We won’t be telling you Mitali Saran Reposting this column, which was published in Business Standard newspaper in 2015, because October 10, 2026 was only the latest symptom of the undeclared ways in which we are not at present a democracy. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard. In command is Captain Fantastic. Exciting new guy, strong,… Read More In the event of an Emergency
The Good Soldier Švejk is an unfinished satirical novel by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek, published in 1921–1923, about a good-humored, simple-minded man who appears to be enthusiastic to serve Austria-Hungary in World War I. When the interrogator proceeds to enumerate the crimes of which he is supposedly guilty, Švejk accepts them with the same disarming… Read More Švejk is Reborn in India
Humour and knowledge are the two great hopes of civilisation: Konrad Lorenz Bharat Bhushan The Narendra Modi regime, carefully constructed as an unassailable fortress of absolute power, has suddenly begun to look permeable. Two new developments challenge the desired image of seamless centralisation. One is the weakening of social prohibitions against mocking Modi in public,… Read More Indore laughter and ECI leaks are signs of breaches in Narendra Modi’s fortress
Take back those words Mitali Saran You know how evolution is all about single cells dividing and dividing again, into ever more complex and wondrous life forms? After 2014, Indian mainstream media totally bucked that trend. With honourable exceptions, it simplified itself into two blobs: propaganda, and amplifiers of propaganda. Teleprompter Uncle, and Radio Rwanda.… Read More De-blobbing Blobland
A serious outbreak of viral laughter threatens public docility Mitali Saran When I think of the BJP-RSS worldview, the word that always springs to mind is joyless. I mean, this is the personality type whose whole political schtick is to nurse a grudge for a hundred years. It can’t stop with the dreary rules and the… Read More Contagion
Bharat Bhushan With little in the Gen-Z campaign that the Modi government could turn against it, a State-ordered take down of content seemed the only option to limit reputational damage How women protesters became targets after the Jantar Mantar protest Bharat Bhushan A highly curated image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the supreme leader of… Read More Why Gen‑Z’s satire will outpace State control
The retreat into satirical attacks on Trump and his supporters fuels the solidification of fascism When satire is the end point, it is deleterious. It masks what is coming. It must be, as Niebuhr pointed out, the entry point. It must push us, as Gramsci understood, into hard analysis and the organization of mass movements… Read More The Joke Is on Us
NB: Who commits contempt of court and of justice? Who despises despiaring fellow citizens and democratic activists? Those who say contemptible things from the highest seats of justice, or those who react to them? DS Hours after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) surpassed BJP in terms of followers on Instagram, its X account was withheld in… Read More Cockroach Janta Party’s X account withheld after it surpasses BJP on Instagram with 13 million followers / Ravish Kumar: Cockroach Party क्या है
A stiff drink is recommended It is a well-established fact that the universe has a sense of humour. It is less well-established, but increasingly obvious, that the humour is of the kind best enjoyed from a great distance, like, let’s say the moon. Three weeks into the Iran war, reality has passed through the looking… Read More Gold and Geopolitics – March, 19-21: God is a comedian
The ‘indispensble nation‘ marches on, toward a sinkhole of crashed empires, killing and maiming along the way ++++++++++++++++++++ Self-shafting America Homeland Empire Unsolicited thoughts from an elder citizen Natalia Ginzburg: Our Monstrous Ideas Biblical Archaeology and the Judeo-Christian legends / The Deconstruction of the Walls of Jericho Zionism Breaks Hundreds of prominent Jews and Israelis urge world powers to… Read More America’s Abyss of Uselessness
