Ajay Thakur

Witnessing the Hate within / Fall of Indianness on Social Media including here...and Everything else

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

@Monizbarbosa Whenever an @INCGoa sounding outfit appears on the horizon is all not well with @BJP4Goa 😉 and @AAPGoa and @TMCforGoa not of much help?

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Arré! #IndiaNepal same to same 🤣😂

[Krishna Sharma @kps_baglung]

कान्तिपुरले चन्द्र ढकालको हिनामिना छाप्दैन । अनलाईनले दिपक भट्टको छाप्दैन। रातोपाटीले सुन तस्कर पुनको छाप्दैन।सेतोपाटीले अनुदान हिनामिना छाप्दैन। यिनिहरू नै फेरी स्वतन्त्र पत्रकारिताको र स्वतन्त्र पत्रकारको भजन गाईरहन्छन् । जय होस् ।

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

@avinashtavares @TavaresAvi One Helluva Conversation 😈

[Toby Tarrant @tobytarrant]

Hi @grok if your owner wasn't a massive cunt.

How many starving children could he help with a trillion dollars?

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

@pranavINC Well deserved. So proud of you

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

There goes another faux Indian dream😜

[The Protagonist @protagonist_xi]

Posted this on insta last night and the cockroaches went mad.

I wonder why?

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

So many Bharats and Indias that we never knew

[Sann @san_x_m]

His name was Dhondo Keshav Karve.

He was born in 1858 in a small village in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, into a poor family. His mother taught him one lesson early. Never accept a gift from anyone. Never lower your self respect for money. He carried that his entire life.

At 14, he was married off to an 8 year old girl named Radhabai. That was how society worked then. She died in childbirth in 1891. He was left alone with a young son.

When people told him to remarry, he said something that stopped the conversation cold.

If I am to marry again, it will only be a widow.

His friend’s father heard this and said then why look further. Marry my daughter Godubai.

Godubai had been widowed at age 8. Within three months of her own marriage. Before she even knew, as she later said, what it meant to be a wife.

Karve married her in 1893. His entire community excommunicated him. Newspapers across Pune, Bombay and Belgaum attacked him. Relatives walked away.

He did not stop.

He founded the Widow Marriage Association that same year. In 1896, he opened the Hindu Widows Home outside Pune. He sold personal belongings to fund it. He went without salary. The first student was his own 20 year old widowed sister in law.

In 1916, he founded India’s first university for women. The SNDT Women’s University. It started in a single room with five students. Today, it has over 700 affiliated colleges serving millions of women across India.

Albert Einstein personally expressed a desire to meet him.

On his 100th birthday in 1958, the Government of India awarded him the Bharat Ratna.

He lived to 104.

In a country that told widows their life was over the day their husband died, one mathematics professor spent 104 years proving it wrong.

Follow for real stories India never makes headlines about.

[Reza Nasri @RezaNasri1]

The war benefited Iran in at least one aspect: The overt attention given to Iran for the last 50 days has completely shattered the fabricated image that Israeli-affiliated media had crafted of the country for decades.

Many people have now realized that:

1- Iran is not run by mad apocalyptic “mullahs". Many Iranian officials are sophisticated technocrats, steeped in political science, literature, mathematics, international relations, and philosophy. They hold PhDs and strong academic credentials from renowned universities, and have actually authored books on Immanuel Kant, negotiations and governance. In fact, they are much more sophisticated than their Western counterparts. For one, none of them ever appeared on the Epstein list. That is precisely why they do not have to bend or bow before Israel or its network of lobbies.

2- The Iranian people are proud and patriotic. They are willing to risk their lives by forming human chains around bridges and critical infrastructure to protect their homeland. They have never welcomed, and will never welcome, foreign intervention. Neighboring countries were mistaken in assuming they would need to close their borders to manage an influx of refugees fleeing war from Iran. Not only did Iranians refuse to flee the war zone, but many living abroad actually returned home by land once the conflict began.

3- Iran is a resilient nation that has endured decades of illegal sanctions, sadistic “maximum pressure” campaigns, covert operations, and outright war. It stood tall, relied solely on itself, and built a formidable military, industrial, and scientific base. By contrast, countries with far stronger economies are already complaining about the economic fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and are growing impatient. Iran withstood their sanctions for nearly fifty years, yet they cannot tolerate fifty days of reciprocal economic pressure. Hopefully this reality will force them to recognize the depravity of their past policies.

4- Iran is not a state sponsor of terrorism. Its only “sin” has been to be the sole country on Earth that has firmly, openly, and proudly stood up to Israeli apartheid and genocidal policies. That is the real source of all the demonization.

5- Iran did not squander money—or the brief proceeds from temporary sanctions relief—on destabilizing the region. It invested in infrastructure instead. The sheer number of hospitals, airports, petrochemical plants, railroads, bridges, ports, pharmaceutical factories, and universities targeted in the war reveals exactly where that money was spent.

