Editor,
A person is awarded for his/her inner virtues. Inner virtues invariably manifest in various inborn skills, leanings and aptitudes. One with doubtful integrity should not be crowned with such honours. This will only set the wrong precedence. It also sends out the wrong message to society. But what is very unfortunate is that these days many who receive awards are congenitally insincere and biased. People in higher positions are responsible for this. They are guided by certain motives. This is a very dangerous trend.
Of late the Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai is in the eye of the storm for similar reasons. She has been questioned for her “integrity”. She has been criticized repeatedly for her overtly shifting stances which reek of hypocrisy. A champion of human rights, she did not utter a single word when “countless” Yazidis girls were taken captive as sex slaves by ISIS. Her lips were sealed against the killings and rapes of Hindus, Sikh, Sindh, Pashtuns and natives of Balochistan in Pakistan. She was chased out of her country Pakistan and now lives in Brigham, England. Ironically, Malala is now actively siding with Pakistan and thus scathingly criticizes India and its people with respect to the abrogation of Article 370. Kashmir has become her regular lecture fodder now. But very fittingly, one scholar retorted on twitter – “your country is safe only for terrorists and unsafe for human beings. So why don’t you speak out about this?” Her hypocrisy has shocked other renowned scholars from across the world. So much so, a renowned columnist and businesswoman Katie Hopkins hits out at her thus – “Another Hindu girl butchered in Pakistan. And suddenly the world is deaf and dumb. Where are you now Malala? Cat got your tongue?”
This is how some Nobel awardees behave. One wonders when it will occur to them that the prestigious award entails that they always speak the language of “humanity” and feel the heartbeat of every individual being. Awards are given to them to make peace with all, love all and respect all regardless of their religions, cultures and the countries they belong too. They should live for a noble cause.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong -2
Chandrayaan-2 mission
Editor,
Undeterred by the setback it received on the soft-landing of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, ISRO chairman K. Sivan on Saturday said that the country is moving ahead to meet its target of sending man to space by December 2021. Undoubtedly, it shows the determination of the entire ISRO’s staff to bring forth the best in space technology. The ISRO chief was addressing students at the 8th Convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology in Bhubaneswar. He said, “Chandrayaan-2 Mission has achieved 98 per cent of its objectives, while they are yet to establish any communication with the Lander Vikram.”
India is moving ahead with plans of sending man to the moon. If this is achieved, India would be rubbing shoulders with the US to become the second country to have sent a man to the moon successfully. China is expected to do so only by 2035. However, space technology is complicated and bewildering and the strenuous and meticulous efforts to gain space technology by country after country must be stopped and all the leading countries in this area like the US, Russia, China, Europe, Japan and India must collaborate to make breakthroughs because individual effort has often proved to be inadequate to scale down the great heights of space ambitions. Moreover, all prominent countries engaged in the space program have failed to make breakthroughs and not succeeded in their all-out attempts to conquer any major mission like moon-walking or soft-landing. So, a world body formed from scientists of these leading countries’ to explore space travels and explorations on different planets in the cosmos must be set up to unravel the mysteries of outer space.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan,
Via email
Melody queen touches 90
Editor,
September 28th marks the 90th birthday of India’s melody queen and the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar. Born on 28th September 1929, in Indore (Madhya Pradesh) in a Marathi family of musicians who migrated from Goa’s Mangeshi town she took to singing at the age of 13. Her early years were full of struggles and strife but her love for music and her will power turned into stepping stones to success. She has an inborn talent and is a legend who right from the 1940s till date, spanning seven decades remains the queen of melodies.
The magic of her melodious voice is something that can’t be described but can be felt.
Whether it is the heart touching devotional and bhajans, the soul stirring filmi romantic numbers, the heart melting melody numbers or the racy, peppy numbers, Lataji has sung everyone of them with elan and all the songs are a class apart. Lataji also has her name etched in the Guinness Book of Records as the singer of the highest number of songs. She has already sung over 25,000 songs in a variety of languages.
A recipient of many awards, laurels and honours the Government of India has conferred on her the title of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in 2001. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has instituted an annual award in her name. She has also received the ‘Filmfare Award’ many a times and the ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’ in 1989 . Her hit songs in the films Mughul-E-Azam, Bees Saal Baad, Amar Prem, Pakeezah, Mehbooba, Sangam, Hum dono, Ghar,Jurmana, Arpan, Ek Duje Ke Liya, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Dilse, meine pyar kiya and so on are immortal numbers that will remain etched in the hearts of music buffs around the world. Some of the biggest hits in Hindi film song history are in the names of Lata -Kishore duo and Lata – Rafi duo who with RD Burman created songs that can be called ageless wonders -songs eternal and evergreen .Be it the 1950’s or the post millennium period, her mesmerising voice remains sweet and ageless. Let us wish Lata Mangeshkar a long and healthy life and let her songs soothe our minds and inspire our soul’s forever and ever.
Yours etc.,
M Pradyu,
Kannur