True reality of England 50 years ago
What absolute rubbish — England in the past did exist like in these television series and popular novels (‘Backwards to the future’, Gulf News, August 19). Stuart Jeffries, the writer of this article, is my age and from being a child in the 1960s and 1970s in rural England, ‘Swallows & Amazons’, Enid Blyton’s ‘Famous Five’ and ‘Secret Seven’, is exactly the kind of safe freedom we had to explore and to use our imagination as children! How I wish my own children could experience what my village mates and I did! I can only assume he never had such a great upbringing, which is unfortunate, but hey, don’t lessen those who certainly did!
From Ms Sheena Smith
UAE
Facebook comment
Saved by the girl child
From a country where women are still subjugated, we hail two wonderful women who saved their nation’s name and grace at the world’s greatest sporting extravaganza (‘Enjoy a free pizza, if your name is Sindhu in India’, Gulf News, August 22). Fighting odds and bringing home a medal each, the two women have put up a wonderful show as a result of their sheer hard work and determination. Sakshi Malik had to face a lot of taunting from the people of her community for taking up wrestling. Those people who shunned her are now beaming with pride and calling her their own. P. V. Sindhu had already created a niche for herself in badminton circles, but only her Olympic performance gained her such national recognition that now, two states — Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — are fighting to call her their own.
In a country where women’s abilities are often not given enough respect, even today, I feel proud to see two women shining at the top, and I feel proud to call myself a young Indian woman. The stories of both Sakshi and Sindhu will inspire youth who are falling for the lure of gadgets, and are lost in their lack of determination and laziness. One girl had to fight boys to win the bronze, while the other travelled 56km from home to the academy every day to bag the silver medal. Both gave up family functions and get-togethers, their phones and luxuries, with only one aim – standing on the podium, seeing the Indian flag being raised. Their achievement can be summed up by this lovely message I received on WhatsApp: “Instead of ‘Save the girl child’, the phrase will now read, ‘Saved by the girl child’.”
From Ms Maria Vincent
Dubai
Rising to the challenge
As the Olympics finished last weekend, three young girls have upheld the honour of the world’s second most populous nation. Malik and Sindhu stirred the hearts of 1.25 billion Indians when they smiled on the victory stand as the tri-colour flag was hoisted. Dipa Karmakar won our hearts with her inspiring performance, her quiet strength and humility.
In a country rife with female infanticide, honour killings, domestic abuse and sexual violence against women, it lifts my heart to think that our girls rose to the challenge and proved that they were special.
This generation has new legends – the women who have emerged victorious, against all odds. On behalf of every Indian woman, I salute Malik, Sakshi and Karmakar. More power to them and to us all!
From Ms Nandita Divakaran
UAE
They fought gallantly
Malik, Sindhu and Karmakar of India brought glory to their country in the Rio Olympics. These athletes deserve to be applauded for their achievements, as they overcame social ills — exploitation, abuse, discrimination, sexism, authoritarianism and maliciousness. These are things that women in sports usually have to cope with. These women have broken all previous Olympic records for their country. The larger message is that India’s daughters are a pride and joy and they must be celebrated. More so in the face of the struggles women have to endure in every sphere of life in India. The limits placed on them by patriarchal notions serve to distance them from the sporting arena. That is why it is heartening to see them respond with a never-say-die attitude. A lesson for those who believe that wrestling and other sports are largely not suitable for women.
Hopefully, Rio 2016 should prove to be a turning point for Indian society. It has given Indian women the dignity and power to compete with a male-dominated society. These women are the conquerors that we, as a society, desperately need. In a country where only a handful of male cricketers have mattered, Karmakar, Malik and Sindhu fought gallantly for the nation on the world stage and their role needs to be abundantly praised.
From Dr Shiben Krishen Raina
UAE
Fulfilling promises?
Social media was flooded with a speech Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s had once made, lamenting the absence of medal winning athletes from India in the Olympic games, before his government came to power. Now, his statement has come back to haunt him like a boomerang, as India is far from representing the Games in a big way. In his speech during the Congress government’s reign, he accused the ruling party of a lack of opportunities and training to promising talent in India.
Now, his promise has proved empty, like the numerous others he had made prior to the election. They went down the drain. His election promises included offering cash deposits that he had assured would go into the bank accounts of poor people, cutting commodity prices, including the slashing of cost of fuel and so on — all of these now sound like the noises made by empty vessels.
On the contrary, Modi’s initial few months in power have seen him venturing out into a globe-trotting expedition that earned him the credit of being the most travelled Indian Prime Minister in the shortest possible time. If the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) failures in maintaining communal harmony in the country are anything to go by, then the country is likely to see polarisation between the upper class and the Dalits, especially in the aftermath of a few incidents where the latter were inhumanely beaten up after having been accused of eating beef or transporting cows.
As an administrator, Modi is proving his incompetency when running a country like India, where the state of Gujarat is just one of the many states where he must have felt comfortable in the chief minister’s role. However, he should have realised that governing India as a whole is another game altogether — one that is different from regional politics. Political parties contribute to the dynamics and he should learn to react to incidents that hamper communal harmony quickly, rather than maintain silence.
From Mr Esmail Mohammad
Dubai
Making the world proud
Of course, Bolt is a super human being (‘Bolt seals ‘triple triple’ with relay gold and Usain Bolt’s triple triple’ highlights”, Gulf News, August 20). He wrote another chapter of improbable history with a third consecutive 200m crown. Bolt surged to victory in the 200m in 19.78 seconds in the Olympic stadium. Bolt said: “There is nothing else I can do. I have proven to the world that I am the greatest. That’s what I came here for. This is why I said it’s my last Olympics. I can’t prove anything else.”
Bravo, Bolt. You made the entire human race proud.
From Mr Sunny Joseph
Mala, India
Can’t compare with contact sports
Jamaican Olympic runner Usain Bolt wants to be compared to boxer Mohammad Ali and football player Pele and that is ridiculous! Ali and Pele had people on the other side who were trying to stop them. Ali had fierce opponents in the ring who were trying to knock him out. In the case of Pele, there were 11 opponents on the other side who were trying to stop his every move. Over his career, Pele must have been tripped thousands of times and Ali must have taken thousands of punches. Whereas in the case of Bolt, he is the fastest ever, no doubt, but nobody is trying to stop him while he runs. If he is the fastest, he will win, as there is no opponent trying to stop him. The same applies to swimmer Michael Phelps. He is the greatest swimmer of all time, no doubt, but you cannot compare him to people, such as Ali and Pele who face fierce opponents, who are trying to stop them from winning.
I hope that everyone appreciates that important distinction.
From Mr Faisal Hasnain
UAE
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