MyVoice: Views of our readers 14th January 2025

ED or Chairman of TTD should step down

Ref: “Time for overhaul of top brass of TTD” (Hans, January 13). At the outset, the Tirupati stampede that caused death of six devotees remains a nightmare. Both Executive Officer and Chairman criticising each other for lapses in front of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is unwarranted. It exposes their lack of coordination in the crucial hours on Vaikunta Dwara Darsanam day. They cannot be on good terms henceforth. One of them must be changed as a top priority. Timely apologies were expressed by CM and Dy CM. YSRCP took advantage of this tragedy, and it is not unusual for any opposition party. All precautions must be initiated, especially during festival periods.

N Srilalita Gowthami, Hyderabad

Time to dig into traditional sweets

I wish all a very happy Makara Sankranti. I would like to mention the traditional Til Gud of Dharwad city of North Karnataka. Dharwad is a peaceful and a serene city of North Karnataka and is famous for its Pedha and the tasty, spicy and mouthwatering Jowar Roti meals served at Basavappa Khanavali, with its various outlets dotting the city. But what caught my imagination is the traditional homemade Til Gud or Ellu Bella as it is called in Kannada which is prepared in every household during Sankranti. There is a saying that one should offer Til Gud to our loved ones on this day so that the sweetness in the relations are maintained. So what goes into the making of this simple offering we call as Til Gud or the Ellu Bella is the authenticity of the recipe which has been maintained even today. We are simply spellbound by the simplicity of some of our traditional home made recipes passed on to us through generations.

Parimala G Tadas, Hyderabad

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Pongal is a three-day destival, celebrated in South India Sankranti; a day when the sun passes from one sign of the zodiac to another. Pongal marks the beginnings of the sun’s northern course. Punjabis celebrate this as Lohri as a traditional festival as harvest season in traditional style. For Tamilians, the first day is Bhogi Pongal, the Pongal of Joy. On this day people exchange sweets and lit a fire and dispose of the old items and look for a new year. The second day is Surya Pongal, and this day is dedicated to the Sun God. People get up early in the morning and have their early morning bath as on Diwali day. Married women have their chores to complete. They put rice to the boiled milk ideally in a pot on fire and as soon as it begins to simmer, they all shout together “PONGAL-O-PONGAL”.

C K Subramaniam, Mumbai

Farmer bodies shall unite for their goal

Various bodies of farmers carrying out protests are still not integrated for planning and conducting their meets from one place to another, to arrive at one conclusive demand, thus weakening their assertion to the government. Unless they work in unison to arrive at an achievable, pragmatic and acceptable solution with the government, it will hurt their interests. It will also cost the government dearly, which should initiate talks. Or, commuters will keep on getting harassed and farmers will remain distant from their goal. It is high time that farmers act unitedly to frame their demands and sit face to face with the union government to close the issue once and for all.

Col RS Narula (Retd), Patiala

Youth in despair, govt talk all hot air

Ref: ‘Strength of youth will make India a developed nation’. It is a utopian thought and nothing else! A large majority of today’s youth of India was fed on corruption, short-cuts and nepotism. They are ‘mostly’ lazy and prefer to live a life of dependency rather than self-reliance. As such, the cream among the youth (a small minority) who got no recognition have started the brain drain to developed countries and are getting excellent recognition. That is why we see several of them working as CEOs of top-notch corporate houses. Mere catchy slogans won’t deliver results.

Govardhana Myneedu, Vijayawada

Largest spiritual congregation at Prayagraj

Mahakumbh at Prayagraj is the biggest congregation of people all around the country and abroad, The gathering of 450 million people in 45 days is almost equal to the European Union population for a holy dip in pious Ganges. All the irritants of anxiety, anguish and anger due to noise and unruliness of crowds will become trivial with dissolution of ego, and emergence of inner self rising to a level shifting from ‘you and me’ to “us”. This is a miraculous confluence of humanity.

Buddha Jagdish Rao, Visakhapatnam