Vip74

Twitter is my primary source of news and views now, spend way too much time here.

[Vip74 @vippinreddy]

@GabbbarSingh Since moving to the UK, I’ve had time to travel. What strikes me: architecture 500 years old, still standing, cared for — unlike back home where urban planning and heritage rarely align. Even remote places have solid infrastructure. And the food — every region its own story.

[Parminder Singh @parrysingh]

There’s no better proof that life is unfair than the second bhatoora. Think about it - both bhatooras start off as equals. The second could easily have been the first. But fate intervenes.

By the time you’re done with the first, three things happen:
1. You’re already full.
2. 300 calories of guilt are whispering in your ear.
3. The second one has gone limp.

You still eat it, but half-heartedly. No oohs, no aahs - just quiet resignation.

The second bhatoora did nothing wrong. It simply suffered from bad timing - and fades away unappreciated.

So next time someone preaches about karma or fairness, ask them - what about the second bhatoora?

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

#OperationSindoor on the games field.

Outcome is the same - India wins!

Congrats to our cricketers.

[Vivek Ramaswamy @VivekGRamaswamy]

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if we’re really serious about fixing the problem, we have to confront the TRUTH:

Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG.

A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.

A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers.

(Fact: I know *multiple* sets of immigrant parents in the 90s who actively limited how much their kids could watch those TV shows precisely because they promoted mediocrity…and their kids went on to become wildly successful STEM graduates).

More movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of “Friends.” More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV. More creating, less “chillin.” More extracurriculars, less “hanging out at the mall.”

Most normal American parents look skeptically at “those kinds of parents.” More normal American kids view such “those kinds of kids” with scorn. If you grow up aspiring to normalcy, normalcy is what you will achieve.

Now close your eyes & visualize which families you knew in the 90s (or even now) who raise their kids according to one model versus the other. Be brutally honest.

“Normalcy” doesn’t cut it in a hyper-competitive global market for technical talent. And if we pretend like it does, we’ll have our asses handed to us by China.

This can be our Sputnik moment. We’ve awaken from slumber before & we can do it again. Trump’s election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully wakes up. A culture that once again prioritizes achievement over normalcy; excellence over mediocrity; nerdiness over conformity; hard work over laziness.

That’s the work we have cut out for us, rather than wallowing in victimhood & just wishing (or legislating) alternative hiring practices into existence. I’m confident we can do it. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

[Rahul Roushan @rahulroushan]

That the sound of shankh too could be recreated by the tabla itself, don't think many saw that coming.

ॐ शांति 🙏

[Minupuri @minupuri_r]

Take Telangana my State as example. It gave crucial 8 MP seats to BJP. Not because of Kishan Reddy or Laxman. It is because people loved @narendramodi, @TigerRajaSingh @bandisanjay_bjp @Arvindharmapuri & the efforts of MLAs & workers. Today BJP is nowhere to be seen. Why?

[The Emissary @TheEmissaryCo]

WHY THE INC IS INDIA'S NATURAL RULERS

Manu Joseph @manujosephsan wrote a brilliant article in 2019 about how the Gandhis kept power in the Congress Party.

The main idea was that they were the 2nd choice of each feudal section of the INC. The 1st choice was, of course, themselves! But what if we extended this idea to India?

To grasp this, firstly we have to examine India's Obesity of Diversity. The simple fact is that India as a nation possesses hyper-diversity by quantity combined with a deep attachment to those numerous identities. Caste, ethnicity, religion, etc... all these different identities are abnormally numerous & strong causing vicious zero-sum competition between them in a democracy.

So in this land of eternal strife, who can win out? In comes the "Stranger King." This theory was developed by anthropologist Marshall Sahlins during his research on colonialism. What he saw was that Europeans would enter into lands with warring tribes and offer themselves as brokers between them.

While certain tribes were lulled into security, others would be used by the European Stranger King to eventually take over the territory. Better funding, technology, and foreign influence would overwhelm other tribes as those who sided with the Stranger King ascended over their rivals. In the myopia of conflict, these tribes would all be colonized and exploited.

Now back to India. The BJP is frequently branded as an Upper Caste party of Brahmins & Baniyas. Or as a Hindi-Heartland party. Or recently as a conniving project of Gujaratis. Modi has been attacked as an OBC & especially as a Gujarati. What does the Congress represent?

