UPA at sea

Yes, the UPA is all at sea (March 16). But having been a sailor for long, that too in old steam ships, I can add that at sea it is normally the ships that are termed buckets of bolts and nuts, with continuous problems to the sailors that sail on them, which last the longest; strong ships sometimes disappear without a trace! Therefore it is possible that UPA II may last its full term.

I am sure this bucket of bolts and nuts, a ship with Manmohan Singh in command and men under him with no known quality of toughness or intelligent performance, while being all at sea, will sail through without sinking — however, the ship may not reach its destination.

I am reminded of a story the editor of

The Aeroplane , C.G. Grey, wrote in 1930, when the Aga Khan announced a prize of £500 to the first Indian who would fly solo between England and India, starting at either end. Among the competitors was a young man called Manmohan Singh (no pun intended). While he was a highly spirited man, his navigating abilities were not a match! Twice he left England with much fanfare to fly to India. Twice he lost his way over Europe and had to fly back to England to start all over again. Grey observed: “Mr. Manmohan Singh has called his aeroplane ‘Miss India' and he is likely to!”

K.R.A. Narasiah,

Chennai

The fortunes of the Congress are certainly on the wane if the results of the recent Assembly elections in five States are any indicator. It is only because of the predicament of its major allies such as the DMK and the TMC that the UPA government is still thriving.

As Siddharth Varadarajan rightly points out, the situation can be redeemed if the Congress takes sincere efforts to implement some of the pro-people reforms.

J. Anantha Padmanabhan,

Srirangam