This is in response to Prashant Sedhain’s article titled “Football: the divine craze”(THT, March 16, Page 8).

Indeed football is a divine craze. This craze for the great game is many times better than the suicidal craze for selfies, smartphones, fashion items, latest gadgets, bikes or night clubs. Unlike the latter items which are nothing but destructive and negative, the craze for football is positive and highly enriching both physically and spiritually. However one should be cautious that such craze does not cross the border of sanity and decency. Not only should we appreciate that our favourite players or teams will not win each and every match or tournament, we should also warmly applaud and respect the opponents. Actually there lies no surprise in witnessing the craze for football among the common Nepali youth as the national team is playing not only with heads held high, but also coming up with glorious results. Very recently the highly gifted and talented Nepali youngsters had vanquished the giants of the subcontinent right in their own backyard, i.e. India, and collected a gold in the South Asian Games after a gap of 23 years. It was almost a repeat telecast of U-19 SAFF Championship final (August 2015) when Nepal vanquished India to win the coveted trophy. Indeed the success of Nepal in the U-19 SAFF Championship as well as South Asian Games is a very good sign. It is hoped that this bunch of young successful Nepali footballers will not rest on their laurels only. Rather, they will translate this success in senior stage also and emerge as a footballing powerhouse of Asia. And we are sure that the craze for football will not be confined to simply watching the game from the stands, but it would encourage the Nepali kids and youth to take up the game with utmost seriousness by drawing inspiration from the likes of Prakash Budhathoki, Nawayug Shrestha and Bukesh Kuthu, to name a few.

Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkata

E-vehicles

“DoTM registers e-scooters after conducting road worthiness test and allows them to operate in fixed areas” reads a DoTM notice “E-scooter owners told to register vehicles in 15 days” (THT, March 15, Page 1). E-scooters and e-cars would address fuel and environmental problems at one go while offering private mobility in the crowded city centres within Ring Road in the Kathmandu Valley. Crisscrossing the perennial fuel shortage even after the lifting of five months of the blockade, E-scooters and E-car can be an alternate to diesel and petrol-powered vehicles which cause environmental problems. DoTM’s latest decision to get all the electric vehicles registered with the department is a welcome move as many vehicles of such categories have hit the streets recently. They also have to pass through the driving test as they may also cause traffic jams and cause road accidents as their speed is almost the same as that of the engine based vehicles.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu