Apropos of the news story “A mad sad ad world” (THT, Perspectives, Sept.6, Page 1), the ad industry suffers from the same common ailment that dogs all other industries in the country: Too many cooks spoil the broth. Of course, you do not expect everyone to be like that brilliant expat Nepali musician Louis Banks who infuses life into ads with his electrifying ‘original’ jingle scores. But you do not blatantly lift – lock, stock and barrel – from foreign ads either. There are some seminal products to grace the landscape of Nepali ad world such as “Hathichap chappal and Dhal and Gulaf which, to my mind, were original and relevant to the time period. Then there was a Nepali travel entrepreneur who in mid 1990s advertised ‘Nepal for Royalties and Movie stars’ in Mumbai tabloids such as Mid-day and Afternoon targeting the royalties, movie stars, top industrialists and businessmen. Nepal naturally enjoyed a great brand value in the Indian market, particularly among the rich clientèle in Mumbai and Gujarat. That was a far cry from the present-day ads that coax tourists with ‘Chaliye Pokhara’ stuff. Be it ads, travel, casinos, hotels, banks, schools or politics, you need seasoned professionals for better industry development.

J. Talchabhadell, Bhaktapur

Hunger strike

Dr.Govinda K.C. had been on fast-unto-death. It was his sixth time asking for improvement in medical education. Finally, after 12 days of fast, an agreement between him and the government was signed, which led him to end his fast yesterday. In Nepal, we can hardly find such a dynamic personality who puts himself in danger for Nepalese unlike others. Even it is a matter of shame for us that the one who is ready to sacrifice himself for us, we didn’t care about him. Our selfish leaders of all hues are concerned only for their narrow interests leaders, such as demanding this or that kind of Pradesh and so on, but they are not concerned about the nation where only 24% of total population has got basic health facilities.

Suraj Ray, via e-mail

READ ALSO: Dr KC breaks fast-unto-death on 14th day

Encounter

It has been one year since Dinesh Adhikari aka Chari got killed in a police encounter.

Another don Kumar Shrestha aka Ghaite also got killed in the encounter in the core city area recently. Although the murder of the don has not been a matter of serious concern in society, it has caused massive fury among human rights groups. He used to get protection from political leaders who were always in support of him despite the fact that he committed many crimes like attacks on his rivals and extortions. It is a well-known fact that the police have been exhilarated by the killing of dons. But they have also been criticized by a section of society. Anyway what can be said for sure is that dons like Chari and Ghaite should rather face strong legal action and something should be done in order to transform them into normal citizens. Killing of such persons in the name of an encounter cannot be justified in a country where death penalty is constitutionally banned.

Pratik Shrestha, Kathmandu