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Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Brandma

Doordarshan’s Rajani fought power & corruption, showed Indian women all battles can be won

The activist woman of the 1980s was one who wore starched, broad-bordered cotton saris and a big bindi. Much of that image came from Rajani.

Newstrack – The video magazine that served real issues to news-hungry Indians in DD era

Newstrack started as a 30-minute programme. The duration was stretched to an hour as advertisers rushed to book commercial ad slots.

CDs & DVDs killed the VCR — but not before it gave Indians Hollywood, porn and memories

The VCR had to die with the advent of CD and DVD players but it would always remain a small step in technology, but a giant leap for Indians.

Niki Tasha changed Indian kitchens – from a dingy corner to a sleek, modern way of cooking

Ritu Nanda’s Niki Tasha showed Indians what kitchenettes and multiple burner stoves were and opened the window to the future.

Orkut, the site where Indians made ‘frandships’ before Facebook came along

For Indian social media users, Orkut was something they 'did' before Facebook, but long after the world had dumped it.

Dunlopillo — the coveted foam mattress that superstars Meena Kumari & Ashok Kumar advertised

The mattress was one of the three typical things that Indians always brought back from the Gulf states.

How Polson made butter a commercial product in pre-Independence India

Polson butter had monopolised the business by the 1930s and become a household name in India, much before the Amul revolution.

Mumbai horse racing & Amul girl as jockey – how an ‘utterly butterly’ idea kicked off

From Rahul Gandhi’s hug to cricketer Gautam Gambhir joining politics, Amul girl has chronicled India for over 50 years.

Garden Vareli ads with three Miss Indias made the everyday saree a fashion statement

Top actresses and models – Namrata Shirodkar, Madhu Sapre, Aishwarya Rai and Lisa Ray – were a part of the ads, which gave the saree a new modern twist.

Godrej Vatni was India’s foremost Swadeshi soap, and it didn’t remind you of Partition

Godrej Vatni soap continued to carry the map of undivided India for many years, even after Partition.

On Camera

How startups are falling into lenders’ debt traps

Increasingly, lenders have stepped in where equity funding has slowed amid global market volatility. But instead of helping startups, they end up extracting a pound of flesh that outlasts the crisis itself.

Vehicles, TVs, mobile phones—PM EAC report shows rural India is catching up with urban consumers

Rural ownership of motor vehicles jumped from 19 percent in 2011-2012 to 59 percent in 2023-2024, while urban rose from 40 percent to 68 percent during the same time period, study by two members of PM-EAC says.

General secrets from frozen peaks: A Kargil veteran reveals what politically correct writers left out

At the Jindal Literature Festival, Maj Gen (Retd) Lakhwinder Singh reveals secrets from 25 years ago, speaking about the decision that outwitted Musharraf and changed the course of the war. 

A tribute to Tejas. India’s delay culture is the real enemy in the skies

It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.