Shivani Khandekar

Financial journalist. Bylines @AFP | @CNBCTV18News | @bsindia | @MoneyWeek

[Harshdeep Rapal @harshdeeprapal]

Hearing out Gen Z.

My father's caretaker is a 24 year old guy. Hails from Kanpur. He has done BSc Nursing and we have hired him through an agency that provides elder-care professionals at home.

Spends 12 hours at our home (8 am to 8 pm), rarely takes a leave. A very diligent guy, soft-spoken, well-read (keeps reading books from my collection) and speaks pretty fluent English.

On the morning of 20th July, he calls up and says he is not feeling well. On 21st he came, was limping a bit. Did not share what happened.

Yesterday he shared with dad that he told a lie. On 20th he had gone to Jantar-Mantar for supporting the students' protest and was hit by the police truncheon during lathi-charge. While running, lost his shoe and twisted his ankle.

Last night when I went home and was having dinner, dad told me about this. Today morning when he came I talked to him and realized what 'generation(al) gap' means.

While talking to him I realized, he was 9-10 when Anna Andolan happened. He was 10-11 when Arvind Kejriwal became the CM for the first time. He was 11-12 when BJP formed the government in 2014. The NEET aspirants are even younger than him. They were toddlers 12 years ago.

Some of the things we have lived through, are alien to him. All he has seen since he started experiencing the world is the current government and Modi as the PM. So for him, everything that he and his generation is been through in last 7-8 years since he 'grew up' - the responsibility lies with the current government.

He mentioned that there are 1000s of youngsters who have travelled from as far as Lucknow and Varanasi for these protests.

Again on being asked why? Why did he and his friends join the protest? Why these students have come so far to join the protests?

NEET exam leak was the last thing on his mind. The reasons he gave were - everything becoming expensive and unaffordable, no job opportunities, government's and police's high-headedness, corruption everywhere - and then went on to mention falling bridges, broken roads, no footpaths, stray dogs and cattle all around and dumps of garbage everywhere. He called ethanol-blending a scam.

I felt he was just waiting to burst out everything that's piled up in his mind. Glad that heard him out.

Then I realized that there are millions like him and these protests are not just about the NEET exam leak. These are the piled up frustrations finding a way out.

[Abhilash Khandekar @Abhikhandekar1]

यह स्थिति दूध की है तो सोचिये हम क्या खा-पी सकते है इस देश में? बच्चों के नसीब में अच्छा दूध भी नही है ७७ वर्ष बाद? मावा,पानी,लाल मिर्च,हल्दी,मिठाईयाँ,हरी सब्जियां,फल,तेल--सब मिलावटी है।आम आदमी भयंकर निराश और असहाय है।
पर कौन है देखने-सुनने वाला? कहाँ है सरकार व जिम्मेदार अफसर?

[Sonal Mehrotra Kapoor @Sonal_MK]

Air = Unbreathable
Water = Undrinkable
Roads = Death traps in waiting
System = Broken

Name the city

[Sanket Upadhyay @sanket]

Drowning while driving is now a serious urban India problem. (As we have seen in Noida) Car seats must double up as detachable floating pads - like in airplanes. It could have saved Yuvraj’s life.

[Aabhas Maldahiyar 🇮🇳 @Aabhas24]

I had no option but to write this open letter to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, @narendramodi ji.

My scheduled session on my new book, Babur: The Quest for Hindustan, at the @bhopal_lit_fest 2026 was cancelled after the newspaper Swadesh published false and defamatory reports alleging that I intended to glorify Babur. These unfounded claims triggered threats from certain so-called Hindu organizations, including calls to burn my book and vandalize bookstore.

What is even more disturbing is that the Culture Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Dharmendra Singh Lodhi, publicly condemned the session without reading even a single page of the book. This raises serious concerns about the functioning and intellectual integrity of the Culture Ministry of Madhya Pradesh, where literary works are being judged without being read. Equally troubling was the response of Shri Vikas Dave, Director, @sahityaakademi, Madhya Pradesh, who also criticized the book and the session without any familiarity with its contents. It is deeply ironic that the head of a premier literary institution would pass judgment on a book without reading it.

I openly challenge all those who objected to the session; including the individuals mentioned above and officials from the Office of the @CMMadhyaPradesh ; to point out even a single page from my book where Babur is glorified. On the contrary, this work has previously been criticised by sections of the Left for being critical of Babur.

