New Delhi: With India in the middle of a churn on multiple fronts, reports in the global media have looked at a youth-led protest that forced a minister to resign, the human cost of the exam paper leak crisis, increasingly erratic monsoons and the changing nature of Indian weddings.
In an article titled—Abhijeet Dipke, the face of India’s victorious ‘cockroach’ protests—Financial Times reports how a satirical page started by Dipke led to a massive protest that forced education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign.
The report mentioned that Dipke had never intended this but “it is just that when I read a comment of the Honourable Chief Justice of India comparing the youth with cockroaches or parasites merely for expressing their opinions . . . I felt really upset.”
The article added that “In May, such a dramatic change in India’s political weather seemed improbable.”
“The man who humbled India’s prime minister came home to a hero’s welcome this week,” writes the report about Dipke.
Now that the protest is over and Dipke has returned to his hometown, he shared with the Financial Times that “It is a great pleasure to be home after such a long struggle.” The plan of action after this movement is yet to be clear but CJP leaders have said that “they plan to take a break and then conduct a nationwide tour to listen to the concerns of the youth.”
Behind this movement was the frustration of countless students and families who had lost their children due to the cancellation of the examinations.
A report by BBC touched upon the human cost of NEET paper leaks. The report follows the families who lost their children after the NEET examination was cancelled and then a retest was announced.
The report titled “‘What was my fault?’: How India’s exam paper leak ended young lives” reports on 17 year old Kahaan Patel who jumped from the sixth floor from his family’s apartment building in Ahmedabad.
The government announced a NEET retest. “That was when he became angry,” his father recalls, according to the BBC report. “He kept asking me: ‘Is this a system? Is this how it works? What is my fault? What is the fault of students who gave the exam honestly? Why is the government taking it so casually?'”
Rajesh Kumar, another grieving father said, “The government snatched away my son. If the paper had not leaked, Pradeep would be alive today.” Pradeep took his own life.
The report also touched base on how it was not just students who came forward in the Gen Z protests after the paper leak but also it was families who stood up to support the youth of the nation. The report ended with an appeal from Kahaan’s father. “Our duty is to hear the voices of the young before they fall silent.”
But not all the changes that are happening in India are political. Some even go beyond politics. In a report titled “India’s monsoon is getting weirder”, The Economist reports on how Indian monsoons are now no longer predictable and how earlier monsoons had a fixed pattern and would arrive and retreat too with consistency but now it says that “the monsoon is getting weirder”.
This year, the article adds, there is not a resemblance left with the earlier predictable monsoon. From Mumbai having delayed showers to floods in Assam and no rains in Bihar as “farmers have gazed up at clear skies”. The article adds how climate change has a big role in altering the usual pattern of monsoons in India.
“The effects are felt most severely in agriculture, which employs 43% of India’s workers” as “both flooding and extended breaks from rain play havoc with their crops.” but it is not just agriculture which suffers even urban areas are not immune to this, the article added.
The article also warns that “the monsoon will become less predictable” as climate change will continue to alter rainfall partners in India. Indian monsoon can no longer be treated as a certainty, The Economist writes.
And it is not just India’s weather that is changing. Its weddings are getting a makeover too.
A New York Times report, titled “The Hottest Club Isn’t a Club at All. It’s a Wedding After-Party”, looked at how Indian couples are moving beyond traditional post-wedding gatherings and embracing Boiler Room-inspired after-parties featuring international DJs, festival-style productions and immersive lighting.
Mumbai-based event producer Saanya Sharma told the New York Times that some couples are now opting for “festival-level private concerts” because “everyone wants to do something different, and bring experiences from their travels to the wedding”.
The article shares the experience of a bride, Anoushka Sabnani. “So much of the Indian wedding is about the family and parents. But we wanted to do this for ourselves and our friends,” she told the publication.
The report further added that these after-parties are no longer just add-ons on the wedding ceremony rather they are now the centrepieces of the weddings. “Now, the after-party is becoming a headline event in its own right, with elaborate, dance club-inspired celebrations being among the popular themes.”
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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