Life and lemons
Sir — Many people will be familiar with the old adage, ‘If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ But life did not give us lemons — humans did. The lemon is not a naturally occurring fruit, but a cross between a sour orange and a citron. And a sour orange is itself a cross between a pomelo and a mandarin orange. While life did not give us lemons, humans certainly soured the pot for the natural world. Owing to years of selective breeding — the lemon is an example — citrus fruits around the world now face the risk of being decimated by Huanglongbing, a bacterial infection. Lemons and lemonade might thus be in short supply in the future.
Reshmi Chakraborty,
Calcutta
Bad faith
Sir — Since September last year, when the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, first alleged that the Indian government was involved in the killing of the Khalistani activist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, bilateral ties between the two nations have been on a downward spiral. The Indian government has pointed out that Ottawa has provided no evidence to substantiate its claims and that the Canadian government has consistently turned a blind eye to anti-India, separatist activities on its soil. Now by blacking out the press conference of the Indian external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, the Trudeau government has laid bare its bad faith on the matter. Its invocation of high-minded principles of the freedom of speech and expression to defend its problematic actions and stances thus far will cut little ice anymore.
Tirthankar Ghose,
Calcutta
Sir — It was not just S. Jaishankar who was censored by Canada but also Penny Wong who was censored. Australia and Canada, along with the United States of America, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement, arguably one of the closest-knit international groupings. It is a testament to the Justin Trudeau government’s insecurity that it would black out a news outlet of a close ally just to score points against India. All this without a shred of evidence to substantiate its claims of wrongdoings.
P.K. Sharma,
Barnala, Punjab
Sir — The Justin Trudeau government’s intransigence on the Hardeep Singh Nijjar issue is unfortunate. India and Canada, despite the bumps in their relationship, have much to gain from closer ties. The Indian diaspora has contributed significantly to the country and Canada benefits from doing business with India. Moves like cancelling fast-track visas for students, or the lack of Indian consular outreach in Canada, adversely affect ordinary, law-abiding citizens. It is time for the Canadian government to listen to reason, instead of seeking to block out inconvenient truths.
Mihir Kanungo,
Calcutta
Mysterious morsel
Sir — The ‘Case of the Vanishing Samosas’ reportedly threw the Himachal Pradesh authorities into a tizzy. Recently, when the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, went to the headquarters of the Crime Investigation Department to inaugurate a cyber wing, samosas and cake were ordered for him. Through a curious chain of events, they ended up being served to his security staff instead of him. Five police personnel have been served with show-cause notices in this regard. What could have been a matter of great mirth has been turned into an allegedly ‘anti-government’ act. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Jahar Saha,
Calcutta
Sir — It beggars belief that an entire state is in an uproar because the chief minister was not served a plate of samosas, which went to his security staff instead. What is even more bizarre is that following a recent illness Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has been barred from indulging in deep-fried foods: the samosas not reaching him was thus a blessing in disguise. With the state government now distancing itself from the affair, it must be hoped that the CID will finally close the case and pursue actual criminals.
Arun Gupta,
Calcutta
Sir — Far from a crime being committed, one was actually averted — the crime of wasting perfectly good samosas. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu might not have been able to consume samosas given his recent illness and they would have been wasted. Instead they were eaten by hard-working personnel who protect his life — clearly in more ways than one.
Vijay Singh Adhikari,
Nainital
Sir — In the long list of crimes involving the samosa — samosa manchurian or chocolate samosa pav, for instance — serving samosas to security personnel instead of the chief minister does not even make it to the top 10.
Yashodhara Sen,
Calcutta
Folk voice
Sir — The celebrated folk singer, Sharda Sinha, died on November 5, a day before Chhath Puja, with which her music is synonymous. Even as music in Bihar took a bawdy turn, Sinha propped up the region’s folk music on the national stage.
Prateek Sinha,
Patna