6- Iran did not seek war. It pursued serious diplomacy, only to be betrayed on multiple occasions. The United States withdrew from the JCPOA and then attacked Iran twice while new negotiations were underway. All the smears claiming that Iran fails to honor its international commitments or is prone to lying and cheating are pure nonsense unsupported by empirical evidence.

7- Iran’s foreign policy is guided by values, principles, and national pride rather than materialist “cost-benefit” calculations. Understanding this is essential to reaching any genuine deal. Otherwise, within a narrow “cost-benefit” paradigm, Israeli experts and think tanks will continue to rush to portray Iran’s intentions as hostile—just as they have done for decades by relentlessly disseminating the falsehood that Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

[Purushottam Agrawal @puru_ag]

Wow 😄😄

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

A humble bottle of 330 ml water goes from ₹45 MRP to ₹60 with taxes on a summer afternoon in @ibisindia at @GmrAerocity on your table.

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

@VictorPaudelx @grok How serious is the health condition of the former Prime Minister as per this report?

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Dear @letsblinkit Please learn to refund money if you can't deliver proper products. I still have photos which I plan to make public if you don't correct your chat options and resolve issues.

[Peter Girnus 🦅 @gothburz]

I am a diplomatic aide in the Sultanate of Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

My job is logistics. When two countries that cannot speak to each other need to speak to each other, I book the rooms. I prepare the briefing materials. I make sure the water glasses are the right distance apart. You would be surprised how much of diplomacy is water glasses. Too close and it feels informal. Too far and it feels like a tribunal. I have a chart.

We had a very good month.

Since January, Oman has been mediating indirect talks between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program. The talks were held in Muscat and in Geneva. The Americans would sit in one room. The Iranians would sit in another room. I would walk between them. My Fitbit says I averaged fourteen thousand steps on negotiation days. The hallway between the two rooms at the Royal Opera House conference center is forty-seven meters. I walked it two hundred and twelve times in February. This is good for my cardiovascular health. It was less good for my knees. Both are in the service of peace.

By mid-February, we had something.

Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of enriched uranium. Not reduced stockpiling. Zero. They agreed to down-blend existing stockpiles to the lowest possible level. They agreed to convert them into irreversible fuel. They agreed to full IAEA verification with potential US inspector access. They agreed, in the Foreign Minister's phrase, to "never, ever" possess nuclear material for a bomb. I have worked in diplomacy for seven years. I have never seen a country agree to this many things this quickly. I made a spreadsheet of the concessions. It had fourteen rows. I color-coded it. Green for confirmed. Yellow for pending. By February 21 the spreadsheet was entirely green. I printed it. It is on my desk in Muscat. It is still green.

That phrase took eleven days. "Never, ever." The Iranians initially offered "not seek to." The Americans wanted "will not under any circumstances." We landed on "never, ever" at 2:14 AM on a Tuesday in Muscat. I typed the final version myself. I used Times New Roman because Geneva prefers it. The document was fourteen pages. I was proud of every comma.

Here is what they said, in the order they said it.

February 24: "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity." — The Foreign Minister, private briefing to Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors. I prepared the slide deck. Slide 14 was the implementation timeline. Slide 15 was the signing ceremony logistics. I had reserved the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Room XX. It seats four hundred. We discussed pen brands for the signing. The Iranians preferred Montblanc. The Americans had no preference. I ordered twelve Montblanc Meisterstucks at six hundred and thirty dollars each. They arrive on Tuesday.

February 27, 8:30 AM EST: "The deal is within our reach." — The Foreign Minister, CBS Face the Nation. He sat across from Margaret Brennan. He said broad political terms could be agreed "tomorrow" with ninety days for technical implementation in Vienna. He said, and I wrote this line for the briefing card he carried in his breast pocket: "If we just allow diplomacy the space it needs." He praised the American envoys by name. Steve Witkoff. Jared Kushner. He said both had been constructive.

I watched from the Four Seasons Georgetown. The minibar had cashews. I ate the cashews. They were nineteen dollars. The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten. But it was a good morning and we were within our reach.

February 27, 2:00 PM EST: Meeting with Vice President Vance, Washington. The Foreign Minister presented our progress. Zero stockpiling. Full verification. Irreversible conversion. "Never, ever." The Vice President used the word "encouraging." His aide took notes on an iPad. The aide did not make eye contact for the last nine minutes of the meeting. I noticed this. Noticing things is the only part of my job that is not water glasses.

February 27, 4:00 PM EST: "Not happy with the pace." — President Trump, to reporters.

Not happy with the pace.

We had achieved zero stockpiling. Full IAEA verification. Irreversible fuel conversion. Inspector access. And the phrase "never, ever," which took eleven days and cost me two hundred and twelve trips down a forty-seven-meter hallway.

Every American president since Carter has failed to get Iran to agree to this. Forty-five years.

Not happy with the pace.

