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Simply shoes
Appropos “ Take care of your feet”
(Spectrum, May 29), all shows are bad for our feet but we must wear them because of where we live and what we walk on. As bipeds, the amount of force on each foot is twice that of our quadruped ancestors. Shoes provide a three-fold benefit : cushioning, support and protection of the skin against puncture by foreign bodies. The modern-day running and walking shoes are excellent for support and cushioning but are good for only 3 to 4 hours at a time. Unfortunately, foot types are often not considered in the average measurements of shoe size. A 10B size does not consider problems of the instep, a narrow heal or even fifth toe deformity. Also, a Podiatrist should be consulted for the proper fitting of shoes for diabetics. — Avtar Narain Chopta,
On Puran Singh
Bhagat Puran Singh was a unique humanitarian, the like of whom we are unlikely to see again (
Randeep Wadhera’s write-up, Saturday Extra, June 11
). Dressed in scruffy, crumpled clothes of coarse Khadi, he possessed the sterling traits implicit in the epithet ‘Bhagat’. He was indeed a ruby in rags. Whenever I saw him at the entrance of the Golden Temple or in the Pigalwara at Amritsar, I spontaneously crooned the verse : Khuda to milta hai, insaan hi nahin milta/ Ye cheez voh hai jo dekhi kahen kaheen mai-ney ( It’s easier to find God than a human being; they are undoubtedly rare). He had very little formal education but he was a voracious reader and possessed immense knowledge on various subjects. The babas of different deras should take their cue from him and use their resources in pursuing philanthropic activities. — Bhagwan Singh,
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Nuclear plants safe Raj Chengappa’s interview with Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (June 19) touched a range of vital issues confronting safety of nuclear power plants. Dr Srikumar Banerjee appeared to have put up a convincing defence of India’s decision to go ahead with rapid expansion of nuclear reactors in view of our energy needs. Banerjee’ s assertion that India has provided additional back-up for power plants, put up mini wave-breakers besides a tsunami walls would go a long way to address doubts in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. — Capt S.K. Datta, Abohar Not quite O.K. This refers to Lalit Bhardwaj’s letter ( June 12). Way back in 2001 one Amir Tuteja from New York was quoted by Khushwant Singh in his column explaining that O.K. is not an English term at all but is a German name. A German national, whose name was Otto Krause, worked at a Ford automobile plant in the USA. He was looking after quality control and checked every car before putting his initials ‘OK’ with a chalk on the bonnet of the cars. It would indicate that the cars had no defects. Since then the term OK slowly spread across the world. This version appears more authentic. — Usha Yadav, Faridabad Poor joke The new criteria for judging poverty are truly disgraceful and unrealistic ( Pushp M Bhargava’s article, Oped, June 19). The Planning Commission may like to adopt an unrealistic benchmark and manage to show fewer people who suffer from poverty but the ostrich-like behaviour can hardly wish away poverty. Instead of giving grants to private schools and hospitals, the government must take upon itself the responsibility of taking care of the poor. The criteria for judging the poor needs to be dumped, sooner the better. — Kshitij Gupta, Narwana ( Haryana)
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