The names of optimists and pessimists from literature often become words in their own right. Micawber, Pollyanna, Cassandra, Pangloss and…Jeremiah, to name but five, and keeping, of course, the balance in favour of the optimists!

THAT three women were held captive for 10 years in what appeared to be an ordinary house in a built-up neighbourhood where people came and went, and an air of normality reigned, is almost unbelievable!

Last week it was observed that a multi-storied factory building in Bangladesh had developed noticeable cracks.