COVID-19 strategy
Amid the new surge in cases in Europe and the U.S., and the still high numbers in India and South America, the situation as far as COVID-19 is concerned looks desperate. There is a need for a fresh approach. If China tests 4.5 million in four days in a city against a dozen reported cases, there is no need for the world to be in awe and struggle to chase its method. Perhaps the focus now should be on those reporting sick and those getting hospitalised. The numbers do not make any sense any more. Also, finding a cure is the action, with the medicines easy to handle, affordable, effective at all levels and free from any commercial encumbrances.
M . Balakrishnan,
Bengaluru
Pacts with America
It is more than apparent that the U.S. views India as a potential counterweight to the growing clout of cash-rich China and curb its ruthless debt-trap diplomacy and military-muscle-flexing. The high-profile U.S. visits just days before the American elections is also a pointer to an obvious bid of the Trump administration to woo the sizeable Indian diaspora. The defence pacts with the U.S. is wont to ruffle Russia’s feathers. Nonetheless, India must tread cautiously and ensure that there is reciprocity in the bilateral deals. It must make sure that its military’s autonomy is in no way compromised.
Nalini Vijayaraghavan,
Thiruvananthapuram
K.S. Subramanian
Dr. K.S. Subramanian was a gentle giant in the field of Tamil translation. His passing has left a genuine void. He was indefatigable in his pursuit of literary creations and tireless in taking Tamil literature and writings across to readers in other parts of the world through his English translations. He was a prolific translator of the Jnanpith-winning writer, Jayakanthan. What Constance Garnett was to Dostoevsky in Russian literature, K.S. Subramanian was to Jayakanthan in Tamil literature. Both the English translators did immense service to the world of letters.
Readers would have been poorer but for such mediators. K.S. Subramanian had a keen sense of the role of literature in society. One of his very recent publications, Lockdown Lyrics (August 2020), bears testimony to his sensitivity and commitment to values.
C.T. Indra,
Chennai
Rebuild CSK
The maxim, “Time and tide wait for no man”, is fairly illustrated in the envious rise, longevity and ultimate fall of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has had an envious and lustrous career in cricket. He was the talisman of the Chennai team. As time ticks away non-stop, the time has come for CSK too to transform itself.
C.G. Kuriakose,
Kothamangalam, Kerala
