up. Any vocal critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to be imprisoned under false accusations — take, for instance, those charged in the Elgar Parishad case. The Supreme Court should also take up the cause of these political prisoners. Jang

Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Pay heed

Sir — Anganwadi workers across the country have been protesting for several years for higher and regular wages, paid leave, social security and recognition as government employees. This week, anganwadi workers in Jammu and Kashmir held demonstrations with similar demands. Their workload has progressively increased.

During the pandemic, they were forced to work without leaves and provide doorstep services — delivering food, medicines and other supplies — without adequate protection. Yet, when they themselves fell ill, their wages were deducted for the period that they were unable to work. Their demands are nominal and should be met at the earliest. Anganwadi workers are the backbone of India’s healthcare infrastructure. The government must look into their demands at once.

Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai

Tough job

Sir — It is heartening that the former footballer and Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Kalyan Chaubey, has been elected as the president of the All India Football Federation (“Chaubey in hot seat of high hopes”, Sept 3). Chaubey has his work cut out for him. Some of the challenges being faced by football in India are lack of local penetration in spite of the sport’s popularity and excessive dependence on foreign footballers. The newly-elected president should focus on restructuring the AIFF and bringing back football’s lost glory.

Jayanta Datta, Hooghly

Imagined battles

Sir — After Rama, it is the turn of the jovial and mischievous Ganesha to be recruited in the war of Hindutva politics. Everyone knows that there is no reverence for Ganesha behind the insistence on holding the Ganeshotsav on the Idgah grounds. Just as it was not reverence for Rama that motivated the construction of a Ram temple on the site of the Babri Masjid. This is an attempt to prove that it is the writ of Hindutva supporters that runs in this country. They can do whatever they want at the time of their choosing and at the place they deem fit. The administration and the police will not stop them and, in fact, will then justify their actions.

Asha Dhingra, Ludhiana

Powerful myth

Sir — The premiere of House of the Dragon will undoubtedly bring more attention to the ferocious eponymous beast. Dragons fascinate people across the world with their legendary power. Long before fiction popularised them, religions and cultures across the globe spun dragon lores. This is because the beauty, terror and power of the dragon evoke mystery and suggest that not all phenomena are easily explained or understood.

Subroto Jalui, Howrah