India Explained: Recent Episodes
India Explained
This and that. Update on Ari India gate, cricket selection and commentators, Kolkata's delectable food
Conversation with Apar Gupta, Director, Internet Freedom Foundation India on digital authoritarianism
India Explained Conversations: a new series on the India Explained podcast. Rohit Chopra in conversation with Amit Varma
We discuss the censorship of COVID-19-related news by the Modi government, the compliance of Facebook, Twitter, and much of the Indian media in following government diktats, and the manipulation of data and media to keep the shine on the image of Modi, Shah, and the BJP government.
We discuss the major flap and fallout over the Rihanna and Greta Thunberg tweets on the Indian farmer protests about agricultural reforms.
We discuss our memories of seeing animals perform in India, from monkey and bear street actors to elephants in circuses.
As we bid farewell to a strange year, we share personal reflections on what we learned from 2020
Jharkandi scammers promise booze delivery during Corona virus shutdown in India. Victims left thirsty
We interview a BJP spokie to find out what the government is doing to tackle the coronavirus threat
Comedian Kunal Kamra gives Arnab a dose of his own medicine on a flight. The BJP retaliates. We discuss.
Sangeeta from reception. The secret center of power in every Indian office. We discuss.
We discuss Twitter India's decision to permanently suspend the IndiaExplained account at the behest of the Modi government
We discuss the anti-CAA protests at JNU and the brutal violence wreaked on protesters by the ABVP with the complicity of the Delhi police
Bengalis are going nuts after Abhijit Banerjee wins the Nobel for economics and Saurav Ganguly becomes BCCI chief. We unpack this uniquely Bong phenomenon.
Discussion on the week's events: the Indian economy, Kashmir, vegetarians, and an odd competition in Surat, Gujarat
Modi and his government framed an innocent officer and attempted to destroy him. We discuss this travesty of justice.
We discuss Indian middle-class characters and archetypes. You've met these folk and know them well, believe us.
A long discussion with Rahul Fernandes, former cricket journalist, on the 2019 ICC World CuP
Exit polls give the BJP and allies 300 plus seats. Craziness or accuracy? We discuss politics, polls, and predictions.
The BJP gives an election ticket to Sadhiv Pragya, accused of terrorism and currently under trial. We discuss
We discuss the Indian habit of giving gyaan or expertise, and reminisce about some legendary local philosophers
We discuss the contrast between Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman's dignity in the face of adversity and the repellent jingoism of the Indian government, media, and public seeking to capitalize on his experiences.
India's much touted indigenous fast train fails on its second day. What does this incompetence reflect?
We discuss the ethnocentric bias of Indian media and its debased culture of rage and rants
We discuss some of the key issues raised by the Pulawama terrorist attack in Kashmir which took the lives of 37 Indian security personnel
Priyanka Gandhi official joins politics with a Congress position. We discuss the event and its possible impact
No Kumbh mela is complete, till some sadhu pulls a car with his genitals. We try and figure out why.
In a richly ironic development, the Hindu Right in India protests against Twitter claiming it shuts down their free speech
Rahul Gandhi describes Indian journalists as pliable, because of the free pass they give Modi. Outrage ensues.
We discuss Indian cricket commentators from Doordarshan legends to the ultra-cheerful Harsha Bhogle
We discuss the art of branding products that draw on traditions, festivals, and social rituals.
The Congress takes back three states in the BJP's comfort zone. Anti-incumbency, farmer anger, or too much cow too little development? We discuss
The BJP spends a colossal sum on advertising. Anxiety, good strategy, or just modern politics?
We discuss the Indian proclivity for demanding symbolic honors and respect, especially among some communities
We discuss the false bravado and toxic masculinity of low-level politicians in North India
Bunty sees a tiger in an Indian wildlife reserve, and reflects on all that the experience taught him
A raid on a pakoda-seller yields Rs 60 lakhs. We discuss wealth, income, and cheating on taxes in India
Shilpa Shetty screams racism when she turns up late for an Australian fiight and can't take a bag on board. Does she have a point or is it desi attention-seeking?
How do you become an Indian godman? What would a school for Indian godmen look like? We discuss.
Modi struggles to clean a piece of plastic with his broom, while lecturing school kids on the virtues of cleanliness
One plank of the Indian philosophy of education has primarily been child abuse. Especially when it comes to religious instruction.
We discuss the subcontinental habit of never throwing away anything, and its good and dark side
We discuss Indian travel habits, peculiarities, and idiosyncrasies, like getting to airports super-early. Enjoy!!!
We discuss the relationship between sport and politics in India and America. Would any Indian sportsperson have taken a stand and risked their career by doing what Colin Kaepernick has done?
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of India decriminalizes same-sex relationships by striking down a criminal-era law
We discuss the idiosyncrasies of Indian cricket commentators and compare them to commentators from other nations
A family gets bitten by bed bugs in business class on India's flagship state-owned airline. We discuss.
An Indian astrologer predicted Argentina would win the World Cup. We discuss the role of astrology in the Indian imagination.