February 27, 9:47 PM EST: The Foreign Minister's flight departs Dulles for Muscat. I am in the seat behind him. He is reviewing Slide 14 on his laptop. The implementation timeline. Vienna technical sessions. The signing ceremony. The pens.

I fall asleep over the Atlantic. I dream about water glasses.

February 28, 6:00 AM GST: I wake up to push notifications.

February 28: "The United States has begun major combat operations in Iran." — President Trump.

Operation Epic Fury. Coordinated airstrikes. The United States and Israel. Tehran. Isfahan. Qom. Karaj. Kermanshah. Nuclear facilities. IRGC bases. Sites near the Supreme Leader's office. Israel called their half Operation Roaring Lion. Someone in both governments spent time choosing these names. Epic Fury. Roaring Lion. I spent eleven days on "never, ever." They spent it on branding. The President said Iran had "rejected American calls to halt its nuclear weapons production."

Rejected.

Iran had agreed to zero stockpiling. Iran had agreed to full verification. Iran had agreed to "never, ever." Iran had agreed to everything in a fourteen-page document that I typed in Times New Roman.

The President said they rejected it.

I do not know which document the President was reading. I know which one I typed.

February 28, 18:45 UTC: Iran internet connectivity: four percent. — NetBlocks, confirmed by Cloudflare. Ninety-six percent of a country went dark. You cannot negotiate with a country at four percent connectivity. You cannot negotiate with a country that is being struck. You cannot negotiate. This is not a political opinion. This is a logistics assessment.

February 28: The governor of Minab reported forty girls killed at an elementary school.

I do not have logistics for that. There is no slide for that. The water glass chart does not cover that.

February 28: Lockheed Martin: up. Northrop Grumman: up. RTX: up. Dow futures: down six hundred and twenty-two points. Gold: five thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars. An analyst at AInvest published a note titled "Iran Strikes: Tactical Plays." The note recommended positions in oil, defense stocks, and gold.

The most expensive cashew I have ever eaten was nineteen dollars. The most expensive pen I have ever ordered was six hundred and thirty dollars. The math suggests I have been working in the wrong industry. Defense stocks do not require water glasses. Defense stocks do not require eleven days. Defense stocks require one morning.

February 28: Israel closed its airspace and its schools. Iran launched retaliatory missiles toward US bases in the Gulf. The Supreme Leader promised a "crushing response." Israel's defense minister declared a permanent state of emergency. Everyone is using words I recognize in an order I do not. I recognize "permanent." I recognize "emergency." I do not recognize them next to each other. In diplomacy, nothing is permanent and everything is an emergency. In war it is the reverse.

February 28: The Foreign Minister has not made a public statement.

The briefing card is still in his breast pocket. It still says "within our reach."

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

@HDFCBank_Cares @HDFC_Bank DM sent Anay

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Dear @HDFC_Bank @HDFCBank_Cares @HDFCBankNews Why can't Panchasheel Park under @tweetndmc carry it's business for the past 5 hours just because there is no power and #NDMC won't allow DG Sets to operate? @RBI @RBIsays

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

There is so much to know and so much we don't...know

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Interesting Times For a Nation where cyber-warriors lockhorns for the next leader of the country but it's a respected veteran who might just change the game. #GenZ #genznepal #GenZProtest #GenZRevolution #GenZLeaders #Nepal #NepalCrisis #interim #government

[NewsDrum @thenewsdrum]

Nepal’s interim PM race: Gen Z icons vs the consensus dark horse
https://t.co/WA98wcNlEE

#NepalPM #Nepal #Nepalprotest #NepalGenZProtest #BalenShah #RabiLamichhane #BhaskarRaj #KPSharmaOli

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Did the Ruling Coalition of Nepal just spoil it's chances for Parliamentary Polls by pushing the Youth too far

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Our own self-realization is the greatest service we can render the world.

[Sandeep Manudhane @sandeep_PT]

Indian politics - a fact

Other than the RSS and BJP, no political party (national or regional) has any structured or institutionalised training mechanism for its members or new joinees. So no one really, formally, knows the Party philosophy and action plans, and it's just on existing momentum that everyone plays along. Only the RSS and BJP regularly train people in a formal manner.

Actually, no Party feels the need for it, as most have no real ideology at all, other than self-preservation, reactionary calibration, and electoral survival. In all parties, some 3 or 4 people at the top control all levers of power and of finance, and do as they please (actually right for today's BJP also, ironically).

Any Party that sets up a rigorous training system now will grow into a very strong and huge cadre-based institutional system in less than 10 years, before 2040. But that needs vision, drive and love for the motherland.

So it's tragic, but also a situation with huge potential.

#politicalphilosophy #IndianPolitics

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

Somewhere things get murkier in #Goa #journalism @naqshzeb @AnshumanSail @sunilkawthankar @INCIndia @TheIncNews

[Ajay Thakur @EagleEyeAT]

@DS_Goa @naqshzeb @iamrajeshahuja