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Damini, Nirbhaya, Amanat are all names that have been given to symbolise the 23 year old victim of the Delhi gang rape whose real identity has been kept anonymous on her family’s request. Surely one can respect that and show one’s solidarity or shed tears for her without ever knowing her name.

Moreover this has led to images of totally unrelated people being associated with the crime and spread widely on social media. It looks like the images that are chosen are of random people whose real names happen to be the fictional names given to the victim. Here’s one such example: Timeline Photos | Facebook. Try going to Google images and type any of those names and see what comes up.

These are just my thoughts but what I am really trying to understand is:
a) is there a need to give the victim a name and a face? and
b) is it right to do so?

Answer by Neeraj Agarwal:

The Mathematical bridge in Cambridge, UK

When I first went to Cambridge, I was intrigued by this bridge because of the popular fable according to which the bridge had been designed and built by Sir Isaac Newton and that when it was first built, it did not have any nuts or bolts to hold it together. Subsequently a bunch of students tried to bring it apart but could not figure out how to hold the structure together and so were compelled to use nuts and bolts.

On digging deeper into its history, I came to realize that the above account which you will still find being narrated by the local guides/punt chauffeurs was just a myth. In reality, it was designed by William Etheridge, and built by James Essex the Younger in 1749, 22 years after Newton’s death. It was reconstructed twice after that but even the earlier versions had iron pins to hold it together.

However the bridge still fascinates due to its geometrical construction, whereby although it appears to be an arch, it’s made entirely of straight timbers, hence the name Mathematical bridge.

For further info: Queens’ College Cambridge - Mathematical Bridge