This is in response to the editorial titled “Making Merry”(April 12).Right from the moment of commencement of a New Year, deafening crackers reverberate across the midnight sky striking terror in the vulnerable hearts of infants, children, senior citizens, the sick and the animal world. The party continues on the streets, bars, night clubs with utmost hooliganism. With the arrival of dawn, picnic parties start their journey towards various destinations playing music in decibels much more than permissible limits. However, this frenzied activity neither requires any concrete effort nor serves any real purpose. People with loads of money and time to waste can easily do it. Moreover do the New Year revellers ever wonder a bit about the feeling of the unfortunate souls who lose their near and dear ones on that date or have to attend any critical relative in hospitals? The less said about the plight of the unprivileged hearts, the better because they have to deal with acute hunger and injustice year after year. The arrival of a New Year does not put any balm on their starved stomachs or uplift them from their helpless situation. The revellers absolutely miss the actual relevance of a new calendar. This is the right juncture to clean up their souls and engage themselves in a bit of introspection. Barring a few enlightened exceptional persons, a lot of shortcomings and deficiencies invade our characters. So there lies a lot of scope for improvement to bring within our personalities. Instead of accusing others, why don’t we stand in front of the mirror embedded in our conscience and make a comprehensive list of our sins and wrong acts? We should make a resolution to lead our lives in a healthy manner not only in terms of hygiene or official duties, but also in matters concerning relations with family members, neighbours, colleagues  and the society as a whole?

Kajal Chatterjee,  Kolkata

Engagement

Despite the lifting of the blockade on southern border for over three months, the shortage of fuels hasn’t ended yet. Even after all these months of open dry ports, the problem of fuels hasn’t gone away and has remained an unsolved mystery. Everyone has been enduring the shortage of essential commodities even after the end of blockade. People are still relying on firewood polluting the environment and public health. None of the government bodies seems to be serious about this problem that has set the nation back decades. The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has been giving a false impression that the situation has become normal. But in reality, nothing has changed since the end of the blockade. As we enter the New Year 2073 Bikram Sambat, the people have a feeling of anxiety over the threat of Madehsi parties to launch fresh agitation to get their demands fulfilled. People have started stock-piling essential goods for fear of another blockade. In this backdrop, the government should engage with the disgruntled parties in talks and address their concerns to the maximum extent possible.

Sudikshya Sigdyal, via e-mail