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CultureDecoder

The real tragedy of self-immolation: Nobody cares

May 18, 2013

Whether in Syria or Palestine, Greece, Italy or Vietnam, or China individuals continue to go up in flames as a gesture of protest but crowds just look on. Is self-immolation worth the price anymore? #CultureDecoder #Tibet #Arab Spring #Free Tibet #Self-immolations #Thich Quang Duc
Priyanka as Mary Kom: Casting coup or racist faux pas?

Apr 29, 2013

In a country where north easterners have faced endless "chinky" jokes, it�s hard to tell if the digital transformation via special effects of Priyanka Chopra into Mary Kom is a sign of embrace or erasure. #Sports #Priyanka Chopra #Bollywood #CultureDecoder #Barack Obama #Boxing #Mary Kom #yellow face
We drink to get drunk: India's booze problem

Apr 24, 2013

Gang rapes and traffic accidents often have one thing in common - alcohol. A new study says the problem is not that we drink but how we drink. Indians need to sober up about drinking responsibly. #CultureDecoder #Alcohol #alcohol prohibition #Delhi Gang Rape #Nimhans
Indian and entitled: Our gimme, gimme, gimme culture

Apr 11, 2013

Entitlement itself has become an aspiration for ever growing numbers, the ultimate gated complex we want to live in. It is the Number 1 reason one wants to get filthy rich (or even middle class) in rising India. #Salman Khan #CultureDecoder #Wealth #Mohsin Hamid #Urvashi Butalia #entitlement
The tales that politics and politicians tell

Apr 09, 2013

If there�s one thing Indian politicians appreciate, then it�s the importance of a good story. It's just that politicians can't always control the story that gets told about them. #CultureDecoder #Mamata Banerjee #Narendra Modi #Margaret Thatcher #Sudipta Gupta
Goans get hitched the Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool way

Mar 25, 2013

Three young couples from Goa have just upped the pitch and sharpened the curve of passion for the beautiful game. #CultureDecoder #Liverpool #football #Goa #Manchester United #Anfield #KickingAround #Old Trafford
Hillary Clinton's support for gay marriage: Too little, too late

Mar 20, 2013

Hillary Clinton has just come out in support of same-sex marriage via video. Pundits say that's the first salvo of a 2016 presidential campaign. Even four years ago that would have been unthinkable. #CultureDecoder #Hillary Clinton #Same-sex marriage #Bill Clinton #US presidential elections 2016 #Rob Portman
Hey India, back off. It's Ang Lee's Oscar, not yours (despite the namaste)

Feb 26, 2013

Nothing succeeds like success. India is ecstatic that Ang Lee said Namaste at the Oscars. But as we all rush to claim a slice of Pi, does that film belong to us at all? #CultureDecoder #Life of Pi #Ang Lee #Oscars2013 #Bombay Jayashri
Cricket, Mamaji, dukaan: Kai Po Che captures essence of Gujarat

Feb 25, 2013

#CultureDecoder #Chetan Bhagat #Kai Po Che #The 3 Mistakes of My Life #Abhishek Kapoor #Sushant Singh Rajput
The death of a bookstore: Why Pune's twistntales is closing down

Feb 23, 2013

The world of retail is witnessing a strange paradox. Although more Indians are reading books today and publishing is on an upswing, bookshops in various cities are shutting down one after the other. #CultureDecoder #bookshops

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Editor's picks

Movie Review: 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' leaves you dissatisfied

If you forget the politics and just look at the film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist doesn’t fare much better. It’s a thriller that lacks tension and suspense.
Here's how the Delhi Police stumbled upon spot-fixing in IPL

After monitoring a phone call, the investigation had virtually turned pan-India with some of the bookies based in Gujarat and Mumbai.
Ex-Citi CEO Vikram Pandit, JM Financial join hands for banking foray in India

JM Financial will nominate Pandit as the non-executive chairman of the proposed bank. Pandit and Aiyar will have the right to purchase shares up to the amount prescribed by the RBI in this entity.
Movie Review: The Great Gatsby is the most Bollywood of Baz Luhrmann's films

The great American dream is an integral part of America. It’s ‘great’ in that it symbolises not truth, but hope when the truth is disillusioning; it symbolises not facts, but ideals when facts are unnerving; it symbolises not likelihood, but promise when likelihood is all but bleak.

