Apropos of the news story “No visitors allowed on Japan’s men-only UNESCO island” (THT, July 16, Page 1), this characterizes the difference between the minds of the people between the highly developed gentle society and politically indoctrinated feral ones. If such an entry ban was imposed first on women and then on men except priests at a rich and fragile traditional orthodox UNESCO site in the Republic of Nepal, newly empowered, politically liberated Nepalese would have kicked up a massive dust storm. They would have likened the ban to the imaginary regressive steps of the ancient monarch and would have threatened to force their way in. I/NGOs and local media would have decried the ban on females as an attack on their gender citing grave discrimination. But educated, liberated, sophisticated and, above all, docile, disciplined and gentle Japanese have no such identity or gender problems with the ban. They must be celebrating the week-old coveted UNESCO declaration and would happily live with the ban in a show of national pride, homogeneous identity and sovereignty.

In contrast, a promenade into one of the seven UNESCO sites such as Patan Durbar Square introduces us to a heritage of a wilder and obscene kind. Motorbikes abound everywhere, behind Krishna Mandir, in front of Bhimsen Mandir, motorcycles screeching in the narrow lanes in all four cardinal directions around the sacred site; young lovers sharing a cup of coffee and tea or a stick or cone of ice cream, mobile live vending machines dispensing hot drinks from the kettle or puri-tarkari from a pot. Worst of all, lovers of different age, identity, ethnicity, religion, education, profession display live rendition of intertwined bodies, fondling extremities and other such amorous poses that can be seen only on the friezes of the ancient Khajuraho temples, another celebrated world heritage site in India.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Generous

This is in response to the news report titled “Man donates money saved for son’s wedding” (THT, July 16, Page 6). I am indeed moved by the generous action of Tilak Poudel who is nothing but a living example of a true human being. That our responsibility does not terminate with ensuring well-being of the immediate family but needs to be extended towards the larger society as well has been displayed to the world by Poudel; not through mere words, but via concrete meaningful action.

Hats off to this teacher of the society and also Himalayan Times deserve praise for highlighting Poudel’s graciousness. Not only has Poudel refrained from indulging in extravagance revolving son’s wedding which is itself a very nice trait in an environment where the solemn ritual of marriage gets converted into a theatre of vulgar display of monetary might, but he has also donated the saved money to schools which create the basic infrastructure.

Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkata