LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
VISION MATTERS
It is certain that there would not be a soul who had not been mesmerised by the living legend Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, whose inimitable simplicity and grace will never leave any person untouched. Fortunate were indeed the youngsters and adults who had the opportunity to interact and listen to his great inspiring talk given in the Sharjah Book Fair 2013.
His instant chord and his unassuming humility were evident in every word he uttered. He kept them spell bound and made them repeat his words. In a world where one is in perfect quandary as to who should be shown as the role model to the upcoming generation of youngsters, Dr Kalam shines as the prized possession living his life with a vision and mission to inspire as many hearts as he could.
Congratulations to the Sharjah Book Fair organisers for providing such wonderful opportunities to the youth and adults and opening the gateways of wonderful world of books, which are treasure houses of knowledge and most of all for inviting such great personalities like Dr. Kalam who never forget their commitment to humanity globally.
OF REALISM
We are a witness to a lot of garbled reality; not able to confirm which is real, which is make-believe and which an illusion of the real. People we associate with and our relationships with them are based on perceived assumptions and expectations. We get involved in experimentation of real and imagined; real and fancy; and real and make-believe based on our mislaid assumptions. Our struggle in search of the real, therefore, appears to be unreal.
Similarly what we listen might be one side of the story and, therefore, half-truth. Based on what we listened, we also respond with half-truth. Our smile might be more modelled than real and our laughter might be noisier than meaningful.
Some of the questions classical philosophers have struggled with pertain to nature and limits of knowledge like, is the reality of the world different from how we perceive and experience? Is there anything other than physical reality? Does everything that happens have to have a cause? Is everything that happens predetermined? Is there free will? Can science discover the ultimate nature of realty? Can pure reason (or even intuition) tell us anything about the ultimate nature of reality?
DEADLY SMOKE
This is in response to the letters ‘Unholy smoke’ (KT, November 9). Sheesha has become a trend in our society. It has actively grabbed the attention of the teenagers, especially. There is an alarming thing about Sheesha. One puff of Sheesha contains more than 4,800 active chemicals. Many of these chemicals are known to cause mouth and lung cancer, heart and respiratory diseases.
According to the World Health Organisation, the volume of smoke inhaled in an hour-long Sheesha session is estimated to be equivalent of smoking between 100 and 200 cigarettes. Non-smokers, particularly pregnant women, babies, children and the elderly are at a high risk from breathing in Sheesha smoke.
I have observed many cafes under residential apartments. It was a bit shocking for me, as the location is unsuitable. This issue is imperative. It is very catastrophic and unsafe. There’s a need to improve the enigma between the trend and risk. The best solution would be to take action individually, and bring awareness among the people in abating the enormous usage of this deadly smoke.