Vivek Menezes

Goa Writer + Born-again Bombayite

[Geoffrey Lean @GeoffreyLean]

Really good news. Over the last 15 years the world gained more mangroves than it has lost, thanks to stronger legal protections following the 2004 tsunami which proved their importance in protecting coasts. Also vital for fish and in absorbing carbon.

https://t.co/dugfykSvyw

[Sarayu Pani @sarayupani]

You can see how little workers lives are valued here - a 1000 crore plus transaction but zero spent on proper scaffolding and safety equipment for the men dangling removing the sign. Thoo.

[nadia chaudhury @nadiachaudhury]

here is my massive guide to eating during the World Cup in NYC/NJ! including:
-watch parties
-where to eat around transportation hubs
-NJ (metlife, american dream, etc.)
-a restaurant recommendation for nearly every single country playing in the match
https://t.co/2kaZIgctwu

[Viji Venkatesh 🇮🇳 وجی وینکٹیش @vijivenkatesh]

Oil Refinery Wives Inc in Venezuela
1980: We packed our bags , bundled our babies and followed our oil men husbands to a country on the exact other side of the world where no one spoke any language we knew and a country we knew nothing about .
But oh once we were there we…

[The Observer Post @TheObserverPost]

The emergence of the Cockroach Movement and its call for protests against alleged irregularities in the education system has generated significant discussion across India. While many citizens view the movement as an opportunity to demand accountability and transparency, a different conversation is taking place within sections of the Muslim community.

A number of Muslim activists have advised Muslims to stay away from the movement entirely. Their argument is based on a concern that has become increasingly common in recent years: whenever large-scale protests or political confrontations occur, minorities often find themselves facing greater scrutiny and consequences than others. From this perspective, avoiding political activism appears to be the safest option.

At first glance, this advice seems sensible. Every community has a responsibility to protect itself from unnecessary harm. No responsible leader should encourage people to enter situations without carefully considering the risks involved.

However, there is a deeper question that deserves attention.

If Muslims repeatedly withdraw from public movements, public debates, and political causes out of fear of potential consequences, what will be the long-term result? Can a community preserve its interests by remaining absent from the very conversations that shape its future? Or does political withdrawal create a different kind of vulnerability—one that slowly pushes a community to the margins of society?

These questions extend far beyond the Cockroach Movement itself. They touch upon a larger issue facing Indian Muslims today: how should a minority community engage with politics in an environment where risks are real, but disengagement carries risks of its own?

The answer is not reckless activism. Nor is it political disappearance. History—both Indian and Islamic—points toward a third path: strategic political engagement.

Read the full report piece by Ibn Habeeb on https://t.co/sxATfrm14G

[Samar Halarnkar @samar11]

As construction enabled by the govt replaces #Goa's lush commons, Claude Alvares, environmental defender & editor of a new edition of the landmark book Fish Curry & Rice, tells @ChitrangadaC what is at stake & why protests are raging https://t.co/e9nGaPZz9t

[Vivek Menezes @vmingoa]

looking forward greatly

[Bruno Maçães @MacaesBruno]

From Ayodhya to Madurai, Lahore to the Maha Kumbh, this book explores the character of Greater Indian civilization through space and time, uncovering the living coherence of a people and their history. In the process it reveals that there is a path beyond liberalism, one that avoids the perils of political irrationalism and petty cultural squabbles toward deeper understandings between myriad peoples.

[Soutik Biswas @soutikBBC]

Raghu Rai's unforgettable 1989 picture of Kurrkutt, a rescued sarus crane living with its adopted family in Khajuraho, India. #photography

[Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1]

I support the GenZ movement catalysed by the Cockroach Janta Party.
It’s absurd to say that it is sponsored by the BJP to destroy the Congress. The BJP govt is trying its best to suppress it.
Though Dipke was with AAP, it is also absurd to say that it is an AAP startup.
Criticising a 10 day old GenZ movement for lack of ideology & well thought out policies is also misplaced.
Dipke has shown a great deal of energy, maturity & courage.
Sonam Wangchuk is a great mentor. Saurav Das is an excellent choice for a GenZ spokesman.
6 June will be an important day for our country. I remember how the arrest of Anna Hazare was the turning point of the IAC. Arresting Dipke will be a similar turning point for this GenZ movement

[Vivek Menezes @vmingoa]

surreal but inevitable + fascinating 21st century political moment as two of the three Goan women in the UK parliament slang it out about which of them is more stridently anti-DEI (itself, of course, an absurd would-be slur that doesn't have much meaning except as dog whistle)

[Suella Braverman @SuellaBraverman]

Oh Claire. Come off it.

