I loved this article, read it in the paper. Teja and I've often lamented about how few eccentrics one seems to meet in Mumbai, as compared to some other smaller cities. What would the world be without nutcases, dhoonis?
Thanks Banno - well I was amazed by how popular this column and the one on Mithun became so perhaps we have to take hope in the fact that people at least still crave the nutcases even though they don't have the courage to be that way.. for the time being perhaps.
This essay for Frontline, June 24 issue, builds on my earlier essay for them, A Different Masculinity/The Loser's Challeng e exploring the interweave of political culture, aesthetics and gender and suggesting a different frame of poetic politics to think about culture (and life). If you prefer to read plain text it is below the pdf version REINVENTING RAHUL Plain text version Reinventing Rahul Through this election, a new Rahul emerged: confident, irreverent, assertive, yet accessible. With even Gen Z deigning to call him a “thirst trap”, it is quite the journey from Pappudom. PAROMITA VOHRA On June 4, even as election results unfolded a changed political equa- tion, Rahul Gandhi appeared in an intriguing place: the X account @archivedilfs. Expanding the acronym DILF may be more than this venerable journal can bring itself to do. For those who do not know, it stands for what some people might li...
This essay was written for the 2023 year-end issue of Frontline You can read it on the website here Plain text version below the images. Links to related writings below that. RAHUL GANDHI: A DIFFERENT MASCULINITY With the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi articulated a more open-armed masculinity of sweetness and hugs, but in a country so large and divided, his triumph of personal growth still struggles for electoral legitimacy. PAROMITA VOHRA For a while, after years of disdain, surprising numbers of people were all “I’m lovin’ it” when it came to Rahul Gandhi. They shared images from the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Instagram videos where university students asked Gandhi about his skin-care regimen (“I never use soap on my face”), vegetable preferences (“ sab chalta hai” , everything goes except spinach, peas and karela ), and matrimony (“I’m married to my job”). As late as the morning of December 3, someone Wh...
'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani': Shah Rukh Khan As The Symbol Of Indianness SRK’s persona evokes the kind of Indianness that denies categorisation into singular, exclusive identities. And thrives on making others feel welcome. This essay was originally published in Outlook magazine, here. Illustration by Saahil. 01 November 2021 Following the arrest of Aryan Khan, as news and social media began churning out its toxic narrative of Shah Rukh Khan as a traitor and depraved parent, a poem by the poet Akhil Katyal went viral: “Wo kabhi Rahul hai, kabhi Raj/ Kabhi Charlie toh kabhi Max/ Surinder bhi wo, Harry bhi wo/ Devdas bhi our Veer bhi/ Ram, Mohan, Kabir bhi/ Wo Amar hai, Samar hai Rizwan, Raees, Jehangir bhi/ Shayad isliye kuch logon ke halak mein fasta hai/ Ki ek Shahrukh mein pura Hindu stan basta hai.” I to...
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