Umar Khalid returned to Tihar today after 3 days of interim bail for his mother's surgery. Look at the message on his t-shirt! His ideas can never be caged.
Call me petty but having been an adult in 2014 with clear memories of that election campaign cycle, I will never let this “we voted for Modi for economic transformation not bigotry” lie become normalised.
Everyone voting in 2014 knew who he was from 2002 - everyone.
I am not saying that Bollywood actors were part of an organised campaign against the UPA, when petrol prices were raised repeatedly in 2011-12.
But, they definitely are part of an organised silence right now.
Action should have been taken against the Education Minister for the paper leak. For the student who lost his life due to the government’s failure.
But in New India, action is being taken against the Cockroach Janta Party for demanding accountability.
Something is changing in India !!
Such exposing of Modi gov & Ambani-Adanis with such jokes was not seen in last 10 years.
But now pre-2014 like political humour & accountability is coming back in India.
Signs
Whether the cockroach janta party is a legitimate movement or not, is not the question. Time will tell. But the traction they received, the sentiment behind it, the rhetoric from the youth, all legitimate. And if all that wasn’t legit enough, the utterly dumb move of shutting down their accounts legitimised everything.
> Raghav Chadha was getting very high engagement when he was raising public issues in parliament.
> Raghav Chadha instantly losing 3M followers within few days after joining BJP
> This cockroach Janta party reaching to 7M followers within a week.
I believe all these events are mostly organic and this is telling only one thing - Gen Z crowd is liking anything that is against the current establishment.
There are roughly 30-35% Gen Z in India today and they're going to vote in next national election. 2029 will be interesting.
Today was insanely hot. My auto driver said he couldn’t sleep last night. He has a fan in his one-room home in Sangam Vihar. The night - time temperatures are also very high. His coping strategy - wipe the floor with water through the night and lie down on the bare floor. I walked about 3.5 kms this evening, much less than my usual. After 7: 30 pm. We have to talk more about high night temperatures. People are turning up for work, are driving, walking , all groggy-eyed. No sleep.
Only 8% of Indian households have air conditioning and even then very, very few can afford to run ACs 24/7. Less than 15% have an air cooler. Which means more than three quarters of India’s population are like the auto driver I talked to.
The only cooling device in face of extreme heat is a fan.
If you’re trying to reach me on Instagram or Facebook, I would like to let you know I have been suspended from both accounts. I have wanted to respond to as many Indians as possible, but my responses will now be delayed. I hope I will get my accounts back. @Meta
#Tighee has that rare "lived-in family chaos" energy that also made Kapoor & Sons so special.
Featuring unbearably intimate performances by Nehha Pendse & Sonalee Kulkarni, with Bharati Achrekar delivering an absolute masterclass.
Directed by Jeejivisha Kale, Tighee is now streaming on Zee5.
Primeminister of India, Narendra Modi, would not take my question, I was not expecting him to.
Norway has the number one spot on the World Press Freedom Index, India is at 157th, competing with Palestine, Emirates & Cuba.
It is our job to question the powers we cooperate with.