Vox pop

Tendulkar may want to hang in there, but he’s not as fit as before

Tendulkar may want to hang in there, but he’s not as fit as before

The editorial On the wrong foot (The Pundit, September 5) cleverly takes a whack at Sachin Tendulkar who got bowled out three times in a row against New Zealand recently. I think that endless discussions on Tendulkar’s retirement have irked him and he does not want to hang up his boots just because people want him to. But it’s high time that the Little Master realised that he is physically not as fit as he used to be till two years ago. He should make way for younger players.
-Ashok Ghosh, via email

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Splashing public money on travel

With reference to the editorial Our leaders’ tour de farce (Our Take, Sept-ember 5), it is unfortunate that politicians frequently go abroad on holidays on the pretext of going on study tours. By doing so they not only squander taxpayers’ money but also embarrass the country in the international arena. Opposition parties, whether in states or at the Centre, usually criticise the government for misusing public funds. But when it comes to grabbing foreign trips, all parties unite and loot the common man. The media deserves praise for exposing the 14 Karnataka MLAs who recently went on a ‘paid holiday’ to South America.
-PK Srivastava, via email

II

In the past, kings and queens used to visit foreign lands, learn about various styles of governance and implement the policies they liked in their own kingdoms. For example, king Sayajirao Gaekwad Maratha III of Baroda started many projects like an underground drainage system and a modern library system about a century ago. Other kings liked them and some of them started similar projects in their respective kingdoms. But the present-day politicians don’t care about learning from other countries. That’s why they take study trips for granted.
-KC Mehta, Vadodara