The INC is neutral. It is a broker. Rahul Gandhi is a mix of Kashmiri Brahmin, Gujarati Parsi, and Italian - functionally an Indian who is not strongly attached to any region or caste. The INC is not really accused of favoring a region or caste so it's seen as a fair broker of interests. Their only attachment is towards Muslims who are increasingly an afterthought in India. But whenever a caste or state feels angst, they come to the INC. They come to the foreign Stranger King.

In a way, the INC is a natural broker for India, a perfect Stranger King, because it is seen as a neutral foreign force that doesn't necessarily favor any specific group (besides Muslims). Hindus in their infinite pursuit of distinguishing themselves from each other, possessing a morbid obesity of diversity, look for a broker between their interests. When the BJP or any other party is painted as favoring a certain caste or region, the INC always presents itself as India's perennial Stranger King.

[Arnab Ray @greatbong]

What do World Cup victories mean to us? I don’t mean the players; we all know the answer to that.

But what does it mean to us, the fans, the ones who do nothing?

I can tell you what it means to me.

They say that before one dies, the moments that mattered in our life flash before our eyes.

World Cup victories will be in my final kaleidoscope.

I will see Kapil Dev running back on the green of Lords, my little boy’s heart in my mouth, taking a catch that changes the history of a nation. I will see Misbah, with the Cup in hand, hand it over to the gentle dollies of Joginder Sharma, and I will see Dhoni, of course, sending the ball into the night sky. To that now, add Suryakumar Yadav, balancing himself on the line between victory and defeat, pivoting the game on a knife’s edge back to India.

I will see them all, and I will see more.

I will see who I was with when those moments came to pass.

My father aging from 83 to 2024 in the images in my mind, and a new entrant to those memories, my daughter in 2024. I will see myself, too, reflected in the echoes of how I felt, from the boy wide-eyed in wonder in 83, hoping the power doesn’t go out again during the telecast to the young man in another country in 07 and 11 and now back in my own, this time a father, four different me-s in shape, size and mind, tied together through time simply by a chain of indescribable happiness, the happiness made happier by how rare these moments of World Cup victory are, dots on a timeline plagued by defeat and disappointment.

But why this happiness for the achievements of a group of strangers, the cynical older me asks, one who play for a club called BCCI? Why bother?

It’s because it’s these moments that tie our happiness to billions of others. It’s when the trajectories of our lives all meet at a common emotion at the exact same time before they diverge again in random ways, making us aware, even if for a fleeting moment, of a simple yet forgotten truth.

We are not alone.

[Ram @ramprasad_c]

AAP is real life version of the book Animal Farm. See plot summary
Revolutionary ideas spread among animals. Animals revolt, throw out the farmer. Sing all animals are equal. The pigs claim milk & apples for themselves saying they need additional nutrition to run the farm. Other animals vote in favor. The head pig throws out other dominant pig. Animals notice that Pigs start leading a luxurious life. Pigs start walking on two legs. Some animals are more equal becomes the slogan. Pigs subjugate all other animals. Soon pigs start wearing human clothes. The other animals can no longer tell the difference between the humans and the pigs.

[Anand Ranganathan @ARanganathan72]

You can demolish anything, but not truth. You can crush anything, but not spirit. You can prevent anything, but not justice. You can erase anything, but not memory.

You can subjugate twenty generations, but not the twenty-first. Not the twenty-first.

[Tathvam-asi @tathvamasi6]

Simply superb. That’s why he’s maestro. #illayaraja beautifully explaining the song by breaking it down. Only he can do it. 👏🏼👏🏼👌🏼🙏🏼

He is humbly saying that it’s all coming from God, he’s just a messenger.🙏🏼

[RapperPandit @RapperPandit]

3 Minutes of Pure Gold ❗️ Goosebumps

[Aditya Saha @Adityakrsaha]

They all are going mad for just 1 medal, I love it. 😂

[UmdarTamker @UmdarTamker]

Indian Cricketers and their fav meme template : A thread 🧵

1. Hardik Pandya

[Vip74 @vippinreddy]

#NewProfilePic

[Vip74 @vippinreddy]

@TheRootAcademy just out of interest, at what speed does the Reactor deliver the balls? Have got one last week and they seem to come out at a decent speed

[Gabbar @GabbbarSingh]

Kuch seekho Manoj Muntashir Shukla. Aise hote hai dialog 🤣

[Ashwini Vaishnaw @AshwiniVaishnaw]

Down-line restoration complete. First train movement in section.

[MLB @mirzalalbaig]

IPL 2023 Roundup.

#IPL2023Final #GTvCSK