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MPs United: 542, Cartoons: 1. Is Mamata having the last laugh?
If the much ado about a cartoon has made anything clear it is this – Mamata Banerjee was right and the rest of us were wrong. Didi saw the danger wrapped in a cartoon long before the rest of us did. Now the Lok Sabha has jumped, en masse, onto her #Ambedkar #Ambedkar Cartoon #Kapil Sibal #Mamata Banerjee #OnOurMinds #Yashwant Sinha
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Who’s afraid of the I-word ? Aamir Khan
Let’s give Aamir Khan credit where credit is due. Child sex abuse (CSA) is no gasp-inducing revelation in India. But it’s not something any of us particularly want to dwell on, certainly not on a Sunday morning. But Aamir Khan forced us to take an unflinching look at what we would #Aamir Khan #Anuja Gupta #Child sexual abuse #CultureDecoder #Incest #Pinky Virani #Satyamev Jayate
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India’s first Mr Universe at 100: Holding out in the age of the multi-gym
Manohar Aich towers over the lane where he lives in Kolkata. At the head of the street there’s a big hoarding with an old black and white photograph of him, flexing in a posing strap, looking down on the usual clutter of tea stalls, sabziwallahs and auto-rickshaws. “Towers” is an odd word #Bodybuilding #gyms #Inpraiseof #Manohar Aich #Mr. Universe
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Obama is okay with gay marriage: Thank his kids
A couple of years ago I watched two friends, both Indian, get married in a beautiful garden in Santa Cruz, California. One was Christian, the other Hindu. So they had two marriage ceremonies. They cut a three-layered wedding cake and walked around a sacred fire and fished for a ring #Joseph Biden #Love&Marriage #Obama #Same-sex marriage
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The real winner from Hillary visit: The NGOs
What does it mean when the US Secretary of State comes to town and spends more time with NGOs than with state officials? The Hillary Clinton touchdown in Kolkata was certainly a photo-op moment for Mamata Banerjee. It was the Image of the Day on India Ink, the New #Clinton Kolkata visit #Hillary Clinton #Mamata Banerjee #Muhammad Yunus #TheOddAngle
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From Hillary didi’s mouth to Mamata’s ears: Five lessons
“I was really tempted to do a meme of Hillary Clinton and Mamata,” a friend told me. He was referring to the famous Texts from Hillary meme that has become quite the social media rage. But he decided not to do it. “Who knows? Mamata might track me down and #Barkha Dutt #Hillary Clinton #Hillary in Kolkata #JustSaying #Mamata Banerjee #Texts From Hillary meme
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The Big Chill – the coolness of loverboy Barack Obama
Barack Obama, I thought you were different. It turns out that at 22, you were just like, well any other 22-year-old man. Obama was “sexually warm” but “emotionally cool” says Genevieve Cook, an early girlfriend in a much publicised article in Vanity Fair. As kiss and tells go, this excerpt from #Barack Obama #David Maraniss #Genevieve Cook #GoodReads #Love&Marriage #Vanity Fair
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Happy B’day, Satyajit Ray – still Indian cinema’s banyan tree
Satyajit Ray would have been 91 today. I never met the man but because his son and I share the same name, I was once mistaken for the son. At an NRI reception in California for Sandip Ray, an older man spotted my name tag and came up to me and #Aparna Sen #Bengali cinema #Inpraiseof #Sandip Ray #Satyajit Ray #Sharmila Tagore
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The Avengers go to Calcutta – an incredible hulking shame
If The Avengers is right, then Mamata is wrong. West Bengal’s chief minister promised to turn Calcutta into London. But Joss Whedon in the Marvel comics saga, The Avengers, has gone backwards instead. Calcutta in the age of superheroes looks suspiciously like the one described in the City of #Avengers #Bruce Banner #FilmCrit #Hulk #Joss Whedon #Kolkata
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Too many cookstoves spoil the NGO?
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves sounds like just the kind of project everyone can love. It’s ambitious – get 100 million homes to adopt clean cookstoves by 2020. It’s a public-private partnership – we adore that because that sounds like it will be efficient and you and I won’t #Esther Duflo #Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves #GoodReads #Hillary Clinton #JULIA ROBERTS