Female friendship can be an emotional, social and political lifeline for women. Our friends show us different ways of being in the world. They teach us how to take up space, how to challenge power and bargain with it.
My op-ed in the Hindu:
https://t.co/Ldw2fx9LdR
Dehumanizing language is not just rhetoric. It can make war crimes easier to justify.
At the UN Security Council, ICRC president, warned that when people are portrayed as less than human, the limits meant to prevent atrocities begin to collapse.
Full speech 👉🏼 https://t.co/kCA9mZW5Xw
@BDUTT Thank you for sharing your inner most precious and intimate thoughts about grief and that too your dad. A similar one here and your note is relatable 🤲
Birkenstock went from 1 India store in 2020 to more than 50 today. And that isn’t the victory it looks like.
It’s a distress signal.
Brands don’t walk into India when they’re winning in the West. They walk in when they’ve stopped winning. The Indian premium consumer has quietly become the last chapter in a lot of Western brand stories — and if you squint, you can see the pattern stretching back a decade.
Starbucks arrived here in 2012, seven years after US growth peaked and “mall Starbucks” had become shorthand for corporate blandness. H&M came in 2015, just as “fast fashion” stopped being aspirational in the West and started being a slur. Victoria’s Secret shipped up when American teens had moved on to Skims and Aerie. Uniqlo, Pottery Barn, and Zara’s aggressive Indian expansion — all arrived in the second half of their Western growth story, never the first. The pattern is almost comical once you see it. Brands land here right when their home market stops being easy money.
Birkenstock is textbook. Their stock is down around 20% this year. Their FY26 guidance disappointed Wall Street last month. The Crocs CEO said recently that customers are “migrating back towards athletic.” The New York Times ran a piece calling the potato-shoe era over. The Western ugly-shoe cycle — the one that put Birkenstock on every Brooklyn influencer’s feet for the last five years — is visibly closing.
Meanwhile, Birkenstock India grew 31% last year. APAC is now the company’s fastest-growing segment globally. In their last earnings call, management told investors this growth will “reduce exposure to the US dollar.”
Translation: we need India to save the story.
And we’re showing up right on cue.
Influencers are doing Birkenstock-with-socks posts in 2026, two years after TikTok in New York was already over them. The aunty who called them chappals at a family function in 2019 bought a pair in taupe last month. There’s an Arizona in every third Uber in Bandra. Wedding sangeets now feature cousins sliding into Bostons for the after-party.
They’re good shoes. I’ll say it twice because the comfort is real. That’s not the argument.
The argument is that the story we tell ourselves about “the brand arriving” is backwards. What actually happened is the brand ran out of easy growth somewhere else, and we became the escape valve. We get to feel arrived. They get to extend the runway.
The Indian premium consumer has become a useful last chapter in a lot of these stories. We show up exactly when the West gets bored, which means we’re buying peak narrative the moment it’s losing its edge.
We always run this cycle two beats behind. We were getting into skinny jeans as they were dying. Oat milk landed in Mumbai cafés the same year America started complaining it was everywhere. Athleisure became a serious Indian category after athleisure had been absorbed so completely in the US that nobody called it athleisure anymore. The pattern is consistent enough that you could almost trade on it — if you could stomach buying the thing your rich cousins in Manhattan are quietly moving on from.
The consolation is that we don’t really care about being first. Indians buy brands for what they signal, not what they predict. A Birkenstock in 2026 Bombay says “I’ve made it.” A Birkenstock in 2026 Brooklyn says “I’m still here, for now.” Those are different jobs, and ours is frankly the more fun one.
Being fashion’s last reliable customer is also its own kind of power. The brands know it. That’s why Birkenstock is opening forty new stores globally next year with India as a focus, even as they guide Wall Street to expect slower growth overall. We’re the hedge. The hedge works.
Maybe that’s fine.
Or maybe it just means we’ll spend the next decade wearing what America is quietly taking off.
