Editor,
With its open courtyards and wide spaces, a dining experience in Royal Heritage Tripura Castle restaurant could have promised to be a pleasant experience. Sadly, the treatment one is subjected to by the restaurant staff is in stark contrast to the ambience. On Sunday, 4 June 2017, I visited the restaurant with my parents-in-law, 7 year old niece and 4 month-old daughter. When we arrived we were told to wait for a table. I was slightly puzzled by the demeanour of the waiter. There was a sense of rudeness in the way he asked us to wait and the Hindi words used were “baithna parega.” The normal practice in any good restaurant is to tell customers how long they are to wait for a table. Tripura Castle did not seem to believe in that kind of courtesy. Considering that we had come with a small baby and a child, I requested the food menu so that we could place our order whilst we waited to be seated. After 10 minutes of waiting and no sign of the food menu, I went into the restaurant to remind the staff of my request. In response, the cold stares that I received from the waiters made me feel as if I had intruded into their personal space. I spent more time waiting for the menu, and started to wonder if I had embarrassed myself by asking for something they deemed below their dignity.
Thankfully, the menu card finally arrived. We placed our order, and continued to wait patiently for our table. I carried my daughter from one place to the other to keep her entertained and comfortable. 20 minutes later another group of a similar size arrived. We continued to linger around under the watchful eyes of the waiters. By now 45 minutes had passed, and we were very hungry and tired. I then noticed that a suitable table was being cleared. We relaxed finally, and started to get our belongings ready. However, the staff decided to seat the group that had arrived twenty minutes after us.
My parents-in-law and I immediately lodged our protest. In reply, we received a cold and callous apology from the manager with a suggestion to wait for a further 10 minutes. His tone and demeanour promised no assurance or sincerity. My mother-in-law expressed her displeasure at what clearly appeared to be preferential treatment. The manager had no remorse, let alone any sense to remedy the ill-treatment meted out to us. I would sum up my experience as a very unpleasant one: the staff are arrogant, unprofessional and incompetent. Instead of demonstrating the culture of hospitality, the restaurant staff exhibited nothing but their riches of embarrassment.
Your etc.
Fouzia Zafar,
OP Jindal Global University,
Sonepat
High Courts still named after old city-names?
Editor,
There was a move from Central government sometime in January 2015 for renaming Bombay and Madras High Courts after long years of renaming these cities as Mumbai and Chennai. But till now that change has not been effected. Even Calcutta High Court is to be renamed as Kolkata High Court. It is significant that except for four High Courts at Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati and Kolkata respectively, all other High Courts are named after states of their jurisdiction. An RTI response had revealed that while all the High Courts constituted after independence, (with the exception of Gauhati High Couirt established in March 1948) were named after respective main states of jurisdiction, the three High Courts constituted by British regime in pre-independence era continue to be named as per British legacy on the basis of cities of their existence even after 70 long years of independence.
Union Government should end the British legacy by renaming Bombay, Madras, Gauhati and Calcutta High Courts now as Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Assam and West-Bengal High Courts respectively to bring uniformity in system of naming High Courts after names of states rather than on particular cities. Proposed legislation should incorporate feature that names of High Courts may be automatically changed with change in name of states (or cities) without needing any legislation.
Yours etc.,
MADHU AGRAWAL
Delhi- 6
Roads are the lifeline !
Editor,
After a being criticized for being an MP without much impact in Parliament and without raising questions on the overall economic and social development of our state, now before his tenure ends Mr Vincent Pala, MP has drawn the attention of the Union Ministry of Surface Transport to the need for urgent construction of the Dkhiah- Sutnga – Molsei road under Saipung Block an area which never ever witnessed good roads or development. The Ministry has given the green signal for construction of this road. I have been involved in the area for a long time and therefore understand that a good all-weather road is imperative for connecting Saipung to the rest of the state. This route has been in the blueprint for ages but with the NDA government taking a positive initiative in improving and uplifting the rural areas, this successful in principle agreement is a welcome step. The efforts put in by the Hon’ble MP are appreciated and shall be remembered for connecting several villages lying in remotest part of Saipung Block.
Yours etc.,
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong
Types of violence!
Editor,
Violence can be classified into two major types ~ 1) aggressor’s violence and 2) violence for self – defence or deterrence. It is mainly because of aggressor’s violence that the world has come to such a pass. Wars, rapes, ragging, abuse, bullying, lynching, murders, reckless driving, genocide, sadism and jingoism are all ugly manifestations of it. Unfortunately, the cowards among us glorify violence. A soft spoken gentleman is pooh-poohed and branded as a weak person. To add insult to injury, some advertisements and movies are hell bent on promoting carelessness, callousness and cruelty. As a result, shouting, reckless driving, utterance of foul language and slavery to liquor have been accepted by society as macho qualities. Indeed, these qualities have often been set as benchmarks for entering the adult world. But they are the intrinsic qualities of a coward.
As it is said ~ charity begins at home, we can and should clean out Type-1 violence from our minds. We can make our children understand that their freedom ends where the other person’s nose begins, otherwise, liberty will be lost in a jungle raj where only the fittest brutes can survive. If we can restrict Type – 1 violence then we will also automatically be able to check the second type as the latter is but a reaction to the former. So long as Type – 1 violence rules the roost, we cannot criticize Type – 2 which is for self – defence or deterrence. Recently, what happened in Kerala when a girl bobbitised an aggressor is a case in point! We should hang every killer rapist (Nirbhaya or Rohtak or Canacona) or at least keep them in jail till their deaths. This violence is absolutely necessary to counter macho or sadistic designs. Type – 2 violence will act as a deterrent to Type – 1.
Also, there are two additional types of violence. Violence for food can be branded as Type – 3 violence. We cannot do without it until we solve the problem of food. But we must minimize cruelty to animals and plants as far practicable.
Finally, violence against self can be listed as Type – 4. However, masochism and suicide as a result of masochistic tendencies can also be seen as Type – 1 violence because they are unprovoked violence against one’s own body. And euthanasia and suicide in extreme condition can easily be put in Type – 2 category as they are a reaction to violence in the form of unbearable pain.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata