This is a good discussion. But I have massive issues with the panel. There are no women on the panel and here is why it matters more than ever before. 1. Workspaces have changed for both men and women. Home became the new office. How did that affect men and women differently? 2. Two CMs came out openly asking men to share house work. How many of men saw this crisis as a call to step up? 3. Did you lock yourself in one of…Continue Reading “Covid19 and future of work”

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Something must have been wrong in our education system that we ended up with so many misguided, well earning bigots in our midst. Part of the reason why our techies lead from the front in bigotry. But even in humanities, our education was so sanitized that all of us lost touch with reality. For all our teaching about caste system in graduation and post-grad, there was not a single line about caste violence. It did not exist. Caste was just a theory. I am watching…Continue Reading “Caste violence and education”

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It’s too early to think of ways in which corona will impact businesses and corporate culture. But it is never too early. If you are just waiting for it to pass so you can revert to old ways, you are doing it wrong. This is the time when you rethink everything. Is what you did sustainable? Are there better ways to do what you did? 1. Can you do without taking that flight? People who boast of being too busyy, taking too many flights and…Continue Reading “Corona – Lessons for corporates”

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Rightism everywhere empowers men. Puts them in the front, gives them weapons and power, protects them when they rape and creates a culture where women are property without rights. Same goes for dalits, blacks, muslims, homosexuals etc etc. In India, RSS has no membership for women. They give arms. They give them a war cry – Jai Shri Ram. Now, the same men attack girls in a college and molest and masturbate while they chant a religious chant. Because, over last two months, it is…Continue Reading “Gargi college attack is a typical rightism symptom”

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The Delhi elections are over. The exit polls predict that AAP is set to win. And liberals are disdainfully admitting that they voted Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP despite their disappointment in him and his party! Disappointment in what? That AAP fought the elections only on issues of development. That they did not win fighting fascism. They made statements against fascism but did not come out on the streets. They voted against CAA in the Parliament and fulfilled their parliamentary duty but did not come to Shaheen…Continue Reading “Why do liberals expect the world from AAP but will never credit them”

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This is a serious question and post. My sister forced me to start a SIP when I was making 8 thousand per month. I started from 5 thousand per month, my first job. In last 15 years, we don’t have much savings. I took savings and retirement plan seriously only last year. So, the 10% tax on mutual funds has hit me hard. There are not many ways in which our savings make money. Tax offset schemes (80C and all that), mutual funds etc make…Continue Reading “The mutual funds tax has me worried”

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Bhubaneswar did 2 protests yesterday. Some 100 people showed up. But that is not the only reason why I never disclose I am an Odia. Here are a few more reasons why I think being an odia is shameful: 1. Not a single progressive social movement after independence. Once a leader in dowry deaths, the trend slowed down only after law was implemented strictly. 2. The tribals are from another universe. Have you ever heard a single Odia raise issues of the tribals, deforestation and mining…Continue Reading “Ashamed to be an Odia”

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My good and active friends, I know some of you have not taken a mental break, have not breathed easy and have not stopped feeling guilty about the protests and those who have sufffered from government led terrorism. But this is going to be a long fight and we need to change guards and stay ‘hydrated’.   1. Dont try to attend all protests. It will only tire you out. 2. Keep apolitical friends. Socialize. The fight takes a toll, make sure your schedule breathe…Continue Reading “Dear Protesters, don’t feel guilty, take care of yourselves”

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The government hasn’t notified the CAA yet. That and the excess use of force shows they are on a backfoot. Even if it is marginally. It is probably a good time to amp up the pressure but only with the protests but also with a few other things – 1. File a good number of complaints against police action in Jamia and AMU with the National Human Rights Commissions. Rally with member of Parliaments and member of Legislative Assemblies who are opposed to the CAA…Continue Reading “CAA opposition strategies beyond the protests”

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What a day. What a day. Young ones reading the Constitution on buses that they are detained on. Hindus and Sikhs forming a human chain while Muslims pray on the streets in Jamia. The generation, that we decided as materialistic and never seen struggle, shows us what their idea of India is. And, unknowingly, or may be he knew, Kanhaiya has given India it’s second independence war cry. The middle class lazy India. The armchair intellectual India. The selling vote for a bottle India. The…Continue Reading “The New Inquilab”

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The weekend is here, so are weekend thoughts. Before you proceed, let me tell you that this post is not written to criticise anyone. It has only one goal – raise the level of discussions at events. For years, I have been on both sides of events – inviting speakers and moderating and speaking. And, there is only principle – if you are carrying presentation that is not specifically made for that sessions, if you don’t have content that is curated as per the session…Continue Reading “Every event. Same Presentation. Duh.”

