Sweet sweat

Sir — Culinary innovations are necessary to make bland food items interesting. However, some unorthodox culinary methods can leave a bad taste in the mouth. Take, for instance, the new trend of preparing onigiri rice balls — an iconic snack in Japan — that requires women to use their armpits to knead and mould them. Despite the red flags about hygiene, the unique cooking method has been finding quite a few takers in Japan. The rising popularity, experts suggest, could be attributed to the “sexual significance of armpits”. Could it be argued then that it is the unhygienic ways of preparing phuchkas — it is often believed that they get their yummy taste from the dripping sweat of phuchkawallas — that make this iconic Indian street food more irresistible?

Teesta Nandy, Calcutta

Against science

Sir — Ramachandra Guha deserves plaudits for holding up a mirror to society in his column, “Unscientific temper” (May 4). The erosion of scientific temper in India is best demonstrated by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, making claims in public forums about the prevalence of cosmetic surgery and reproductive genetics in ancient India. Other leaders of the ruling dispensation have followed suit, making bizarre assertions such as Rama’s arrows being equivalent to present-day missiles or the pushpak vimaan mentioned in the Ramayana being the precursor to the modern aeroplane.

Article 51A(h) of the Constitution mandates the development of scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry. The current government’s penchant for allowing mythology to triumph over science is detrimental to India’s liberal and secular ethos.

Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta

Sir — The exclusive language of science makes it inaccessible to large parts of the Indian population. Even an educated individual may face a challenge while interpreting the jargon-loaded scientific research papers. Scientists should thus take the responsibility of disseminating scientific knowledge by making it more comprehensible for the layman.

Sanjit Kumar Saha, Kalimpong

Sir — When faith dominates over logic, unscientific assertions become commonplace. Bizarre proclamations, such as cows being the only animals to exhale oxygen or peacocks being natural celibates, have been perpetrated by the saffron dispensation. The gains in science during the Congress years have been reversed by the regressive steps of the Narendra Modi regime. The meek surrender of the scientific community to the pseudo-science propagated by the Hindutva forces does not augur well for the future of science in India.

Anthony Henriques, Chennai

Caught out

Sir — The crackdown on students protesting against Israel’s war in Gaza on the campuses in the United States of America exposes the West’s hypocrisy (“US colleges in peace bid”, May 5). The US has been tacitly supporting Tel Aviv’s war, lessening the chances of a truce.

Not just the students in the US but those in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and France have also joined the campaign against Israel. While the United Nations has called on Israel to end the war, this is unlikely to deter the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government, which has vowed to not stop until Hamas has been obliterated. In the absence of any meaningful intervention from the West, India should make efforts to mediate between the warring parties.

N.R. Ramachandran, Chennai

Sir — The editorial, “Campus storm” (May 4), correctly highlights the double standards of the US regarding Israel’s war in Gaza. The West is quick to reprimand the instances of human rights violations in other countries but resorts to brutal crackdowns against peaceful protesters on its own soil. This is because the US has been funding Israel’s war efforts and is thus complicit in its war crimes.

Sanjit Ghatak, South 24 Parganas

Sir — It is discouraging that American students who have been calling for university administrations to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians have been arrested by the police. Their moral stand against the violence being inflicted on the people of Gaza must be applauded.

The ongoing student protests are reminiscent of the demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the US in 1968. Instead of stifling dissent and shielding Israel from accountability, the US government should address the grievances of the students. The US’s moral posturing as the conscience-keeper of the world must ensure that justice is served equivocally.

Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai

Sir — The current protests in US campuses hark back to the anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu in 1965. Some of the protesters then had gone to the extent of self-immolation for the cause of their mother tongue. Subsequently, as a result of the protests, the then Congress dispensation lost power in the state in the 1967 assembly polls, paving the way for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to come to the helm. The Grand Old Party has not been able to form a government in the state since then. The Joe Biden-led administration in the US should address the concerns of the protesting students or else it will be doomed like the Congress.

Tharcius S. Fernando, Chennai

Different taste

Sir — It is unfortunate that the prolonged heat spell and the lack of rainfall in West Bengal have led to mangoes shrinking in size and losing their lusciousness (“Hot-dry spell casts cloud on mango yield”, May 3). This is bad news for both mango growers and mango lovers. One hopes that rainfall brings forth a better yield.

Sourish Misra, Calcutta