Google I/O 2013 keynote: New Maps, Search, Plus, and S4 with 'pure' Android

We’re tracking the Google I/O conference 2013 live – what will be unveiled?
Hero worshipped in Kerala, Sreesanth still innocent in his state

The summary of the response in his Sreesanth’s home turf is that of incredulity. They are unwilling to believe that the pacer is guilty.
Why return of Dreamliners won't change Air India's fortunes

The original promise of the Dreamliner has failed to materiallise due to limitations in its flying range. Will Air India continue to pay a price for this?
Did Indira abolish bonded labour or Sonia? NREGA's tall claims

The UPA ads eulogising MGNREGA as a a huge success needs to be taken with bags of salt. The scheme did make a difference, but not as is claimed.

Angelina’s breast surgery possible in India, but there's a catch

So can we test in India and gain from the same treatment privilege that Jolie had? Yes, but there is a catch.
IPL 2013 KKR vs PWI Live: Yusuf kicks KKR out of the IPL

Live detailed updates as KKR take on Pune in a must-win game at Ranchi.
Wrong on Ghaziabad: The Kiran Bedi argument for moral policing

Bedi’s argument that we should focus on the legal wrong committed by the girl slapped by cops is technical, disingenuous and enabling.
Cloak but no dagger: The awfully mundane world of spies

There’s an endearing quality to reports that a CIA spy was arrested in Moscow: he comes across as a bumbling amateur who represents the lost Age of Innocence in the world of espionage.

From here on, Sonia-Manmohan dyarchy is a slow train wreck

The “two heads” power arrangement between Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming apart at the seams.
Lessons from Karnataka: Cong must stop backing corrupt leaders in Andhra

The fact that it has allowed individuals named in chargesheets to continue as ministers is evidence that the Congress runs Andhra Pradesh as if it is its fiefdom, without a care for ethics in public life.
IPL 2013: How Isa Guha is changing perceptions about cricket presenters

Isa Guha is not your usual female cricket presenter. Apart from being an ex-player, she’s highly educated and injects a breath of fresh air on Indian screens.
Android and Chrome aren't merging for now, says Google's Sundar Pichai

Pichai has emphasised that Google is embracing both Chrome and Android is investing in both at least for now.

Ashwani to be shifted, Bansal to be booted? PM will decide

The fate of the two ministers is reportedly in the hands of the Prime Minister who has been told to take a final call.
How the Sarabjit-Sanaullah episode diminishes India

The Sarabjit-Sanaullah episode shows that for all of India’s attempts to project itself as an emerging global power, with a footprint larger than just the South Asian peninsula, it is unable to break out of its hyphenated relationship with Pakistan.
Changing dynamics: Is low-cost flying becoming really high cost?

Consumers may have to pay a high price for both the lower price and increased choice.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a perfectly adequate popcorn film

Star Trek Into Darkness is a perfectly adequate summer blockbuster film. It is impeccably tailored to please both the Trekkies and the non-geeks, genre lovers as well as the average moviegoer.

Coalgate scam: Careful, Mr PM, the fig leaves are falling off...

If there was no wrongdoing in the allocation of coal blocks, why did the Law Minister and officials from the Prime Minister’s Office go to such elaborate lengths to doctor the CBI’s draft report – and get top law officers to lie in court?
Who was Pak prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay? All you need to know

Some information about Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Haq who died this morning after being attacked by an Indian inmate in a Jammu prison.
Over 900 victims; Dhaka disaster world's worst in garments industry

The death toll from the collapse of a building housing five garment factories has climbed to nearly 900, officials said on Thursday, as authorities continue to search for more bodies two weeks after the worst garment manufacturing disaster in the world.
Sir Alex Ferguson: The greatest manager football will ever have

Ferguson showed that world-class man-management skills were more important than picking the perfect formation. It took something approaching genius qualities to get Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel – all volatile personalities with exceptionally big egos – to pull together for the common cause.