WHAT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES TEACH YOU ABOUT LIFE:
Japan — Patience and precision are a form of deep respect
Italy — Slowing down is not laziness, it is living
Germany — Systems and discipline create real freedom
Brazil — Joy is not earned, it is chosen every single day
India — Chaos and beauty can exist in the exact same moment
Iceland — Silence is not empty, it is full of answers
Morocco — Hospitality is not a gesture, it is a philosophy
Mexico — Family is not an obligation, it is the whole point
Norway — Simplicity is the most underrated form of wealth
Greece — Food and conversation are never meant to be rushed
New Zealand — Nature is not a backdrop, it is the main event
South Korea — Reinvention at any age is not just possible, it is expected
USA — Ambition is a language everyone around you speaks fluently
Nigeria — Resilience is not a trait, it is a birthright
France — Self respect is non negotiable and style is a state of mind
Argentina — Passion without apology is the only way to truly live
Kenya — Community is not a safety net, it is the foundation
Portugal — Nostalgia is not weakness, it is how you honour what shaped you
China — Patience across generations builds what one lifetime cannot
Australia — Life is too short to take yourself too seriously
Spain — Rest is not a reward, it is a right built into the culture
Thailand — Kindness given freely costs nothing and changes everything
Cuba — Music and survival have always walked hand in hand
Netherlands — Equality is not an ideal, it is a daily practice
Ethiopia — Ancient pride reminds you that greatness did not start with the west
Ghana — Celebration is not reserved for big moments, every day deserves one
Turkey — Every city has layers and so does every person you meet
Colombia — Transformation is possible for a people, a city and a person
Switzerland — Precision and peace can absolutely coexist in the same life
Saudi Arabia — Tradition and ambition are not opposites, they are partners
Philippines — Warmth is a superpower and Filipinos wield it effortlessly
Ukraine — Strength is quiet until the moment it has no choice but to roar
Jamaica — Rhythm, faith and roots will carry you further than pressure ever will
Peru — Ancient wisdom does not expire just because the world moved on
Poland — Dignity in hardship is one of the rarest forms of human strength
Impressive presentation this from Mahua Moitra schooling BJP on Vande Mataram👇
• Sujalam- Over 70% of surface water is undrinkable today
• Malayaja shitalam- AQI in national capital itself is above 800
• Shasyashyamalam- 10,000 d!e every year due to debt,crop failure & weak support system
• Suhasinim sumadhurabhasinim- U as ruling party urself call for v!olence against minorities
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
IndiGo built a spotless brand over 20 years. Clean, familiar, dependable. In the last 100 hours, it has torched it.
As the Govt capitulates to blackmail, IndiGo still believes it is too big to play by the rules.
And it has forgotten the flyer.
My take:
Apollo Hospitals celebrated its 42nd anniversary, marking over four decades of healthcare revolution, impacting 200 million lives across 185 nations with pioneering medical services.
#ApolloHospitals
https://t.co/SZlDoDjMsm
Apollo Hospitals celebrates 42 years, having touched over 200 million lives and built trust across 185 nations, reaching more than 19,000 pin codes in India.
Since opening the country’s first corporate hospital in 1983, Apollo has performed over 51 lakh surgeries, carried out 27,000 organ transplants, and trained 11 lakh healthcare professionals.
As we celebrate 42 years, our promise is stronger than ever — to build a healthier, happier home and to make the world say with pride: Healed in India, healed by India...- Dr Prathap C Reddy, Founder and Chairman
Despite the suspension, Dr. Narendra Yadav allegedly continued to practice, perform surgeries, work in top hospitals, and draw hefty salaries, all under the alias of a renowned British cardiologist, Dr N John Camm.
@tweets_prateekg reports
https://t.co/1EAQoio3M5
The Future of Healthcare Begins NOW!
I’m beyond excited to kick off the 12th International Health Dialogue—a powerhouse event by
@HospitalsApollo that brings together the best minds in healthcare, technology, and policy.
This is where vision meets action, innovation meets impact, and together, we reimagine the future of patient safety and #healthcare transformation!
The world is watching as global leaders, health ministers, and innovators gather to discuss ground breaking solutions.
This isn’t just a conference—it’s a movement toward a safer, smarter, and more connected healthcare ecosystem.
And I want YOU to be part of it!
Click the link below to join us online and be a voice in this transformative dialogue
https://t.co/hiN0deyNbc
#FutureOfHealthcare #InternationalHealthDialogue #IPSC #THIT #HOPE #ApolloHospitals #Innovation #PatientSafety #DigitalHealth #ApolloIHD #HealthcareTech
@MoHFW_INDIA@JPNadda@ApolloTeleMed
We don't just generate electricity from the environment, we bring light into people's lives and spread happiness. At Adani, we drive our philosophy of growing with goodness in each business that we venture into. We don't believe in saying it; we make it happen.
#HumKarkeDikhateHain #PehlePankhaPhirBijli #HKKDH