Sir — The editorial, “Bristled beauties” (April 10), was amusing and informative. It reminded me of something that I once saw on a visit to the United States of America. At a mall in Detroit, Michigan, I stumbled upon a wax for mustaches and beards. Lo and behold, the brand was named after Veerappan, one of the most notorious poachers of south India. There he was, one of India’s most infamous brigands, in all his hirsute glory on the lid of the company Lush Cosmetics’ round jar of Moustache Wax. Our ‘bristled beauties’ may need a similar product to stay in style.

H.N. Ramakrishna,
Bangalore

Big bully

Sir — It is hard to believe that the United States of America is not sending India a message by carrying out naval exercises in Indian waters close to the Lakshadweep Islands. More so, since the US has confirmed that such exercises will continue. It is clear that America has violated international conventions.

In view of this, India definitely needs to rethink its ties with the US. We may be on the friendliest of terms with America, but that is in the interests of both countries and not just India. This is one reason why India needs to keep its relations with Russia on an even keel. That is one way of restricting America’s bullying tendencies. One cannot help but recall the Soviet Union’s help during the Bangladesh war when the US tried to intimidate India by sending Task Force 74 of the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal. America needs to understand that our relationship with it should be on a par. New Delhi needs to send out an appropriate message.

Melville X. D’Souza,
Mumbai

Challenge ahead

Sir — April 11 to 14 has been declared as ‘Vaccine Utsav’. This is indeed a great step to encourage people to get vaccinated. But the question is, are the authorities really ready to vaccinate people? With reports of three women being inoculated with the rabies vaccine instead of the one for coronavirus, the seriousness and the efficiency of the authorities are under question. State governments are also complaining of not having enough doses of the life saving shot. We cannot expect two companies to produce all the vaccines needed to inoculate the world’s second largest population and cater to the demand to send vaccines to other countries as well. The second wave of the virus has hit India hard. Vaccination is the only way out.

Kavya Shah,
Ujjain

Ugly side

Sir — It is not surprising that the former Bollywood starlet and Hindutva hardliner, Payal Rohatgi, made some outrageous observations about Raja Rammohan Roy, the man who ushered in the Bengal Renaissance. Rohatgi said: “No he was a chamcha to Britishers who used him to defame the Sati tradition. Sati tradition was not compulsory but was introduced to prevent the prostitution of Hindu wives at the hands of Mughal invaders. It was the woman’s choice. #FeministsofIndia Sati was not regressive…” Indeed we should thank Rohatgi for reminding us of the regressive, misogynist mindset of the powers that are trying to conquer Bengal — the land of enlightened humanitarians like Roy.

If this is the mindset of Hindutvavadis, it is no wonder that the incidents in Unnao, Hathras and Budaun are signatures of a state helmed by the Bharatiya Janata Party. It also makes sense then that BJP leaders marched on the streets of Jammu with the tricolour in hand to defend the accused in the spine-chilling Kathua gangrape and murder case and anti-Romeo squads are being promised by Yogi Adityanath to save the women of Bengal.

One hopes the women of Bengal would rise to the occasion and vote wisely by resisting the forces that wish to erase Bengal’s unique inclusive history.

Kajal Chatterjee,
Calcutta

Sir — Each gaffe made by the BJP is an indication to the people of Bengal to use their precious vote well.

Sohini Sarkar,
Calcutta