Second life
Sir — ‘Upcycling’ is all the rage with Gen Z at the moment, but it has long been a staple for older generations. Indian restaurants have been in the news for making chairs out of recycled tyres and glasses from old bottles. But such repurposing of things to give them a new lease of life is not novel — be it using empty paint buckets for bathing or turning old sarees into curtains, our parents have shown us the path to a sustainable lifestyle. While the previous generations might have been simply trying to cut down on expenses, we must bring back their thrift to reduce the amount of waste we generate every day.
Jai Rathore,Mumbai
Deep freeze
Sir — The foreign ministers of eight member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation met at Goa recently (“Jaishankar, Qin hold talks”, May 5). Although the Indian external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, hosted a dinner for all the dignitaries, including the foreign minister of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, no bilateral meeting was held between the two. India’s unrelenting position on not holding talks with Pakistan arises from its insistence that the latter take significant measures to prevent terrorist activities originating in its territory. India must keep in mind that non-State actors in Pakistan are responsible for terrorism and it is impractical to stop communicating with Pakistan.
Devendra Khurana,Bhopal
Sir — The army truck ambush by terrorists in Poonch and the blast in Rajouri are proof that the claims of the Narendra Modi government about having reined in terrorism are premature. There has been no representative government in Jammu and Kashmir for many years and the promised assembly elections are yet to be held. Prolonged negation of the political needs of the Union territory has increased the alienation between the people and the armed forces. All of this contributed to the millitant attacks prior to the SCO meeting in Goa soon after Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s attendance was announced. Any chance of a thaw between India and Pakistan has been marred by these acts of terrorism.
Shovanlal Chakraborty,Calcutta
Sir — India’s presidency of the SCO has received little attention owing to its leadership of the G20. Conflicting national interests have prevented the settlement of border disputes with China and Pakistan at the SCO meeting. However, the presence of Pakistani and Chinese foreign ministers in Goa seems to have, at least, offered the members of the SCO a forum to address bilateral tensions.
Khokan Das,Calcutta
Act now
Sir — The ongoing protest by the wrestlers intensified on Thursday after a scuffle broke out at Jantar Mantar between the protesters and the Delhi Police, which is controlled by the Centre. It is disappointing that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party chooses to stay silent on the alleged misdemeanours of the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The Narendra Modi-led dispensation should order an immediate investigation into the allegations against Singh.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,Faridabad
Keep it clean
Sir — The Calcutta Municipal Corporation had started segregated waste collection from households and provided two bins — blue and green — to separate wet and dry waste (“CMC plans to scrap faulty waste practices”, May 5). But large sections of the population simply dump their waste on the roads or in vacant plots. This is especially dangerous during the monsoons as plastic bags and other such waste can block drainage pipes, aggravating waterlogging. The ban on single-use plastic items should be implemented properly in the state.
D. Bhattacharyya,Calcutta
