Letter to THE EDITOR: What ails the state administration?

Recently, the Chief Minister of Assam has highlighted the importance of administrative reforms. From time to time, a need has been felt to improve government functioning and delivery to the public, but attempts in the past have ended in vain for lack of initiative to improve the system. The guiding principles should be to create better public relations in government offices and agencies by adhering to the core values of discipline, punctuality, and sincerity on the part of the rank and file of the working force. The objective of government functioning should be to be accustomed to the commercial motto of ‘customer satisfaction’ in the work culture. In order to accomplish and give practical effect to such a plan, proper training must be imparted to the employees for achieving smooth and efficient results. At the same time, effective control and supervision of the operating unit are extremely important to ensure timely disposal of work and the rendering of services to the common man or beneficiary. Corruption is yet another big barrier to a change for the better and has to be eradicated in toto from the bottom up in the governance system.

Pannalal Dey,

Guwahati.

Disgrace to Lachit

Months ago, the state government very successfully celebrated the 400th birth anniversary of Veer Lachit Barphukan across the nation to glorify the heroics of the great Ahom General, which, due to some reasons, did not find enough space in the history curriculum of the school textbook. By doing so, the state government has put great warriors on the same pedestal as the likes of Maratha Samrat Chhatrapati Sivaji.

In Assam, to honour Veer Lachit, a so-called Sena was formed in Sibsagar and named Lachit Sena with the false motive of upholding the prestige and security of Asomiyas. The Lachit Sena is always seeming to be in the business of blackmailing or threatening the non-Assamese community in the districts of upper Assam. Their modus operandi is to loot common people in the name of Sanda. The recent arrest of one such vandal, named Srinkhal Chaliha of Lachit Sena, for assaulting and spitting on one trader whose family has been living in Assam for decades and has been contributing to our society in various capacities.

Veer Lachit Barphukan must be turning in his grave to see these vandals disgracing him and the entire community demanding sanda forcefully and spitting on somebody’s face, which is not our culture.

Lanu Dutt Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Women in

combat roles

Five women officers were inducted into the army artillery regiment in combat roles the other day. These exemplary officers will be trained for a year and posted to the western and northern border later. The Indian Army artillery regiment consists of 20 per cent women in its ranks, but the chosen five will be the first batch to don the combat role. Permanent Commission (PC) and command postings for women officers in the Indian Army materialized thanks to a Supreme Court order of February 2020. Short Service Commissioned (SSC) officers in all ten streams of the army were ordered to be accorded PC status depending upon their eligibility and option, irrespective of their tenure in office, by the Centre subsequent to the court order. The SC missive to the court was seen as a whiff of fresh air for women officers—only 1600 in a 43000-strong personnel.

Earlier, women officers were excluded from command posts, unlike male officers, who could opt for PC after a service of ten years. Therefore, it is laudable that the army is breaking the gender barrier, disregarding preconceived notions and primitive mindsets. The Indian Air Force takes the cake in having more number of female personnel as compared to the Indian Army and the Indian Navy. A woman’s less-than-average body size cannot be, in any way, held against her. Modern-day warfare is more about skills than brute strength. According to global warfare experts, the presence of women may drive their male counterparts to strategize and recoup more efficiently in a war. Women have enriched many spheres of life with their innate leadership qualities, and the military cannot be an exception.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat,

(gbhat13@gmail.com.)

A writer’s creativity

As a passionate writer for years, it always evoked in me a sense of curiosity about the cognitive aspects of writing, as this psychology plays a significant role in shaping the writer’s ideas and his or her skills and conveying them to readers effectively. You may never know what might spark a writer’s creativity. A cup of coffee, walking on grass barefoot, or a certain sitting posture are some of the fine elements that work behind the psychology of writing. The kinks can be countless, and so can their effects. While the idiosyncrasies that go on in writers’ minds are highly personalized, there are certain habits or preferences that hint at how a writer thinks. Writers in general have different kinds of pre-writing rituals like environmental aesthetics, brainstorming or jogging the mind, self-motivation, etc. But, personally, I would consider ‘jogging the mind’ the most powerful tool that best works as a key creativity factor, as the power of the mind is infinite and can do wonders for a writer’s ability and proficiency.

There are some weird habits that famous writers followed. They believed in superstitions and had quirky little rituals for success. If Agatha Christie munched apples in the bathtub while envisioning murder mysteries, Charles Dickens always carried a navigational compass with him and faced north while he slept—a practice he believed improved his creativity and writing.

The psychology of writing explains the fact that to become a celebrated writer, you must essentially be a great thinker and think in a beautiful way. Such thinking is the result of the psychology of great writers, who have refined and polished their writing through their thoughts, like carving a delightful sculpture out of a wooden log.

Ranganathan Sivakumar,

siva19kumar@gmail.com.