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It’s my favourite story and I never tire of telling these kinds. The best way to doubling farmer’s income is to build traceability. I think in a strictly commercial sense, the organic tag has reached its peak. The costs have stayed high, the market grows only slowly and the tag ‘organic’ has been diluted as customers have no way of knowing what is and what isn’t organic. A label by itself does not evoke trust. Organic 2.0 needs farmers to own the brand, traceability to…Continue Reading “Koraput Coffee, traceability and doubling farmer’s income”

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Lot of futurists are discussing how humans can be different from AI. Some others are trying to break down empathy into algorithms. Before every other skill and before teaching it to machines, we must teach empathy to humans. People need to feel more, connect better, value values. Currently, the way we look at solutions and effectiveness is completely devoid of empathy. Be it a small farmer who needs to adopt a new tech; a customer who needs to be upgraded to a new product suite,…Continue Reading “Do we need to be trained in empathy?”

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When the house is on fire, Stare at the moon, The night is young, And the air is cold, The sentries are asleep, The arsonists grow bold. When the house is on fire, Stare at the stars, The sky is a puzzle, And you connect the dots, The neighbor is being dragged out, The wall that connected slowly rots. When the house is on fire, Dance under the rain clouds, The rains come for free, And, you own the puddle, Another one was tied to…Continue Reading “When the house is on fire, stare at the moon”

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Someone remarked today that crimes by the dalits and muslims are not highlighted in the media. But cow crimes are reported everywhere. It’s just media bias. I tried to explain cow related mob lynchings are hate crimes. I don’t think I got across. So here is a short explanation. It’s a hate crime is one in which the victim is identified and targeted because of his/her identity. Normally, the victim has physical and obvious markers of belonging to a community. Beard or skullcap, skin color,…Continue Reading “Does India need a hate crime primer?”

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Who will pick up the plates? You will take money for food!! When we were planning to launch ForkTales, my wife’s family was super cool. My family had questions of the above kind. Yesterday, I met a friend whose wife cooks well and wants to do something on her own. He is ready to put her into a chef training course but not do pop-ups at home. The questions come from the caste and class system that most of us so vehemently deny exists. There…Continue Reading “Planning a food pop-up? Who will pick up the plates? “

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The soldier that is caught and is stoic is a hero. The soldier that complained about runny dal is booted out.   The soldier’s wife that stood strongly by the dead body is a hero. The soldier’s daughter that called for peace got rape threats.   The soldiers that are blown up and can never talk are heroes. The soldiers that demanded pension are enemies of the state.   The only ones that make money off soldiers are politicians and ‘defence analysts’.   The only…Continue Reading “Good soldier, Bad soldier”

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Okay, the universe wants me to write this. Second consecutive day that I am part of a conversation about sadhguru. Both the times I am told that he speaks well. I am also told even if he killed his wife, he has inspired so many that his contribution outruns his crime. And, then the person goes on to say it must have been an accident. I asked if the person also supports Asaram Bapu? So I am told rape is a heinous crime. Murder is…Continue Reading “The criminally innocent elitism of Sadhguru fans”

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Okay. This week is having a horrible start. But I have to say this. Yesterday, Chef Ashish Bhasin from Leela Gurgaon posted a video about an Odia biryani that has curry leaves and mustard seeds. He called it the singature biryani of Odisha. As per facts, Odisha does not have a biryani of its own. He called it a Koli biryani. There are no kolis in Odisha. Biryani with mustard seeds is a horrible idea and thank god it does not exist outside of his kitchen….Continue Reading “Don’t be lazy, Chef.”

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Woke up to quite a few wishes of happy ratha jatra. I did not even know it was today. Was never a big fan of the god or the ritual. The jatra, specifically, is a terrible reiteration of caste and religious exclusivity that the temple stands for today. I don’t know much about the temple or the rituals as I was never interested. But top of my mind, here are a few things that is wrong with the whole institution: 1. The King is a…Continue Reading “Why ratha yatra is a celebration of caste and religious exclusion”

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