All good fiction has deep social meaning
In response to Ipshita Nath’s ‘The uncanny and grotesque unite in a feminist dystopia’ published on October 4:
I am not “tortured by sexism and misogyny”, nor do I read a lot of “feminist” writings. I consider myself more broad-minded than that and tend to take a story at its face value before I start dissecting it. Ms Padmanabhan’s story, while probably representative of all the deep and thought-provoking symbolism you have cited, was also a very imaginative and interesting story on its own merits. I guess all good fiction has some deep underlying social meaning that you can digest subliminally without assigning some clearly defined reasoning to every plot turn. It is a huge statement to the ever-changing condition of humanity and a conjecture of a possible extreme state of affairs as a means to convey an interesting story. In my own opinion anyway. But then again you may say I have no idea what people who are tortured by sexism and misogyny would care to read. And that would be true, but I know I loved it, so it would not be exclusively to their enjoyment. | Pauline Castleman
The social agenda
In response to Peter Tait’s ‘The trouble with choosing what history to teach’ published on October 11:
Teaching history should not be to meet a social agenda” — but the way the writer wants history taught is also a social agenda!| Bharati
Make healthy choices
In response to Dr Pankaj Aggarwal’s ‘The ballooning problem of childhood obesity’ published on Sept 27:
The doctor is correct. Great advice. | laura Conrad
We have been preaching good nutrition for years. However, we have not provided that rationale for making healthy food and lifestyle choices. Education about the liver has been missing for decades. This silent, internal chemical converter processes everything we eat, breathe and absorb through our skin. The quality of the food we eat impacts its ability to perform, effectively impacting all body organs. The liver has zillions of liver cells serving as the body’s micro-chips, converting food into hundreds of essential body functions including producing energy, immune factors, digestive juices (bile), clotting factors, excretion of toxins (alcohol, drugs, pollutants), control of cholesterol and hundreds more. liver cells are the employees in your personal chemical refinery. Without warning excess sugar, carbohydrates, fats, alcohol and drugs ingested can kill liver cells, turning them into scar tissue called cirrhosis. Continued assault over months and years resulting in too many dead cells and too few healthy liver cells causes the liver to slow down and eventually shut down. When your liver shuts down, so do you. Making healthy food and lifestyle choices plus daily exercise will help keep liver cells healthy and your body in good shape. Ask your healthcare provider to check the status of your liver. Prevention begins with liver health education of parents as well as children. |Thelma King
Great analysis on bihar
In response to Sumit Kumar Jha’s ‘A tale of two political alliances’ published on September 27:
Really very insightful analysis of the electoral politics of Bihar. | Avaneeesh Maurya
Actually the grand alliance is a balance among the major party; on the other hand, NDA alliance is hegemonic nature which has more bargaining power with other party. | Niraj Kumar
Thanks for giving us the true reflection of Bihar political alliances. | Aditya Kumar
Nice article. It provided a pre-glimpse of Bihar elections result.| Ankit Jha
Mindblowing. The article helps in understanding Bihar elections. Very compact and timely. | Gautam
Happy or contentIJ
In response to Dr NS Rajan’s ‘Pursuit of happiness at workplace’ published on September 27:
A good article. | Radhakrishna Maiya
Why do we keep parroting Western interpretations of happinessIJ There is a difference between happiness and contentment, and our own interpretations forefront contentment, not happiness. | Bharati
Unfolding new facts
In response to Dr Asha Goswami’s ‘The religion of love’ published on August 23:
Great article and great effort of the author. The article shows the unknown part of the life of lord Krishna. | Manoj Dhingra
What a great writing and revolution in Krishna bhakti; unfolded many facts which were unknown to the world of literature till now. My humble request to the Editor to please let us have more knowledge from the esteemed author. I must say a great personality. Thank you, The Pioneer. |Yagya