"Letter from a concerned reader"

One Mr.J.Mathrubootham who identifies himself only as a retired senior executive of a nationalised bank writes a weekly column in The Hindu. It appears in the Sunday Magazine section.

Titled "Letter from a concerned reader", this column justly trivialises what we normally (mis)take as important issues. The writer expresses his humorous thoughts conversationally and interestingly. Inclusion of this weekly contribution is a pleasant surprise from The Hindu which is normally associated with sedate seriousness and staid statements.

This is a double surprise because bankers are considered to be too serious to be concerned with lighter moments of life and flippant observations on those moments.

Who is our next President?

It may be difficult to get a President like Dr.Radhakrishnan or Dr.Zakir Hussain, both eminent educationists. But does that mean that we need to accept a mediocre person who is least unacceptable to various political divisions?

A person like E.Sreedharan, the Metro Man, is the need of the hour. He is known for honesty, hard work and purposeful action. An equally good choice would be M.S.Swaminathan, the renowned agricultural scientist. Prime Minister Modi has a panache for springing surprises. This time he must also ensure that the presidential nominee is capable of acting without political fear or favour. He or she must also be knowledgeable about duties and responsibility of the First Citizen of the country.

PNB's uniqueness

I worked in Punjab National Bank for 21 years. It is not surprising therefore that any news about PNB interests me. It is the only bank in India whose Chairman and CEO (Managing Director) both have the same name: Sunil Mehta. This peculiarity may occur in family-owned companies. This does not seem to be the case in any non-family owned company in India.

The Chairman had earlier worked with Citibank and AIG. The MD came to PNB via Allahabad Bank and Corporation Bank. Placing both of them in the same bank is an interesting experiment.

PNB which was once considered a robust bank has fallen on difficult days. It has skipped dividend for the past two years. It's anybody's guess when its fortunes will revive.

Theresa May and Narendra Modi

Theresa May seems to have bungled in calling elections early. Her blunder regarding 'dementia tax' has cost her heavily. Perhaps, she could not have foreseen all this.

There are interesting parallels between May and Modi. Both rely heavily on a small set of advisers. Both keep an uneasy distance from their party leaders and parliamentarians. Even while conducting meetings with legislators, these two leaders do not get too close to their party men. Modi gets physically closer only with foreign leaders. This aspect of Modi has started attracting media attention. May and Modi are right of centre economically.

There is one stark difference though. Modi relishes addressing humongously large gatherings which is not May's cup of tea.

Modi excels when in crisis. His handling of repercussions of demonetisation is still fresh in our memory. Will Theresa May excel similarly now that her party has lost majority and Brexit negotiations are round the corner?

AI apologises to Governor

An international flight of Air India was delayed for take-off by two hours in Kozhicode. This is hardly any news. The Governor Justice Sadasivam of Kerala was travelling by that flight.

Newspapers have reported that Air India apologised to the Governor for the delay in departure. This delay was caused by the delay in an incoming flight. Apology has to be tendered to all passengers. Why should AI apologise only to one passenger ? Is India a feudal state?

Evolution of a WhatsApper

It seems impossible today to live without WhatsApp facility. All users of WhatsApp are not alike in the way they use this facility.

Any WhatsApp user evolves over a period of time. Following stages of evolution are noteworthy.

Stage 1: When we are initiated into WhatsApp usage, we only read others' postings on WhatsApp. We do not dare to start posting rightaway.

Stage 2: Once we develop a taste for this facility, we begin to post information and our views. Frequency of postings increases as we become more addicted.

Stage 3: Then we reach a situation when we stop reading postings of others. Instead we forward postings in other groups in our group without knowing or caring to know who was the author in the first place.

Stage 4: We have now graduated to a level wherein we are not expected to read any postings. We end up forwarding others' postings in the same group. Now users in Stage 1 start wondering how they are coming across the same message again and again.

Stage 5: When our evolution is complete, we start forwarding the messages we had earlier forwarded in the same group.

Terror attack in London

It is tragic that that terror events are becoming more frequent. Saturday's attack in London Bridge and Borough Market are absolutely shocking.

Politicians in U.K. have reacted sensibly. Read what Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Labour Party, has said:

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “We are all shocked and horrified by the brutal attacks in London. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have died and the many who have been injured. Today, we will all grieve for their loss.

“I would like to thank the police and emergency services for their bravery and professionalism in acting to save lives and deal with these appalling acts of terrorism, as well as NHS staff and members of the public who sought to protect others.

“The Labour party will be suspending national campaigning until this evening, after consultations with other parties, as a mark of respect for those who have died and suffered injury.

“Those who wish to harm our people, divide our communities and attack our democracy will not succeed. We will stand together to defend our common values of solidarity, humanity and justice, and will not allow terrorists to derail our democratic process.”

This opposition leader has not taken advantage of the terror attack to undermine the chances of the ruling party in the ensuing General Election. Can we ever expect such maturity from our political parties? Unfortunately, in India every calamity is an opportunity to embarrass the government of the day. It may be offensive, but true, that the British took away political decency with them when they departed from India.