If Jeff Bezos thinkseditorial views don't matter, and off-the-cuff pods have greater value, why doesn't he invest more in podcasts and let an adult take over WaPo? If he genuinely believes op-eds are a dialogue among the elite, why doesn't he cancel the op-ed section? 1/2
Reason: he wants it both ways. He wants the elite to 'like' him -- which is why he began his business as the world's biggest bookstore -- not the biggest grocery store, not the biggest wine bar, nor the biggest flea-market. And now that the flea-market is the cash cow, 2/3
Aug 24 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
If @DeShobhaa shook up the fawning and cloying world of film journalism with her juicy, racy writing, she was able to do so because her publisher, Nari Hira, believed in her ability to do so, and knew it was time to shake up the complacent coverage of the film industry. 1/n
Filmfare, Star&Style, and other magazines followed decorum, and didn't offer the reader a peek into the foibles of movie stars. Nari wanted no prisoners, and Shobhaa took no prisoners. And Stardust was born. During Emergency, Stardust fought censorship. 2/n
Aug 10 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
The trouble with such fine initiatives is the lack of accountability and legitimacy. Yes, at one level, BD is at ground zero, and needs to reimagine itself. But who is to do the imagining? Without popular mandate, the exercise might become elite-driven. That's why elections. 1/2
Perhaps those elections should be for a SA's CODESA-type forum, with good, proper representation (along with @TheDavidBergman's excellent idea of a TRC) to create a new, 'rainbow' constitution. Garment exports and ties with the world can wait. It should be inclusive, but...
Jun 19 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The lesson from the Chomsky hospitalisation for social media is simple: do what the much-reviled 'mainstream' media is supposed to do as a matter of routine: verify facts before posting/commenting/offering tributes. A salutary lesson for everyone who uses social media.
Commentators on social media who ridicule the mainstream media for being 'late' with a story, or 'not reporting' a story will, I hope, realise now, that sometimes the mainstream media is slow precisely because it is trying to get the facts right.
Apr 24 • 25 tweets • 6 min read
Today is the 11th anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse, in which 1,134 workers died in Dhaka.
Over 11 years, we at @ihrb have written blogs, reports, briefings, and published podcasts. A 🧵
I wrote this for Ethical Corp magazine: ihrb.org/focus-areas/bu…
Apr 23 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
When @Mint_Lounge editor @shalinimb asked some of us to name any work in our mothertongue that inspired us and our thinking about democracy (as India goes to polls), 12 of us responded.
1/nlivemint.com/mint-lounge/ar…
I picked the Gujarati novel Socrates (1974) by Manubhai Pancholi "Darshak." Today, on my LinkedIn page, Mrinmayee Ranade asked about the absence of Marathi writers on the list. Fair question; there has been excellent writing about democracy and freedom in Marathi. 2/n
Apr 20 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
This is a wonderful refrain about freedom (azadi), popular in India during the moment when brave students of JNU took on the Indian state. It is nice to see Indian revolutionary fervor getting exported to other campuses. 1/2
Those students faced a crackdown: some wilted, some remain in jail, some are now opposition politicians using democratic means to bring about change, as fine universities teach. 2/3
Jan 18 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
@timesofindia yesterday carried a video which showed an event "in the British parliament" celebrating the opening of the temple in Ayodhya. The story also has a video: 1/5
@timesofindia Here's the Times story: 2/5timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/interna…
Jan 14 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Films to watch during the coming week:
RAAM KE NAAM
FINAL SOLUTION:
Aug 8, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Since bhakts are suddenly discovering what a great newspaper @nytimes is, I thought I'll make a thread with ten great stories from New York Times in recent years: 1/nnytimes.com/2023/07/13/opi…
Jun 13, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Pai's song:
First they came for Muslims but I said nothing because I wasn't a Muslim.
Then they came for Dalits but I said nothing because I wasn't a Dalit.
Then they came for JNU students and I said nothing because I wasn't a JNU student.
1/n
Then they came for NGOs and I said nothing because I was not an NGO.
Then they came for human rights defenders and I said nothing because I wasn't a human rights defender.
2/n
Jun 13, 2023 • 36 tweets • 19 min read
#GFRR off to a terrific start with Rebekah Smith stressing the need for responsible recruitment saying how the industry can learn from civil aviation which made safety a global priority. @ihrb
Heaven Crawley of UN centre for policy research says that kids from migrant households stay longer in schools than kids from other families, acc data from Burkina Faso. #GFRR@ihrb
May 17, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
After listening to the nice little imaginative fairy-tale of Mrs Murthy and the Heathrow airport immigration official, here are a few real stories.
1. Amartya Sen lands at Heathrow, an official reads his address in the UK. The Master of Trinity College.
Do you know him, he asks.
And Sen, characteristically, asks himself (doesn't makes an exhibition of it): "Do I know myself?"
Companies in India have been at the forefront of socially-relevant advertising that affirms respect for minorities and human rights. A noteworthy, commendable practice that companies from elsewhere should follow. 1/n @ihrb@lawsofrule@hkaur0304@houdart@ARamasastry
True, there has been backlash, as Tanishq and others have faced, and self-righteous socially conservative jingoist groups have called for 'boycotts,' as @IndiaStarbucks@StarbucksIndia is now facing. But it must persevere. 2/n
Parliamentary parties seeking new leaders is not an unprecedented phenomenon. Tories have been doing it too often lately, but Gordon Brown too became PM after Blair left. 1/2
It is not so bizarre; party members often vote for a charismatic/extreme candidate (see some US primaries as another example). MPs know they need to secure broader support to win elections (and not only appeal to the loyalists) and hence they opt for more electable candidates.
