What you need to know:
- Readers discuss the popularity of Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones.
- Readers also discuss Indian politics and the Sri lankan terror attack.
Worthy of praise
Congratulations Gulf News and its team for winning the Global Village Media award for best coverage in an English publication (“Gulf News bags ‘Best Coverage’ at media awards”, Gulf News, April 23). The newspaper truly deserves it. I feel very proud when my point of views are published on Gulf News. It makes me want to raise my head proudly with happiness when my friends and acquaintances praise me after reading my pieces, it gives me confidence as I never imagined this in my life. My day is not complete without reading Gulf News and it’s included in my daily routine. I would like to thank Gulf News for considering a common man’s point of view.
From Ms Niamat Karmally
UAE
Empty stomach, empty mind
I have a child in kindergarten and children in that grade have to be in school by 7.45am. This gives them time only to have a glass of milk or a few mouthfuls of food. If children opt for transportation provided by the school, they still won’t manage to have a proper breakfast as they will have to leave by home by 6.30am. The first snack time in the school is at 9.45am. How can children, who are not more than three to six years old, manage and attend school when their stomach is rumbling with hunger? This not only applies to children in kindergarten but also applies to all children who go to school. The schools will not change their break time, if only few concerned parents raise the issue. Having an empty stomach will not help children focus at school. This habit of having a late breakfast is going to affect their health as well as their learning.
From Ms Ramya Poojary
UAE
Who will India vote for?
In Indian, in the recent Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) election meetings, many political parties have used religion as a trump card. Religion is a personal affair, not a tool to win elections with. Politics is an uncertain business and luck plays a big role. At Narendra Modi’s recent rally in Varanasi, tens of thousands of supporters turned out to hear him speak. And yet, this is a tough time for Modi. While his well-wishers are confident that he will overcome the hurdle and win this election, many economists and analysts feels his one term tenure is not enough to fulfill his commitments. We will have to wait and see what the Indian people decide.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Bengaluru, India
Social media craze
Come Sunday, many people will be waiting anxiously for the new episode of Game of Thrones (GOT) to release (“‘Avengers Endgame’: Why everybody wants to watch it”, Gulf News, April 30). The popular television show is in its eighth and final season and has been regarded by many as one of the best shows of the 21st century. However, I am the select few that haven’t watched a single episode, despite it being all over social media. These days, every tweet and hashtag is about the new episode to the point that if you open any social media platform on the day an episode is released, your newsfeed is flooded with spoilers. As an avid user of social media to pass the time it can get quite annoying as you don’t understand the references being made and as you scroll your feed is filled with GOT related content. As GOT is in its final season all it’s fans can finally look forward to long awaiting end to the series. However, the question remains: would the audience deem the ending worthy of their expectations?
From Mr Wasif Naushad
Sharjah
In between Marvel and Game of Thrones
Over the years, pop culture has had a massive impact on trends and society. With the recent Avengers: Endgame movie release, fans on social media were buzzing days before the movie hit the theaters, and even more so after. It is the same story with the hit television show, Game of Thrones. Fans wait eagerly on Twitter and Facebook to discuss the episodes and reveal spoilers. However, I have often noticed that wars, climate change, and real issues do not get such importance. They are ignored or get lost between tweets about trivial things. How did this shift in humanity occur? How did we suddenly start caring about fiction more than real life? This worries me to no end. If we don’t start taking real issues seriously, there will be no one left to watch these movies and shows! Let’s help make real issues viral.
From Mr Ravi W.
Dubai
Stop climate change
Scientists say that we have 12 years to change how we, humans have an impact on the Earth (“Hydroponic farming is not organic: Esma”, Gulf News, April 29). Only 12 years. And we haven’t even started. I really want to raise awareness for the issue of climate change. If we don’t act now, we will be harming the future generations. Just yesterday, I went to the grocery store and I was appalled at the number of people choosing to use plastic bags, even though the re-usable bags are only Dh0.50. Nobody cared. We need to try and change that. Every year, 100,000 species of marine animals die because of entanglement from 14 billion pounds of plastic being mercilessly dumped into the ocean by humans. Not only that, but 1 million sea birds also die from plastic ingestion. This needs to stop.
From Ms Anisha Jain
UAE
Practice tolerance
On Thursday evening, we went shopping to the Mirdif City Centre. My daughter was driving. We saw that the first car in the row would leave soon as they were loading things in the trunk. As we did not want to block the cars behind us, we moved to the opposite side. My daughter, who was driving asked me to get down and stand on the parking slot, as it is a habit of many smart drivers in Dubai. I got down and once the car finally moved I stood in the parking slot. As she had predicted, a lady tried to drive over the curb and park where I was standing. I am sure she had seen my daughter’s SUV trying to park, but she reversed and came in front of the slot and refused to move. She thought it was her right to park. My wife and daughter both had to come down and almost begged her to move the car. Finally she obliged. It is a request to all the residents of UAE to be more tolerant and show respect to fellow residents and visitors.
From Mr Koovapady Raman
UAE
Terror has no religion
On Easter Sunday, a series of multiple explosions hit three churches and hotels in and around Sri Lanka’s capital city of Colombo (“Daily Business Wrap - Terror attacks rock Sri Lanka tourism”, Gulf News, April 29). This must be condemned in all possible terms, in this deadly attack, over 200 people including some tourists lost their lives. Six Indians also died.
This coordinated attack with suicide bombers was worst in the recent times. This attack aimed to hurt Sri Lankans. This deadly terrorist attack is likely to hit the tourism industry.
The attack took place during the prayers at church and it is a grim reminder that fact terrorists have no respect for the sanctity of religion. It is imperative that the international community should constantly guard against terrorism by coordinated efforts, sharing intelligence and cutting their financial support to combat terrorism.
From Mr Ramesh G. Jethwani
Bangaluru, India
Who is to blame?
The Kerala government is to blame as they have allowed the private bus operators to breed and flourish their operations for a long time (“More arrests in Kerala bus assault case”, Gulf News, April 25). This enabled them to make excessive profits by illegal means. Only now the government is cross checking their permits and imposing penalties for violations. The operators’ nexus with railways and state owned public transportation department-KSRTC, hampered the required developments in this sector and made an artificial situation favorable for their business. Though the ongoing government’s efforts are good, it may not stay long as the issue has already got a communal colour. The passengers don’t have many options as long as there are little alternatives. Not only Kallada, there are so many private bus operators in the state who are very rude to passengers. The managements of Kallada should learn a lesson from these incidents. They should improve their customer service. It is easier than they think in a populated state like Kerala.
From Mr Girish R. Edathitta
UAE
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