Our concluding episode on the Spain-Russia match, wherein we discuss the shock defeat of Spain
We shoot the breeze about the football World Cup, especially India's unique relationship to it
An Indian govt employee claims he had to miss work since he is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu
A conversation with Snigdha Poonam about her remarkable new book, Dreamers, on the hopes and challenges of small town India in the age of globalization
We discuss the concerns and worries regarding the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, including allegations about his proximity to the BJP
We explore the relationship between rats, corruption, and overbilling in the Maharashtra government
We discuss ding-dong diplomacy; India and Pakistan diplomats being harassed in both countries in silly ways
We discuss the claim that an improvement in Bihar's roads has led to a rise in accidents
We discuss the flap over the Australian cricket team's ball tampering in the series against South Africa
We discuss the Western deification of Churchill given his history as a perpetrator of colonial violence
We discuss the CBI trying to tackle Nirav Modi's massive fraud which conned Punjab National Bank
We discuss the falling and fallen standards of Indian news, as reflected in the coverage of Sridevi's death
In the first of a two-part series, we discuss Indian tourists at home and abroad, as well as other global travellers
An Indian official asks his junior to return a borrowed matchbox via official communication. We dissect this wonderful incident.
On the extraordinary press conference called by four Supreme Court justices about the crisis in Indian democracy
We bid farewell to 2017, with a review of events from the year that each of us considered to be especially significant
A discussion complementing our recent print article on the politics of Rahul Gandhi's HInduism
Indigo staff assault a customer. We discuss customer service, rude customers, corporate reactions etc. in the Indian context
We discuss the controversy over Indian lawyer Raya Sarkar's list of harassers in Indian academia
We discuss the ongoing brouhaha over whether one needs to stand for the Indian national anthem in movie theaters
We discuss the controversy about dropping the Taj from a list of tourist attractions because of its Mughal provenance
We discuss the sensational news of Amit Shah's son's company exponentially increasing its revenues since Modi's ascendancy
A tribute to IAF Marshal Arjan Singh and a related discussion on the politicization of the Indian army
We discuss Mamta Banerjee's aspirations as a national Indian leader, and analyse her politics and rhetoric
We discuss floods in the east and west, first world and third, and what they reveal about each culture
We discuss the Indian state's lofty indifference to the hardship and death of its citizens
Aayush Soni reports on, and we discuss, Project Insight, a government plan to track records ostensibly for tax evasion.
We discuss the challenges that policewomen face in India, given the fact that public space skews male
We discuss frozen mystics and the afterlife, in the context of a bizarre case involving a dead godman and a battle over his assets
We discuss the practice of villagers leaving elders to be killed by tigers, for government compensation
We discuss a bride backing off a wedding because of the nagin (snake) dance performed by the groom
We discuss the curious reaction to the "Not In My Name" citizen protests against lynchings of Muslims by cow vigilantes in India
We look at the BJP boycott of the President's annual Iftar dinner and caste and religious identity calculations in the Indian political scene
A snake bit a man in Bihar and the man bit is wife so she would be with him in the afterlife. We discuss
We talk about the vandalization of India's first luxury train, our public services, and our public attitudes
In which we discuss the unseemly fight between the Indian Supreme Court bench and a High Court judge and the implications for free speech
In which we discuss the Justin Bieber lipsync fiasco in Bombay and what it says about Indian intoxication with Western celebrities
We discuss the bookman of Calcutta, who will deliver any book you want, any time, anywhere
Our latest on India Explained examines farmer suicides, the government's response, and media coverage of the same
An analysis of a classic Indian advertisement from 80s India: Dabur Lal Dantmanjan or toothpowder
We analyze an old classic from the annals of Indian advertising: the Pan Paraag advertisement with Ashok Kumar and Shammi Kapoor
We discuss the Indian army's act of tying a man to a jeep as a human shield to protect itself from stone pelting, and the subsequent fallout and reactions to the action
We speculate on the real intentions behind the Indian government's decision to ban red beacons from all official cars
This week, as an Easter special, we inaugurate a series of specials on Indian advertisements. We deconstruct a much-loved 1990s Indian advertisement, "Swaad Zindagi Ka" for Cadbury's chocolates
This week's stories, and media coverage thereof, discussed: the Indian ban on liquor 500 meters from a highway and the ingenious ways Indians are circumventing it; the BJP's Tarun Vijay says Indians can't be racist because they live with 'black' South Indians; and the IPL's opening ceremony or rather 8 opening ceremonies
Bunty and Rohit discuss the phenomenon of the IPL, the Indian Premier League, cricket's attempt to emulate an American basketball and baseball league, cheerleaders and all
Story 2 of Episode 4 addresses the controversy over BJP politician Tarun Vijay's remark that Indians can't be racist because they live with black Indians from the South
Story 1 of Episode 4 on the new Indian Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the sale of liquor 500 meters from a state or national highway, and the creative ways in which Indians are working around this.