Imagined worlds

Sir — A Bengali daily soap showed the female lead — allegedly a country bumpkin — worshipping Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with garland and incense, mistaking the painting for that of a goddess. This caused much mirth on social media. But this is not half as funny as the time when a doctor was shown using bathroom scrubbers as defibrillators on a character in cardiac arrest. While such scenes are indeed hilarious, what needs to be appreciated is the ingenuity of a cash-strapped industry trying to make the best of what it has. As far as the audience is concerned, willing suspension of disbelief has never been an issue in India.

Rima Roy,
Calcutta

Unfair parallel

Sir — The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has denied bail to a rape-accused who was in a live-in relationship with the victim. This is a heartening decision. A relationship is not an excuse to violate a woman’s body. However, the problematic bit of the judgment lies in the judge’s other observations. He said live-in relationships “promote promiscuity and lascivious behaviour”, which lead to sex crimes; a live-in status is a “trap”. This kind of moralizing is not expected of the judiciary, which is supposed to impart justice based on laws and not personal beliefs.

In fact, the Allahabad High Court once made exactly this distinction, saying, “In our opinion, a man and a woman, even without getting married, can live together if they wish to. This may be regarded as immoral by society, but it is not illegal. There is a difference between law and morality.” Law has no space for societal ideas of morality.

Yashodhara Sen,
Calcutta

Sir — In 2015, the Supreme Court had ruled that an unmarried couple living together for a long time will be considered legally married. This was a landmark verdict, aimed at supporting women and children who were abandoned by their partners or parents after years of living together. But there is a problem still. As long as live-in relationships need to be elevated to the level of marriage in order to receive legal sanction, they will be considered less than matrimonial ties. The need of the hour is to recognize live-in relationships as legal in their own right. Perhaps then judges in lower courts will stop making disappointing comments about live-in relations promoting promiscuity, as was done in Madhya Pradesh.

Shreya Basu,
Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh


Mixed message

Sir — The India Meteorological Department recently predicted a ‘normal’ southwest monsoon for this year, adding that it did not expect the El Nino effect to play spoilsport. This is reassuring news, especially at a time when almost all of April has passed without a hint of a thunderstorm in most parts of West Bengal.

However, there is a dampener. The IMD also revised the definition of what constitutes average rainfall. The long period average rainfall that serves as the monsoon benchmark was lowered to 87 centimetres. This is the second revision since 2018. While each revision has been minuscule, the trend is alarming. In the long-term, it will have an impact on an agricultural nation like India.

Kaushik Palodhi,
Calcutta


Speak with care

Sir — Elon Musk — the maverick tycoon is the world’s richest person — recently made a hostile bid for Twitter, claiming that his aim was “to help freedom in the world”. But Musk’s absolutist stand on free speech does not take into account fake news and views expressed on social media platforms, some of which can translate into violence against persons or groups, and even compromise electoral integrity and other fundamental institutions of democracy.

Musk is right in saying that ‘free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy’. Democracy thrives where dissent does. But freedom of expression cannot be taken to mean fake news, dangerous misinformation and hate speech having a free rein.

Jahar Saha,
Calcutta


Warning bell

Sir — The number of Covid-19 infections in the country has been going up steadily in Delhi and Maharashtra, considered bellwether states as far as the pandemic is concerned. Is this an indication of a fourth wave? It will depend on the level of immunity in the population, both on account of recovery from a natural infection and also on rapidly increasing vaccinations.

Jharna Sanyal,
Calcutta


Parting shot

Sir — Sketchy advertisements, like those for miracle weight-loss pills and suspicious-looking software, sometimes appear on legitimate and well-regarded websites. Most websites do not actually decide who gets to show ads to their viewers. Instead, most sites outsource this task to advertising tech companies that figure out which ad is shown to a particular person. Malicious advertisers take advantage of this system and use online ads to spread scams or malware to millions of people.

Shivam Agrawal,
New Delhi