Failed fusion

Sir — If you thought ‘tandoori kimbap’ and ‘gochujang butter chicken’ and ‘kimchi paratha’ sounded strange, then you will perhaps be stumped by the news that an Indian couple is deliberating whether to name their child ‘Kim Soo-Hyun Tripathi’, ‘Choi Seung-Hyo Tripathi’ or ‘Kang Tae-Moo Tripathi’ after Korean drama characters. While this might sound like the worst of Indo-Korean fusion, one must ask if it is any different from picking names like Riyan, Kiyan, Viaan that are all the rage these days and have no meaning. However, the latter are at least easy to pronounce. Imagine the teacher enunciating Choi Seung-Hyo Tripathi during morning roll call — the child might be marked absent owing to his educators’ unwillingness to call out his name.

Sikha Roy, Calcutta

Spurious cure

Sir — India’s leading oncologists have issued a statement urging the public not to rely on unproven remedies to cure cancer after the former cricketer, Navjot Singh Sidhu, claimed that dietary supplements such as neem leaves, lemon juice, turmeric and cinnamon helped cure his wife’s breast cancer (“Sidhu clean bowled on cancer-cure quack claim”, Nov 25). Unverified health advice shared by celebrities can mislead people from evidence-based medical treatments. Numerous studies have demonstrated that relying on alternative medicines can pose serious risks to cancer patients, often worsening their conditions. In India, where the mortality rate among cancer patients is already quite high, the risk is exacerbated by the rejection of conventional medical treatments.

Instead, raising awareness about the symptoms of breast cancer and encouraging regular check-ups are crucial. It is vital for patients to avoid self-medication or unverified home remedies promoted on social media. They should seek guidance from qualified medical professionals.

Kiran Agarwal, Calcutta

Sir — Navjot Singh Sidhu often puts his foot in his mouth. A video clip of him promoting dietary regulations to cure breast cancer is doing the rounds on social media. Sidhu’s wife is a doctor herself and a former member of the Punjab legislative assembly. Dubious statements from this duo can thus lead people to abandon scientific treatments and consume copious amounts of neem and turmeric instead.

The infamous yoga guru, Ramdev, had made similar claims while promoting Patanjali’s tonic which apparently cured Covid. His team had to abandon the ship when international agencies started enquiring about the issue.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Sir — Oncologists from the Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai have urged people not to be misled by Navjot Singh Sidhu’s claims about dietary supplements curing cancer. Such dubious claims are not novel. In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Pragya Singh Thakur, had similarly claimed that gau mutra had cured her of cancer. People must not be swayed by these unsubstantiated claims.

Jahar Saha, Calcutta

Sir — Navjot Singh Sidhu’s claims about an alternative cancer therapy are worrying. There is no medical evidence to support dietary or lifestyle changes as cancer cures. Cancer is treatable if detected early through methods like surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, or a combination of these. A good, nutritious diet is important but it cannot cure cancer.

S.S. Paul, Nadia

Patriarchal view

Sir — The stance taken by the Union finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, on patriarchy being a Leftist construct, has sparked debate (“Eyes wide shut”, Nov 23). Patriarchy prevents the socio-economic progress of women. This deep-rooted problem has always persisted in India, which has ranked 129 in the latest Global Gender Gap Index and has adopted women’s empowerment as one of its sustainable development goals. Sitharaman’s insensitive comment bears testimony to the long way India still has to go before achieving gender equality. At a time when only 13.6% of the members of the current Lok Sabha are women, branding patriarchy as “Leftist jargon” by a female cabinet minister is unacceptable.

Prasun Kumar Dutta, West Midnapore

Sir — This is not the first time that Nirmala Sitharaman has made a controversial statement. However, claiming that patriarchy is a Leftist construct is stretching things too far even for her. Like an ostrich that buries its head in the sand, the Union finance minister refuses to deal with social problems.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

Sir — Through bizarre statements like “[w]hat’s patriarchy, ya?” and that women should “go out and do things instead of complaining”, Nirmala Sitharaman has proven that patriarchy is not perpetrated just by men. Patriarchal views can be peddled by women who have been trained by patriarchy. Patriarchal structures encourage people like Sitharaman to blame women for social evils instead of aiming to make better policies to ensure equality. Name-dropping Indira Gandhi does precious little for women’s safety in the country.

Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta

Useful fund

Sir — It is heartening that a modern computer centre is being established at Presidency University with funding from an alumnus (“Ex-pupil funds rupees 60 lakh computer centre at Presi”, Nov 24 ). Current educational systems require access to such facilities. Besides being integral to academia, the centre will also allow the digitisation of the university’s library.

Tapes Chandra Lahiri, Calcutta