Sunday, May 11, 2003		Feedback

Life without a sister

THIS is an response to "Life’s a lacklustre without a sister" by Vinish Garg (April 20) like the author, I too belong to an unfortunate family that has no sister. We are only three brothers (including myself) and our dreams of buying her dresses of marriage and birthday parties have been shattered. Really, the daughter/sister give a completely different look to the house. She make the atmosphere of a family like that of a heaven.

RAVI CHANDER GARG, Ahmedgarh

I fully endorse the views of the writer expressed in this article. Sisters are, indeed, kinder and gentler. But it is a sad fact that parents, in general, prefer sons to daughters. Such a mindset can be changed only if the bane of dowry is uprooted. If this is done then parents will not think twice before giving birth to a girl but will happily accept her.

Tarsem S. Bumrah, Batala

The real importance of a sister can be known from the plight of a brother who has missed a sister’s presence in his childhood, missed fighting with her over the TV remote, over chocolates and missed her on his birthdays. A sister is one who takes care of her brother’s books, his clothes and helps him in times of need. Unlucky are the brothers whose wrists are always bare on rakhi, who don’t get the opportunity to fulfil the rituals of kanyadaan on a sister’s marriage. A sister makes a brother’s life complete. She brings cheer to the family. A sister also teaches her brother to behave better in the company of other women.

Sumit Sabharwal, Hoshiarpur

Finland

I was delighted to read the write-up "Frolicking in Finland’s saunas & green gold" by Mohinder Singh (April 27). Finland has few world-renowned attraction, no fjords, like Norway, no great castles as in Sweden, no renowned cathederals like Germany. Finland is a country of light summers and dark winters. The midnight sun can be seen for over two months in Lapland. In winter the sun does not rise above the horizon for several weeks. The wide forests shelters wild animals, bears, wolves, wolverines, lynxes. And in Lapland there are over 2,00000 reindeer herded by the Lapps. Finland is more independent than many a bigger country. It has eight political parties represented in its parliament, an independent judicial system and a free press with a well developed sense of responsibility. To cap it all, Finland has also produced sports champions and Olympic winners, especially in track and field and winter sports.

VIJAY SHEEL JAIN, Ludhiana

Apropos of the write-up "The dance code of bees" by Nutan Shukla (April 27), honey is the product of an intricate relationship between bees and flowers. It takes no less than 37,000 bee trips from the flowers to the bee hives to make just a pound of honey! These little winged creatures literally kill themselves with sheer exhaustion bringing nectar to hives. Younger bees take their place, making this wondrous process go on endlessly.

More than 10,000 different flowers entice bees to pollinate them. In fact, many flower species would have been extinct had it not been for the bees.

SAYA, Shimla

M.L. Dhawan, in his write-up "A paean to Mother India" (April 27), states that after Andaaz Nargis became an integral part of Raj Kapoor’s cinematic ventures and that the pair later appeared in movies like Aag and Barsaat.

This is incorrect. The grand pair of Raj Kapoor and Nargis appeared for the first time in R.K.’s own venture Aag (1948). Actually, the movie had two more heroines — Kamini Kaushal and Nigar. Later, in 1949, Raj and Nargis appeared in Barsaat another R.K. Films’ venture which became a big box-office hit. Mehboob Khan’s Andaaz, which too was a ’49 release, was their third film together.

SURENDRA MIGLANI, Kaithal

Apropos of the write-up, "Sound bytes of success" by Peeyush Agnihotri (April 20), it is a fact that female telemarketers come across all kind of customers, some of them difficult, while performing their daily jobs. Many female telemarketers are being appointed by various call centres. One of the reasons for this is that women are much more polite and convincing than men. Also, most people prefer female voices to male voices.

Akriti Awal, Yamunanagar