Novel approach

Sir — While students of literature are familiar with references to pop culture in classrooms, it is rare for engineers to have to engage with it from an academic point of view. However, a question paper from an exam conducted by IIT Varanasi recently featured a mathematical problem based on the fight scene from the film, Avengers: Endgame. This is a novel approach. Ditching age-old math puzzles — K.C. Nag’s notorious problem of a monkey climbing a well-oiled pole, for instance — for popular and more relevant references will surely pique students’ interest in the subject.

Deeptanil Sanyal, Calcutta

Name game

Sir — Port Blair is the latest victim of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s attempts to erase history by renaming places. The Union home minister, Amit Shah, announced that the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be rechristened Sri Vijaya Puram to cleanse the island of its colonial legacy. This has, however, resulted in widespread local dissatisfaction. The name, Port Blair, has deep connections to the freedom struggle. In its effort to delete colonial history, the government is obliviating the contribution of thousands who fought for the country’s freedom and the local communities’ sense of identity. While colonial trauma must be recognised, preserving its history is equally important.

Dhruv Roy, Port Blair

Sir — The BJP seems to be on a renaming spree even in its third term. Renaming places at will cannot wash away India’s history under the rule of the Mughals and the British. Port Blair has allegedly been renamed to rid the island of its colonial legacy. Yet, the netas and the political parties of our country continue to bear a colonial mindset — the laal batti culture of the VIPs is an example of this. Just like their colonial masters, Indian politicians wield their power to gain quick access to public and private institutions. Instead of renaming places, which is a political gimmick, the Centre should abolish colonial practices like the VIP quota to foster equality among all Indians.

Avinash Godboley, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh

Clear bias

Sir — The Centre has been putting unnecessary stress on states to adopt Hindi as an official language. The recent advice by the Union home minister, Amit Shah, to prioritise one’s mother tongue over Hindi as there is no competition between the two thus seems hypocritical (“Shah: Focus on mother tongues”, Sept 15). The saffron party has always been vocal in urging people to speak in Hindi. Hindi is the reason why the Centre often bestows Bollywood actors with awards and overlooks artists from other film industries. While there is nothing wrong with speaking in Hindi, other languages should be promoted too.

Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta

Sir — Amit Shah has claimed that all the documents and files he receives at the ministries of home and cooperation are in Hindi. This is disheartening. Hindi and English are both India’s official languages and such a statement by Shah creates divisiveness. Article 343(1) states that Hindi in Devnagri script is an official language for communication in India and Article 343(2) notes English as an alternative official language. Promoting a regional language should not come at the cost of doing away with English as an official language.

Dimple Wadhawan, Kanpur

Sir — During the proceedings of a case at the Allahabad High Court, the judge remarked that while the plea can be admitted in official state languages like Hindi, the subsequent proceedings will be in English. Article 348 of the Indian Constitution mandates the use of English during official proceedings in the Supreme Court and in high courts. The Hindi-speaking belt in North India and the Bharatiya Janata Party have been pushing Hindi onto the rest of the country. While regional tongues are important, the knowledge of English is useful in uniting the country.

T. Ramadas, Visakhapatnam

Call for help

Sir — The Emergency Response Support System initiative by the ministry of home affairs will make emergency services more accessible. A single helpline number, which will be launched as the ‘One India One Emergency Number 112’, has been selected for the entire country. Callers can connect to the nearby emergency response teams by using this number. This will save them the confusion created by several helpline numbers provided by different emergency services and will also be useful for people who are new to a state and cannot speak a local language. The ERSS will be available on phones even without any cellular data.

This is a welcome step that is on a par with the advanced emergency services in developed nations like the United States of America. However, the government must raise nationwide awareness regarding this service while stating the legal consequences of misusing this facility by, say, making prank calls to this number.

Rit Prasad Dhar, Calcutta