Safe distance
Sir — Being constantly in the company of someone can be tiresome. Last year, Suellen Carey from Brazil had tied the knot with herself. But within a year, she seemed to have grown tired of herself and has now filed for divorce. Carey admitted that while her wedding was an expression of self-love, such a marriage was not sustainable as she could not meet her high expectations of herself. Most marriage counsellors would advise couples going through an unhappy phase to spend time apart to rejuvenate their relationships. Maybe Carey should have also distanced herself from her low self-esteem to make it work.
Snigdha Mondal, Calcutta
Memorable duel
Sir — The first presidential debate between the president of the United States of America and the then-nominee of the Democratic Party, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump, the Republican candidate and former president, highlighted Biden’s frailty that led him to quit the presidential race. But the second debate between Trump and the vice-president and new Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, was more substantial (“A face-off with Trump’s ego”, Sept 12). The two candidates sparred over the state of the economy, abortion, immigration, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and other issues. Harris succeeded in presenting herself as the best choice for American voters.
S.S. Paul, Nadia
Sir — Kamala Harris’s former career as a prosecutor shaped the argumentation skills that she used to counter Donald Trump’s charges at the presidential debate (“Known script”, Sept 13). Harris had won the 2020 vice-presidential debate against Mike Pence. She certainly seemed to have prevailed over Donald Trump in their first presidential debate. During the debate, Harris maintained a calm but forceful demeanour. She baited Trump repeatedly, leading him to make incorrect statements on Obamacare, inflation and immigrants — Harris countered these by calling out his “lies”. It is however uncertain how much Harris’s strong performance has affected the voters. After all, the former Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, had also won the debates against Trump in 2016 but lost in the final battle.
Shovanlal Chakraborty, Calcutta
Sir — The debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump revived people’s interest in presidential debates that was lost after the insipid face-off between Trump and Joe Biden. Both Harris and Trump presented their views coherently. But the debate has failed to tilt the scale in either candidate’s favour.
D.V.G. Sankara Rao, Andhra Pradesh
Sir — During the presidential debate, Kamala Harris baited Donald Trump to put him on the defensive. Trump made bizarre claims about Haitian immigrants eating their neighbours’ pets. On the other hand, Harris put forward her views succinctly. It is still too early to say whether Harris has won over the undecided voters with her performance.
G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
Biggest gainer
Sir — In “Work in progress” (Sept 12), Swapan Dasgupta argued that if the scope of the Justice for Abhaya campaign was widened to protest against the misrule of the Trinamool Congress, then its “principal beneficiary” would be the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is obvious that the saffron party stands to gain the most from the widespread public anger over the rape and murder of a woman doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. The chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, has been concentrating on lambasting the BJP for allegedly orchestrating the protests instead of introspecting on her administration’s failure. The BJP has been taking cautious steps to avoid hijacking the movement of the protesting doctors.
T. Ramadas, Visakhapatnam
