MyVoice: Views of our readers 29th May 2025

A royal tribute to the ‘King of Clay’

It was a sight to behold when Rafael Nadal was given an emotional tribute at the Roland Garros on the opening day of French Open 2025. The legendary Spaniard has won an unprecedented 14 French Open titles, which justifies the ‘King of Clay’ title that he has been ‘conferred’ with. The day was made more memorable when the other three legends from the contemporary ‘Big Four’, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray joined the Roland Garros crowd to hail the great champion, who broke down carried away by the emotional salutations. As Nadal has rightly pointed out it is important to respect your colleagues and opponents as at the end of the day, tennis is just a sport. Millions of fans will miss Nadal. As the saying goes, ‘legends never retire’. Indeed!

Parimala G Tadas, Madinaguda Hyderabad-50

Need to protect dialects from extinction

India boasts of over 1,600 languages. Sadly, many are vanishing without a whisper. Languages like Tulu, Kodava, and tribal dialects are dying, not because people have stopped speaking but because the authorities and the prevalent system stopped listening. Uniform schooling, media centralisation, and cultural apathy are pushing these equally rich languages to extinction. What’s at stake isn’t just vocabulary but stories and identity. Despite all the “unity in diversity” discourses, we’ve become too comfortable letting our linguistic roots decay and go into oblivions. The future needs more than token gestures — we need education in every mother-tongue, archives, and revival of literature in their truest sense. Can we afford to celebrate our heritage with empty echoes?

Mohd Hasnain, Muzaffarpur

Learn from past experiences to address Covid surge

India is witnessing a notable rise in Covid-19 cases, echoing early pandemic surges but with milder severity due to vaccinations and immunity. To stay ahead of the curve, the government must reinforce testing, accelerate booster doses, and emphasize mask-wearing and hygiene, especially in crowded settings. Timely intervention through antivirals and supportive care continues to be effective in managing cases. Vigilance and proactive measures can prevent another crisis.

Kocherlakota Joshika, Kapra, Hyderabad-62

Post Harvard episode: Time to promote IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS

The halting of new student and exchange visitor visa appointments by all U.S. missions abroad has cast a dark shadow over the aspirations of thousands of international students. With a hardline immigration policy in place, only those with scheduled appointments are being considered, while deportations continue. It is quite shocking that around 800 Harvard students are facing visa terminations under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Indian students are particularly at risk—dropping out or discontinuing studies could lead to lifetime visa revocation. This endangers the future of nearly 140,000 Indian students on F-1 (academic) and J (non-immigrant) visas, causing massive financial losses and psychological distress. To counter this, India must focus on retaining talent by expanding and upgrading premier institutions like IITs, IIMs, and AIIMS to match global standards. Meanwhile, the reservation policy must be reformed on a merit-based model, like that in the Indian army. Strengthening domestic opportunities can also checkmate brain drain

RS Narula, Patiala