Warped ideas

Sir — Indian Matchmaking, a Netflix show that follows the efforts of a high-society matchmaker as she tries to arrange marriages for the rich, has been renewed for a second season. Even in real life, such matchmaking can be a dehumanising process, reducing people to a set of ‘virtues’ and ‘vices’. The show makes this process seem uglier for the sake of TRPs, reinforcing societal stereotypes and biases. What is worse, participants — especially women — are often encouraged by the matchmaker to make ‘adjustments’ as these are crucial to any marriage. Netflix should stop airing such regressive content.

Kunal Paul, Bangalore

Loose talk

Sir — The report, “India snubs Dutch diplomat” (May 7), was interesting. India has abstained from a number of votes on the Ukraine conflict at various fora but repeatedly called for the cessation of all hostilities. Karel van Oosterom, the Dutch ambassador to the United Kingdom, tweeted that India should not have abstained from voting in the United Nations General Assembly, directing India to respect the UN Charter. In response, T.S. Tirumurti, India’s permanent representative to the UN, the former diplomat, Syed Akbaruddin, and the former foreign secretary, Kanwal Sibal, taught van Oosterom a lesson in diplomacy with their tweets. Van Oosterom should not have disrespected the decision of a sovereign country.

Ashok Kumar Ghosh, Calcutta

Just reward

Sir — Four Indian photojournalists — Danish Siddiqui, Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo and Amit Dave — have made the country proud by winning the prestigious Pulitzer Prize (“Covid toll Pulitzer for Danish and 3 mates”, May 11). Siddiqui was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan last year. They have been recognised for their exceptional work during the pandemic. When India was in the grip of the terrifying second wave of Covid-19, the government had glorified its management of the pandemic. The photographs taken by these journalists revealed the bitter reality on the ground. When the ‘godi media’ failed the people, these individuals did their duty. Their achievements should be celebrated.

Sandeep Rawat, Chandigarh

It was heartening to learn that the brave Reuters photojournalist from India, Danish Siddiqui, was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. This international recognition for him and three other photojournalists from India has come at a time when the media are under the scanner for acting as mouthpieces of the government.

Janga Bahadur Sunuwar, Jalpaiguri

Shameful bias

Sir — It is shameful that sons are given preference over daughters when it comes to admission in private schools. This shows that dated ideas about male children still persist. In this day and age, this is dispiriting. Such perceptions cripple society by hindering girls from succeeding. The government should take note of this issue.

Anupam Dutta, Calcutta

Stop the flow

Sir — Calcuttans waste a lot of water. This has to stop. Even on the streets of Calcutta, water is often wasted owing to faulty faucets. These taps must be fixed. The authorities must look into these infrastructural problems before it is too late. In some states, water taxes have made people aware of the importance of conserving this natural resource. Perhaps West Bengal could learn too. Aweeza Waris, Calcutta

Parting shot

Sir — Apple has announced that it is stopping the production of iPods. With its inception in 2001, the iPod revolutionised the way that the world listened to music.

Sourish Misra, Calcutta