The three Khan films that started Indian middle-class men’s love for abs, pecs and biceps
In ‘Muscular India’, Michiel Baas writes that it took 3 movies and a magazine to popularise a new body ideal among Indian men. And it was very different from the pehlwan body type.
Land Cruisers and phones — How the UN spread the virus of consumerism in Bhutan
In ‘The Good Country Equation’, Simon Anholt writes about Bhutan’s dilemma of increasing foreign revenue without losing its socio-cultural and environmental capital.
India’s Constitution is ready for gay marriage. Are India’s society and courts?
In ‘Sex and the Supreme Court’, Saurabh Kirpal writes about how marriage equality will fulfil the Constitution makers’ promise to all Indians.
Why we made Aadhaar a number, and not a card
In ‘The Making of Aadhaar’, former UIDAI CEO Ram Sewak Sharma writes about why the counter-intuitive decision to make Aadhaar a digital ID and not a smartcard worked.
Vasoo Paranjape told Rahul Dravid at 14 he will play for India, but not as a wicket-keeper
The strength of Bombay cricket was built on the shoulders of coaches like Vasoo Paranjape, Rahul Dravid writes in the book 'Cricket Drona' by Jatin Paranjape and Anand Vasu.
America isn’t really a middle-class nation, but Clinton to Obama, all relied on the myth
In ‘The Sinking Middle Class’, David Roediger writes about how Democrats and Republicans praise the middle-class as America’s heart. But numbers tell a different story.
How Instagram went from hipster favourite app to must-have by Pepsi, Playboy and Snoop Dogg
In ‘No filter’, Sarah Frier chronicles Instagram’s rise as a photo-sharing app that competed with Facebook and Snapchat & how it shaped influencer culture.
Do-piyaza, blood-spitting paan, camels — The ‘bizarre’ food of Mughals in Western travelogues
In 'Tasting Difference', Gitanjali Shahani writes about the Mughal foods and traditions that early Western travellers considered 'ugly' and disturbing.
Mumbai gangster watched the film Satya 18 times to study how to become a real-life villain
Puja Changoiwala’s book 'Gangster on the Run' is about criminal-turned-marathon runner Rahul Jadhav, whose pseudonym ‘Bhiku’ was inspired by the 1998 film Satya.
Why old black-and-white wedding photos lack smiling couples
In ‘The Fear of the Visual?’, Sasanka Perera decodes why couples usually didn’t smile in old wedding photos, not just in India but all over the world.
Why we’ll need masks even with a coronavirus vaccine
One study has shown that if everyone wears masks that are only 75% effective, the number of people infected by each coronavirus carrier will shrink fourfold.
Investors continue to flock Mukesh Ambani, now KKR to invest $754 million in Reliance Retail
US private equity group KKR will hold a 1.28% stake in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail, valuing India’s biggest retailer at Rs 4.2 lakh crore or $57 billion.
Defence
CAG report flags vendors’ ‘dilly-dallying’ on offsets deals, cites Rafale as example
The CAG made the observations in its latest report, which was tabled in Parliament Wednesday.
Suspect all, fix all? Is that the motto of our new ‘National Suspicion State’?
It’s not just Modi government or BJP, but even state governments, judiciary are getting caught in a ‘we suspect all’ mindset. Is India becoming a National Suspicion State?