Setting a bad example

Setting a bad example

Historically, the Indian Prime Minister normally maintains his/her dignity by not making any wrong allegations or statements, like other current politicians (“Gujarat elections: A lot at stake for Narendra Modi”, Gulf News, December 13). Unfortunately, the country’s current Prime Minister seems to be forgetting his position. His recent attack towards former prime minister Manmohan Singh surprised us all. Also, he involved a neighbouring country, which was later denied. We do not know what is happening to Indian politics. The current ruling party is crossing all the limits of ethical politics in our great country, just for an election victory. Modi also alleged that the former prime minister did not carry out military action due to fear! I think such people are not supposed to occupy such great posts of power. It is really unfortunate.

From Mr Pradeep Kumar

Abu Dhabi

Passion for the position

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s indefatigable energy is commendable. He is leading the Gujarat elections from the front, delivering four to five speeches every day and also attending to important engagements in the capital. Many people at the age of 67 are looking forward to their retirement. Not Modi. He has boundless reserves of energy and enthusiasm for his country. He should now focus on building a strong team of professionals around him to help him execute projects like demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) seamlessly, in the future. His commitment and passion to making a difference in the elections and in the country, are indeed praiseworthy.

From Mr Rajendra K. Aneja

UAE

Beauty versus brains

Pageants are just one way of celebrating the beauty of a woman. Nowadays, beauty has transcended the barriers of colour and figure. I grew up admiring actress and former Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen, and wanted to be a woman of substance like her. I don’t think contests should be banned, because it provides young women with an idol and gives them a goal of being somebody in life. Every woman knows that beauty is temporary and what will stay with her is her personality. That is what these contests show nowadays. I am grateful that these events provide women with a platform to make their country proud and to commit themselves to the cause and to the crown.

From Ms Remediana Dias

UAE

Not completely irrelevant

I think beauty pageants are relevant but there is a lot that can be changed. Certain categories can be altered and so on. I think such contests do a good job in trying to get people more involved in social causes. For young women, it is a platform to get famous and to use that power and resources to bring about some change. A lot of pageant winners go on to become actresses and activists. I don’t think such contests are all that bad.

From Ms Alia Mathur

Dubai

Pull up your socks

Though Indian captain Virat Kohli and his team were able to whitewash nine to zero in Sri Lanka earlier this year, they definitely struggled to win the present Test series (“Rohit’s record double ton powers India to mammoth total”, Gulf News, December 13). Hence, we knew it was not going to be easy for cricketer Rohit Sharma, that too in the absence of Kohli, to lead the One Day International (ODI) team. This has amply been proved during the first ODI match. Certainly, there was some help for the bowlers on the track at Dharamshala, and winning the toss was a boon to Sri Lanka. But there was no devil in the pitch. We feel our batsmen were too casual and their approach was basic and unconvincing. With this, we are sure that coach Ravi Shastri’s dream of taking the team to the top ranking in ODIs has evaporated. It is time he pulls up his blue boys to arrest the decline.

From Ms Kavitha Srikanth

India

Time to rectify mistakes

There is absolutely no shame in losing a match, as in any sport, there can be only one winner. But what pains us is the pathetic performance of our top order batsmen. Ironically, the much-hyped captain, Rohit Sharma, feels this is an eye-opener, which the team should have learnt in the Test match in Kolkata itself. So is the case with the no ball, bowled by our bowlers. If it used to be Ravichandran Ashwin during the Twenty20 (T20) World Cup match, who cost us, now it is Jasprit Bumrah at Dharamshala. We sincerely hope that the coach and captain become bold enough to own up to their follies and try to rectify their mistakes to fulfil their dream of reaching the pinnacle of ODIs and T20s.

From Mr N. Viswanathan

India

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