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Bharatipura: The Curious Case of the Solo Social Reformer

  Set against the backdrop of a caste-ridden society, Bharatipura delves into the idealism of Jagannatha, a man whose philosophy is as well-intentioned as it is misguided. Having recently returned from England, he attempts to apply Western models of social justice to his village's deeply entrenched caste system. He is aware of the struggles of communities like the Black population in the West and wants to initiate similar change for the Holeyaru, the community of manual scavengers. Jagannatha's efforts are futile because he fails to grasp how social movements gain momentum. While he aims to lead a strong agitation, he discovers he is a lone crusader. The novel expertly highlights how the injustice of the caste system has been internalized by both the upper castes and the Dalits, with neither group showing a true willingness to change. His well-intentioned initiatives fail because the very people he seeks to uplift are not prepared to embrace his cause. This resistance is rooted...
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Peter Principle and the (Middle) Managerial Trap

If you are in any managerial position (thanks to promotions) and this is the first time you’re hearing of the Peter Principle, then you are already a lost cause.  Close this tab and go back to scrolling Instagram reels. Bye-bye. According to Wikipedia (remember that old relic, before ChatGPT became the de facto encyclopedia? Remember encyclopedia? Never mind). According to Wikipedia, the Peter Principle “observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to 'a level of respective incompetence’”, which means your promotions are based on how good you are at your current role. You continue to rise the rungs of corporate till you reach a position where you, and you will, suck at your job. At some point in your career, you will end up rotting away at a level you are least competent at; some place where you barely scrape by, unsure of where you’re faltering because the barometer for quality is hidden behind a thick veil of your own incompetence. Hence, the burnout.  And the desperate ...

Resurrecting a dead relish

A favourite childhood memory of mine is me coming home from school to a mound of steaming rice topped with a ladle of thick pappu (boiled mashed green gram) and a generous helping of homemade ghee surrounded by a moat of tangy chinta charu (tamarind rasam).  It was my first tryst with nostalgia. The first bite would transport me back to simpler times when the school days and my trousers were both half in measure. I’ve always maintained that my ammi, my late grandmother, invented the dish. One of the most unfortunate outcomes of her passing was the loss of the recipe. You might think I’m being inconsiderate, but the dish is to die for. And my mother’s version just doesn’t taste like what ammi used to make. I’d been on the hunt for this elusive dish for years. I’ve scrounged around the annals of the internet long enough to know that it isn’t familiar, let alone popular. So, I took it upon myself to recreate the dish, from memory.  It took me years to perfect it. The pappu was ea...

Keli Katheya Kannada Audio Book Makes a Difference In Athani

The journey to brighten the lives of girl students began in 2014, but that would be too far back, so let's just start from last weekend.  7 of us left from Majestic on Sunday evening and after a shaky ride, arrive at Athani in the morning. The good folks from Aviratha who travelled with us landed in an IB and we set up shop at a friend-of-a-friend’s place. Mr. Udaya Kumar Gunda was a great host and his family welcomed us warmly into their house and their dining tables. After quickly washing off the soreness of travel and a fantastic breakfast at their house, we headed towards JA College auditorium, where we were to felicitate the beneficiaries of the proceedings from Keli Katheya - the Kannada audio book. The 16 girl students who has scored 125/125 in Kannada at their SSLC exams were yet to arrive and we got to work setting up the auditorium.  The college staff were very accommodating and went out of their way to ensure that our event was successful. From helping us change the...

Clubhouse. CoWin. China.

If you feel an odd sense of deja vu while reading this piece, then you've spent too much time switching between Facebook and Clubhouse. Unless you've been living underground or in a home with ACT broadband, you know what Clubhouse is - it is where many people can have their Mann ki Baat at once. And Facebook has turned into a platform to critique, analyse and make fun of discussions that happen on Clubouse. Congrats Clubhouse, you just replaced the Indian Government, at least as far as Facebook discourses go. Clubhouse is more or less an impulsive, live podcast session - an open space where everyone is made to feel like Joe Rogan. But no one talks about DMT or shaved gorillas or MMA or shaved gorillas doing MMA while on DMT. But it always does sound like everyone is on something stronger than the devil's lettuce. Maybe you need that to hear your own thoughts over the din of uncomprehensive ramblings and mouth-breathing noises. Speaking of noises, Saudi Arabia restricted the...

Enjoying the charm of average movies

OTT has redefined the way we enjoy 3-star movies. Movies that aren't worth the hassle of a big-screen viewing, yet not so bad that you miss it entirely.  Bonus points if it has some terrific performances. It's as exciting as riding a small displacement motorcycle fast on ORR. Hella fun. They are the kind of movies that find permanent housing on your watchlist but are always given a pass in favour of something more exciting. Something more fun.  And when you do want to watch it, it's like bathing in cold water - you just have to brush aside good judgment and jump in headfirst. You enter a world where the action isn't exciting enough, the drama isn't convincing enough and the comedy evokes a toothy smile at most. Movies that are worth your time, if time isn't worth that much really. It's sad to see such movies getting pulled into dark alleys of intellectualism and beaten up by the critic mafia with batons of tasteful art.  The barometer to judge these movies i...

Men Can Cook: Mysore Pak

The greatest trick sweet makes pulled off was convincing the entire world that making Mysore Pak was tough. It isn't. Sure, it's quite labour intensive, but a little exercise never killed anybody. Consider it the calories you burn off before piling it all up with the sweet concoction you are about to make. The problem with making Mysore Pak is not how much elbow grease you put into it, it is how precise you are with the timing. Keeping a watch on milk from boiling over is child's play compared to this. You let that golden yellow bubbly sweet mess on the stove for 1/16th of a second longer, and you end up with a piece of metamorphic rock. While eating Mysore Pak is an otherworldly experience in itself, making it is quite magical in its own way. Because you can use a small amount of ingredients and still end up with a fuck ton of it. I learnt that trick accidentally. So don't use a big cup for the measurements, and use the same cup for all measurements. Measure t...