All of this DEI stuff grew under the Tory government.

As Home Secretary I was the first to challenge two tier policing. Where were you in that fight? Where was Kemi? Nowhere. Silent. Your mate Rishi sacked me for blowing the whistle on police failure.

And if you want to talk about tackling Islamophobia, I repeat, where were you and Kemi when I was trying to stop the Grooming Gangs in 2023? Kemi was instead criticising me in public - before she said I was having a nervous breakdown, of course. And Tory MPs accused me of Islamophobia. And what about how @LeeAndersonMP_ was disgracefully treated by the Tories?

The point is this: when you were in power and had the opportunity to stop some of these tragedies, you did nothing whatsoever. In fact, it was Tory MPs who made it worse.

Talk in opposition is easy. Action in government is hard. And the Tories utterly failed the British people.

It’s why I left and am so pleased to be in @reformparty_uk - the only party that speaks for the British people.

[Nikhil Pal Singh @nikhil_palsingh]

It has finally dawned on the reflexive imperialists of the West that nations have sovereignty, even as they willingly hollowed out our own to their corporate paymasters.

[Keji Mao (毛克疾） @kejimao]

The latest news once again vindicates my point.

While the U.S. is losing ground to China and avoiding open conflict vis-à-vis China at all costs, it has turned to a much more lucrative business model.

It now turns to squeeze and extract allies like "blood bags", so that it can sustain its own vigor like a vampire. Countries like India have gone from being courted to being invoiced, unfortunately.

Sure, this is another episode of “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.” But what strikes me most is the fact that the foreign policymakers in India are so addicted to psychological inertia and geopolitical path-dependency that they are not even trying to dodge or resist, let alone find an alternative.

[Laura Matsue @lauramatsue]

No one is more annoyed by the AI revolution than people who can actually write a sentence. Basically, having any ability to write now is suspect - you will get accused of being AI at some point. It feels like you are being accused of being a witch, of holding a type of rare magic that only the machines are now allowed to have.

[Vivek Menezes @vmingoa]

@NotRogerEbert thinking of the great teams that couldn't get here

[Vivek Menezes @vmingoa]

#writerslife current mood

[Soutik Biswas @soutikBBC]

‘India is a republic of the uncles, by the uncles, for the uncles’. https://t.co/9cTPERguiR

[Down To Earth @down2earthindia]

▶️A new study on climate projections has set the alarm bells ringing all along the 11,000-km coastline of India, from Gujarat in western India to the Sundarbans delta in eastern India.

▶️The western coast will get wetter and hotter; there will be reduced monsoon rainfall over coastal Odisha and West Bengal by 2040, it warns.

▶️ Approximately 40 coastal districts are likely to see maximum summer average temperature rise by over 1 degree Celsius (°C) by 2040.

@JamwalNidhi reports

https://t.co/eyKFseXavc

[New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag]

For decades, Indian conductor Zubin Mehta was woven into Israel’s national story. So when he canceled his 2026 engagements over Netanyahu’s handling of what he called “the Palestinian issue,” many Israelis saw it not as a boycott, but a personal betrayal.
https://t.co/GRYM7cuyaR

[Vivek Menezes @vmingoa]

"Under pressure, we're going to find out exactly what kind of polity has been built in this state over almost 40 years, after previous generations managed to navigate decolonisation with aplomb..."

my @oheraldogoa state of the state cultural report card: https://t.co/rwXAGTIHvD

[Manmohan Bahadur @BahadurManmohan]

Photo shows still verdant hills behind Sudan Block!

In our time, it was like this all around NDA!

Now, the other side, looking towards Sinhgad and Kondwa gate is such an eyesore - with skyscrapers all over!

#NDA