The proposed session was intended to discuss the so-called “Bhopal Wasiyatnama,” a nineteenth-century forgery falsely presented as Babur’s will to portray him as tolerant towards Hindus. By cancelling the session, these self-proclaimed guardians of the cause destroyed an opportunity to expose a major Marxist fabrication at the very place of its origin; Bhopal. Had they genuinely cared for historical truth, they would have challenged this forged document long ago. Instead, in the name of safeguarding sentiment, they actively sabotaged an effort rooted in scholarship.

This book is also among the very few works that conclusively demonstrates, through primary sources, that the Timurids; incorrectly referred to as “Mughals”; never considered Hindustan their homeland and consistently viewed Samarkand as their true center.

Regrettably, all this transpired due to a profound lack of education and intellectual rigor, shockingly reflected even in constitutional and institutional positions such as the Culture Minister and the Director of the Sahitya Akademi.

Beginning with the false reporting by Swadesh, I was systematically defamed through allegations that I never made. This episode exposes the alarming state of our public engagement with history.

Prime Minister Sir, I am not disheartened merely because my session could not take place; I have long been accustomed to criticism and hostility from the Left. What pains me is that those who claim to oppose Babur do not even recognize the scholars who are equipping them with intellectual tools for that very debate.

I sincerely hope that you will take note of this matter and ensure that individuals who dedicate their lives to the study of history and civilization; often while pursuing demanding professions alongside, as I do in architecture; are not obstructed by those who contribute little beyond noise and disruption, and who create barriers instead of advancing the cause they claim to defend.

CC: @AmitShah @dpradhanbjp @PMOIndia @RSSorg @blsanthosh

[Abhilash Khandekar @Abhikhandekar1]

@zoo_bear @Anurag_Dwary Hats off to Anurag Dwary for being a true journalist who is asking tough questions to power & refusing to be cowed down.This is journalism!
@sardesairajdeep
@RajatSharmaLive
@anjanaomkashyap
@sudhirchaudhary
@ndtvindia
@rahulkanwal
@PIB_India
@CMMadhyaPradesh
@BJP4India

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

@IndiGo6E Sent you a DM.

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

@IndiGo6E what's the best way to speak to a customer service agent? Don't want automated calls and don't want to press 1, 2 or 3 endlessly knowing it won't solve my query.

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

@airindia @Abhikhandekar1 Local AI staff at London Heathrow is directing me to customer care and on ground staff in Delhi. Ideally in this situation, airline should put me in a hotel overnight and put me on to the next AI flight.

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

@FranceintheUK @ConsulFranceUK
It's been 15 working days since I had my appointment in the UK for a short stay France visa. I'm nearing the date of my travel, but no update yet on the application. Pls can someone help. Applicants must be informed if processing is taking longer.

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

@airfrance Done that already - airline refusing to compensate for the loss, still haven't managed to get back the luggage.
Highly disappointed by your service.

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

@airfrance @AirFranceUS @AirFranceIN @AirFranceFR
- Reporting luggage lost by you in April on Bangalore-Paris-Houston flight. Filed multiple lost baggage reports at airport, elsewhere but reaching out here for a quicker resolution. Paid premium for business class. Please assist.

[Dr Rachel Clarke @doctor_oxford]

So Pret baristas will now be earning up to £14.10 an hour.

New NHS doctors - after their 5-year medical degree, whopping £80,000 of student debt, & life & death responsibilities - get paid £14.13 an hour.

And the government wonders why they're striking?
https://t.co/fJuLHPuHaF

[Nitin Sethi @nit_set]

A short seller did what Indian journalism collectively should have been doing. Not that we dont have some amazing journalists capable of doing it. We just don't have the media spaces and editors + owners that would let them do their job. #AdaniGroup

[Nikhil Inamdar @Nik_Inamdar]

She’s bowing out, at 42! Rare & graceful in a world full of men who desperately cling to power even in their 70s, 80s & 90s, then become bitter, or demand ceremonial positions.
#JacindaResigns
https://t.co/bJy1KmqLpQ

[Shivani Khandekar @shivanik30]

No words ....

[Neha Dixit @nehadixit123]

Dear Indians,

It’s 2023.
Women work late, women can be out at midnight, women can be on the road at 2 am, women can be anywhere, whenever they want.
None of these should cause death.

If at all, men should not step out after 10 in public interest.

#SultanPuriAccident

[Kunal Kamra @kunalkamra88]

2 Air India’s