"It is a minor miracle that Indian youth, faced with parental pressure, overbearing states, systemic incompetence and poor job prospects, respond only with a silly meme. Their peers in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been rather more heavy-handed with their own ageing leaders".
People will be studying Wemby’s two-week summer retreat with Shaolin monks in the Chinese mountains for decades to come.
Best details from Ramona Shelburne:
▫️slept on three single-beds pushed together and woke up 4:30am each day
▫️meditated several times a day with 100 other monks and length was determined by burning incense wick (“Thirty minutes was doable. But sometimes the incense burned for 90 minutes,…[it is agonizing for someone] 7-foot-4 to sit cross-legged at all, let alone silently for up to 90 minutes, without moving.”)
▫️spent 6-8 hours a day learning Shaolin kung fu poses (“Master Yan'an said he designed Wembanyama's customized martial arts training to emphasize controlling his center of gravity, which would generate force from different positions and resist external forces, to mimic the double-teams and physical play he'd face from NBA opponents.”)
▫️ “One day he told Wembanyama to dribble a basketball up another dangerous mountain route to Sanhuangzhai, a monastery deep in the Song Mountains. The hike traversed cliffside plank paths, suspension bridges and ancient forests, and was five times as long as the one to Bodhidharma Cave. The trail forces you to climb roughly 2,500 feet in elevation across uneven ridges and stone.
Master Yan'an said it would take an average person seven to eight hours to reach the end.
Wembanyama did it -- while dribbling a basketball -- in four and a half.”
▫️On the 6th night, he did a pitch black hike in the Bodhidharma Cave (“There were no lights anywhere,” Master Yan'an said. “You can't see anything. The only way to go is step by step. Listen to your breath and listen to your heart. Feel each step with your foot. Use your awareness. The entire point of this training…was to free your mind from fear and trust your awareness to guide you.”
▫️”Wembanyama ate the same strict vegetarian diet as the monks while he was there, in accordance with Buddhist principles.
But several times a day, his team arranged for a Sprinter van to pull into the monastery, pick up Wembanyama and drive him outside the walls of the temple, where someone would deliver a high-protein meal from a local restaurant. He would eat it inside the Sprinter van, dispose of any remaining meat, then be driven back inside the temple.”
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Full profile here: https://t.co/Hp1E8ORcAY
Chilling report on the Air India crash at Ahmedabad by @rachelchitra for @thecaravanindia. Boeing's manufacturing shortcuts perfectly complemented by uncaring management at Air India and India's dismal governance. If you fly, read this report: https://t.co/hlewGXwgGa
After years of being embarrassed in the court of public opinion (not a court of law) Kwality Wall's seems to be working overtime to overcompensate for the fact that the brand has been mis-selling Indians 'ice cream'.
The backstory matters. Amul ran a sustained consumer education campaign from 2012 onwards. HUL actually sued Amul in 2017 over these ads, and largely won in court. But it didn't matter. Amul had already won the consumer. The lawsuit, if anything, gave the campaign more oxygen and publicity. Amul won without winning in court. Pure advertising/PR warfare.
In between these new ads drops the global CEO's statement that they, "are not a frozen dessert company anywhere in the world". That they are an ice cream company. In India, they changed everything, everything. (double 'everything'. An inadvertent confession?).
And, "The company took a principled decision to become a full dairy business even without a formal business case". Seriously? 🙄
A global CEO of a listed company telling a business newspaper that his company made a major strategic pivot without a formal business case is either spectacularly bad corporate governance or a spectacular lie. Neither reflects well.
There's a mega-sized gulf between the ads and the interview (public relations). The ads claim that the products are now based on milk. The interview says the same thing but without explaining 'why' they sold 'frozen desserts' ONLY in India.
I have seen the interview (from ET) far more times on multiple WhatsApp posts/forwards and multiple social media posts on all platforms than anyone who shared the ads. The tone of the forwards/posts is anger and annoyance.
The truth is that Kwality Wall's was forced to take a decision to move away from vegetable fat-based 'frozen desserts'.
And the cold chain! The article mentions plans to deploy a million cold cabinets across India. Vegetable fat-based frozen desserts don't need the same cold chain rigor as dairy ice cream. This investment wasn't merely 'principle', it was operationally necessary to sell real ice cream. There absolutely was a formal business case. Amul made it for them.
Classic case of advertising proposes, news (PR) disposes.
The evening of Jan 20th, 1991. Steve Waugh was dismissed for 60 on the 2nd day of a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia. It was, he felt, the final straw. That evening, he was at his fiancee, Lynette's place when the Australian coach Bobby Simpson called. He had been dropped for the next test against England.
Steve immediately drove over to his parent's place at Panania. When his mother Beverly opened the door, she immediately sensed something was wrong. She asked him what the matter was & he said he had been dropped.
She was in tears when Steve said it was all right, he wasn't too concerned. When his ma asked about his replacement, he said, 'he's right here' & pointed to his twin Mark, chatting with their dad Rodger.
Mark got 138 on debut & they went on to play 108 tests together.
Happy B'day Steve & Mark Waugh!
CONGRATULATIONS ON MAINSTREAM POVERTY.
Earning ₹30 LPA used to mean you had made it, but in 2026, it just means you are highly qualified to act as a clearing bank for your local real estate developer and a premium pre school.
After the tax department politely shaves off over 30% of your gross income, you get to spend the remainder servicing a massive EMI on a ₹2.5 crore apartment just to tell your relatives you live in a gated community with a clubhouse you never have time to visit.
You are structurally obligated to hand over ₹4 lakh a year to a school so your toddler can learn ABC from an iPad, while funding a luxury car loan to sit in standard metro traffic for two hours every single day.
The modern corporate grind has pulled off the ultimate trick: convincing you that you are rich just because your cash flow passes through seven different luxury subscription models before hitting zero every single month.
#UrbanMiddleClass #LifestyleInflation #CorporateTrap
A Swiss hotel once displayed a list of special rules exclusively for Indian guests which I personally saw and was appalled.
Today, videos of garba in restaurants, loud conversations in airports, and turning aircraft cabins into picnic spots keep doing the rounds. Even in Davos, an Indian businessman blasted Punjabi music in a club so the whole town could hear it, calling it “soft power” but to everyone’s annoyance.
Japan earned global admiration through their courtesy and civic sense. If India wants to be a true global superpower, the world should remember Indians for its excellence, consideration and respect for others.
Our civic sense seriously needs to be upgraded.
❤️💙 Crystal Palace had zero trophies in their history until beginning of 2025… now they have three.
🏆 FA Cup
🏆 Community Shield
🏆 Conference League
Insane job by coach Oliver Glasner and the club.
Jannik Sinner’s 2nd round loss at Roland Garros is the first time a male world No. 1 has lost in the first two rounds in the singles draw at this event since Andre Agassi in 2000.
His 30 match win streak also comes to an end.
He fought his body as well as his opponent til the very end, that’s all you can ask of any player.
But still, what a heartbreaking way to leave Roland Garros.
💔💔💔💔