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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

PoV

Dear Indian men, toxic masculinity is harming you too. Stop making fun of Korean band BTS

From a young age, children are taught that specific behaviours are linked to their gender. Boys are instructed to act tough, cold, strong, and responsible, while girls are encouraged to be gentle, sweet, and attractive.

Elvish Yadav’s win shows Big Boss is all about gamification of influencer fan armies

When faded celebrities went on the show, they would do outrageous things to entertain the audience and win. Now influencers can do nothing and still win thanks to their legion of fans.

Made in Heaven’s brave new world walks a thin line—Dalit wedding & UCC-hailing Muslim woman

The praise heaped on the Amazon Prime show for showing an Ambedkarite-Buddhist wedding is offset by the critique of showing the only visibly Muslim wedding as a polygamous one.

Bulldozer justice is pushing Muslims backward. But it’s women & children who suffer the most

The bulldozer worsened the plight of women and children who were already traumatised by the communal violence of 31 July.

Gurugram aunty, please don’t prioritise garbage in your highrise over worker safety

The privileged and protected class cannot empathise with those who keep their societies clean because they can only think of their garbage.

Jawan’s Zinda Banda is aggressively average. It is no Jhoome Jo Pathaan

Anirudh’s composition can’t match Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani’s work for Pathaan.

Indians find no shame in Hitler. Bawaal is newest to ‘have fun’ with Nazi references

The Varun Dhawan Jahnvi Kapoor movie Bawaal has come under the scanner. But it’s just the tip of India’s fascination with the Nazi dictator which ranges from soap operas to merch.

India’s male cricketers need to be friends again. An isolated Kohli-Siraj bond isn’t enough

If Indian men's cricket dismisses Ashwin's friend-ly advice, it will only prove that the country's rich and resourceful cricketers play for themselves, not for each other.

Don’t dismiss ‘Barbenheimer’ as a fleeting social media trend—it’s a genius marketing lesson

Unlike Barbie’s high-ended marketing spree, Oppenheimer let its rivals do the hard work.

England cricket has a ‘class’ problem. And Bazball can’t hide it anymore

English men’s cricket could argue it has championed diversity with players such as Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, and Jofra Archer in its setup, but the hierarchical reality tells a different story.

On Camera

Hezbollah mistook anti-Netanyahu protests as disunity in Israel—a genuinely liberal country

Israel's successes in Lebanon are spearheaded by the Intelligence Corps and the Air Force, which gave calls to cease volunteer reserve service should Netanyahu curtail the Supreme Court's authority.

After a brief surge, private investment & hiring has again turned cautious. Focus is on cutting debt

Financial year 2022-23 saw private investments & hiring surge, but since then firms are using cash to reduce debt. General elections didn’t help matters, either.

Indian envoy in Oman dons Army combat print for photo ops, sparks controversy

Ambassador Amit Narang wore combat uniform at closing ceremony of India-Oman joint military exercise. Only serving personnel can wear service uniforms, say veterans.

Islam doesn’t kill democracy. The army-Islam combo does

How come Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and Sri Lanka remain constitutional, democratic and stable despite Islam and Buddhism respectively, but Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar don’t?