To Sunday Shillong,
Dressing up is an important socio-cultural practice cutting across the boundaries of nations. However, dresses are not just restricted to regional cultures and ethnicity in this millennium but are also part of official requirements and multinational corporate culture. Fashion trend, global, local and regional brand names, weather and season-based need, economy and personal choice influence what most of us wear. A specific dress appropriate for one culture, country or society may or may not be acceptable or appreciated in another culture, country or society.
However, advocating for global human rights, one should have the freedom to choose his/her clothes and dresses of choice without any restriction unless there is any specific reason for its acceptability, security or moral and/or cultural issues associated with it. Different ethnicities and societies have different views regarding appropriate dressing and that needs to be respected too and cannot be disregarded in terms of rights only at times. Besides, societies across the planet are now unjustly driven by peer pressure and gorgeous advertisements on various media outlets. Hence we
often dress falling to that pressure to fit in
better with our peers and this cannot be underestimated.
Thanking you
Saikat Kumar Basu
To Sunday Shillong,
This is in reference to the article ‘Rekindling love for books in virtual world’ by Willie Gordon Suting published in Sunday Shillong on May 21. It is true that nothing can replace books. I still remember the smell of old books stacked in the cupboard at one corner of my grandfather’s room, the ritual of cleaning the cupboard every first Sunday of a month and arranging the books alphabetically in the six-storeyed wooden cupboard that had intricate carvings on the door panels. The glass fitted to the double doors had colourful paintings. I also starkly remember the pride of writing down my name on the first page of a new book that I would get as a gift from my grandfather or parents or any XYZ. The pride of possession was overwhelming and I would smell the book for days before actually delving into the subject matter. But that was more than 30 years ago. It was sheer luck that I inherited my grandfather’s cupboard, along with the books, because none of my siblings had space in their apartments. I thank god they did not find space for this fine piece of memory.
My daughter is 10 years old and in all these years, I have never seen her even curiously opening the cupboard and checking out the “stuff” inside. Not even once has she come and sat with me during the ritualistic cleaning of the cupboard. She knows “the stuff” inside are books and she is not really interested. She already knows that she can come closer to the world faster than books through internet and television. My smartphone is her best friend. But I don’t blame her alone. In fact, I don’t blame anyone other than the changing time. There are many children of my daughter’s age that I know are more into gaming and smartphones than books. It gives me shivers to think that a time might come when there will not be a single real book that you can pick up and feel. The article, which concluded that most bibliophiles in Shillong prefer real books, gives some hope. But how long can books put up the fight? How long will it take mankind to change its best friend?
Thanking you
- Lyngdoh