Defeated by Randomness?
By all accounts, the absolute carnage that had been unleashed by Covid in its second coming, was the result of a new mutated Delta variant of the virus. Clearly, something changed between the first...
View ArticleDilip Kumar: A non-fan’s tribute
I was never a Dilip Kumar fan. He was someone who always resided on the periphery of my consciousness, as a totemic figure to be revered in an abstract way. Everyone around me paid their...
View Article30 years on, you can get what you want but don’t know what you need
The world is a river flowing through our lives. It takes the form of our social media timeline, as it connects us with whatever it is we wish to be connected to. As part of...
View ArticleEating Out at Home?
Could there be homes in the future without a kitchen? it is already happening in some parts of the world. Young couples in particular, who lead busy often asynchronous lives, feel no need to use...
View ArticleThe lure of Comics
There is something about the comic book format that is so appealing. Growing up, bliss was nothing more than an unread comic book waiting to be dived into. It really didn’t matter what was featured...
View ArticleA new beginning?
Something is changing. Something important has shifted. Our response to the performance of our athletes in the Tokyo Olympics has a note of hope, a fresh sense of new beginnings that is unmistakable....
View ArticleThat indescribable feeling
You can call it patriotism. Or label it as nationalism. Perhaps see it as nothing more than collective euphoria. But it is something we feel only once in a while. The uplift in national sentiment...
View ArticleThe Value of Valuations?
The recent Zomato IPO was greeted both by enthusiastic cheers and snide incomprehension. For some the idea of a start-up managing to get valued so generously was a sign of a new world order that...
View ArticleSycophancy as strategy?
Sycophancy has a rich tradition in the country; it is the preferred mode used by the less powerful in dealing with their superiors. Jee huzoori, or a kind of performative servility has been a way...
View ArticleRoyalty Blues?
Last week we were witness to yet another episode of the ongoing saga of the British royal family. The estranged royal couple spoke to the fount of American compassion, Oprah Winfrey and as expected the...
View ArticleThe tyranny of slimfit clothes
The Slimfit Conspiracy? That Organized Fashion is a tyranny is well known. In the name of what is currently in vogue, many abominations have been inflicted upon men and women down the ages. On the...
View ArticleIs a green Diwali possible? Indians don’t easily take to modifying individual...
Every year, as Diwali approaches, a familiar pattern can be seen. Courts and governments move to ban firecrackers, some people heave a sigh of relief while others get indignant about a perceived...
View ArticleWhy is afternoon the least recognised part of the day?
The afternoon attracts no poetry. It lies as a forgotten part of the day, a forlorn bridge between the bits that excite our imagination. We might be morning or evening people, but no one talks...
View ArticleThe difficulty of staying still
The latest darlings of the financial world are the new players who are promising grocery delivery within 10 minutes. This is as close to magic as one can imagine, one which dramatically collapses the...
View ArticleAdventures in gadgetland
In the 70s, when we first bought a tape recorder, those little boxes with a few buttons, one of them red, their role was largely to record the sound of our own voices. The idea...
View ArticleHow advertising held a mirror to India where change was the only constant
There are many mirrors in which we can see our evolution in the 75 years that have gone by since Independence, and advertising is a particularly interesting one. For it tells us stories about how...
View ArticleTies that bind: Festivals, shopping and our sense of self – Diwali has always...
For as long as one can remember, Diwali has been synonymous with shopping. Of course, in the older days, the actual quantum was quite low. While one always wore a new set of clothes on...
View ArticleMiddling win, middling loss: AAP won the MCD polls but lost some support. BJP...
AAP’s victory in the MCD polls is not a surprise. The exit polls were right for once, and BJP’s undistinguished record in running the municipality made it easy to believe them for once. The margin...
View ArticleSports as metaphor?
Another India-Pakistan match has just ended, this time inconclusively. But every such encounter is an exercise in nail-biting tension, with over-the-top celebrations in the case of a win and angry...
View ArticleOf fond old memories and happy contradictions
Is Diwali the same as it used to be? In some ways, it is louder, glitzier, and more packed with social activity and consumption. But has something been lost in the process? What was always...
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