Botton edge

Thank you for the interview with Alain de Botton (February 9). The first book I read by this uniquely balanced philosopher, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, bowled me over completely. The cool passion and good sense which marks everything he writes stuck me as rare in a world where mere word-jugglery often passes for originality. Every book by him - whether The Architecture of Happiness or Essays in Love - blends the rare art of narrating suitability of thought with concrete contexts. I have come to expect such from TOI-Crest, which I find a fascinating read every week, as also a bit teasing sometimes. But I never miss a single issue.


M Sivaramkrishna, via email

Zzz zzz - tops

Your cover story (February 9) tellingly informs me about the sleep-starved modern man. The acuteness of the problem is clear when you say even Kumbhakarna would not have been able to snatch eight hours of sleep today. One's priorities now are to improve one's economic status by running the race for riches. We neglect what is vital for health. One can win this battle with sleep by making suitable lifestyle changes in the life style and not creating employment for sleep solutions. The graphic 'Anatomy of a Good Night's Sleep' is thought provoking and helps in revising our strategy for sleep. The wellresearched article is indeed an eye opener for those who often say good bye to a good night.


K Deshpande, via email

Get the goalie

The article by Arati Jerath (' One party, many faces', February 9) about the confusion in the BJP about a suitable candidate to lead it into the 2014 elections is a good analysis of what should be something about which there should be no confusion at all. Narendra Modi is the man to lead the BJP and maybe lead India tomorrow. His speech to Delhi college students shows us that this vikas purush is clear about what goals India needs to achieve and how he will help us do that. He is not of some dynasty and has shown that he is a tough administrator also, which is what we need today. The BJP has to realise that he is their answer, and stop fighting and make him their PM candidate.


Manoj Gupta, via email