Love those who matter
As much as I love all the hype and bling surrounding Valentine’s Day, I have never really celebrated it, nor have I ever believed in its concept (“Romantic meals for two this Valentine’s Day in the UAE”, Gulf News, February 12). In fact, I feel like the day has become highly commercialised in the past few years, and is less of an occasion to celebrate. At times, people feel pressured into doing something special or buying a gift to mark this day when it is not even necessary. It makes many people overspend or buy things impulsively. Love is something that we should celebrate each day of our lives and we should not wait for an occasion to express. Love is an emotion that neither depends on materialistic gifts or fancy dinners nor needs to be restricted to a single day. Also, Valentine’s Day does not necessarily have to be about two people madly in love but should be about everybody we love, respect and admire - be it our family, friends, colleagues or even neighbours.
From Ms Fatima Suhail
Sharjah
Let’s fix India first
Even though 30,000 people attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Oman, I think people want concrete action not just speeches (“Modi addresses record Indian crowd in Muscat”, Gulf News, February 12). Even after four years of him being in power, there has not been a single achievement his government has managed to make in India. Nowadays, they are not answering the public and instead, they are unnecessarily criticising previous governments in front of foreign audiences. This is not correct.
From Mr Pradeep Kumar
Abu Dhabi
Iconic monument celebrates birthday
The iconic Howrah Bridge, which connects Kolkata and Howrah, is celebrating its 75th anniversary (“Iconic Howrah Bridge turns 75”, Gulf News February 8). Howrah Bridge is the pride of the people of West Bengal. This bridge was the fourth longest cantilever suspension at that time. The Japanese bombing in 1942 did not damage the steel structure of the bridge. It is estimated that five hundred thousand people cross this bridge every day and the life of the bridge is 150 years. The West Bengal State government should protect this iconic structure and increase the facilities. This bridge is also an attraction for many Indian movies. Howrah Bridge has an excellent view at night.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai
Hoping for the best
We are definitely happy that Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, in his 100th One Day International (ODI) series, managed to celebrate his achievement with a century, to become the only Indian to score a ton on his 100th match (“South Africa showed a lot of character, says Kohli”, Gulf News, February 11). However, losing the plot after the break is not acceptable. To be frank, our coach and captain continue to make errors with our out-of-form players, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. We do have talented substitutes but they are just warming the benches. Apart from this, as averred by Heinrich Klassen, we too were surprised as to why the captain persisted with the spinners, when they were literally giving runs to the other team. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhubaneshwar Kumar should have bowled to put pressure on the other batsmen. This is not the first time our spinner has over-stepped to indirectly help the opposition. Even Ashwin, bowled a no ball to the West Indies batsmen during the Twenty20 (T20) World Cup semi-final tie. Anyway, there is no point in crying over spilt milk. Having taken a healthy lead, we expect our team to come back stronger in the fifth ODI, to clinch the series and create history. Keeping our fingers crossed.
From Mr N. V. Krishnan
India
Our players need to work harder
Hats off to Indian cricket captain, Virat Kohli, for admitting that his side did not deserve to win the fourth one day match at Port Elizabeth. Though we were in a strong position and were aiming to score more than 300 runs, after the break, our batsmen got out like lightening and only managed to achieve a score of 289 runs, thanks to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. During the South African innings too, though our bowlers were able to get rid of big fish like Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers of South Africa early, the no ball by Yuzvendra Chahal turned the tables in favour of South Africa. Incidentally, it was a real surprise as to how the coach and captain persisted with both Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, who are yet to prove their credentials. I hope the think tank can mend their ways to seal the series in the next game.
From Ms Kavitha Srikanth
India
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