Articles

The Lost Art of Composing Ringtones on Nokia Phones

If you are of a certain vintage, you’d be forgiven for asking “why make a ringtone when you can just download a song instead?” But the world was different in 2004 — back then phone ringtones were a well of creative expression.

Deepak Gopalakrishnan June 1, 2016

Pop Culture

Is it Time We Classify Video Games As a Legit Sport?

Millennials who grew up with video games, still form a huge chunk of the gaming population. I’m not a bespectacled, socially awkward, 12-year-old hogging the PlayStation in my friend’s living room anymore, but a productive adult who has a job and pays rent. It’s time adult gamers get their time in the sun.

Dushyant Shekhawat June 1, 2016

Sports

Rahul Dravid: The Man Who Would Never Be King

If Indian cricket was a fancy omelette stuffed with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, Parma ham, and cheese, Rahul Dravid would choose to be the salt.

Dushyant Shekhawat June 1, 2016

Gender

I Was All for Body Positivity… Until I Gained Weight and Couldn’t Fit In My Clothes

We’ve been trained to believe that hating the way our body looks, feels, and weighs is another way of subscribing to societal demands of female beauty. It’s dangerous and self-destructive. But if I’m being honest, maintaining a veneer of body positivity, when you can’t stop thinking of your weight, feels much the same to me at this point.

Meghalee Mitra June 1, 2016

Pop Culture

Bandersnatch Review: A Tedious DIY Film for a Generation That Hates Making Choices

Netflix’s interactive film Bandersnatch is a gimmick, a new toothpaste you must taste before declaring it as unfamiliar. I get what it’s trying to do, but I don’t want to goddamn choose someone’s cereal, or the song they must listen to. I could live with the world being a little less interactive really.

Manik Sharma June 1, 2016

POV

A Modern-Day Guide to Gandhigiri

How can one fit the Gandhian model to the average Indian millennial? Maybe the next time your Uber driver makes the wrong turn, think before you shout at his human fallibility.

Manik Sharma June 1, 2016

POV

And here’s to you Mr Shah Rukh Khan

Shahrukh has saved the day on screen several times, but off it, his heroism stems from the many things he has chosen to ‘not’ do. He may be paying the price for that today, but in him, still resides our strongest hope, that a hero will emerge.

Sharan Saikumar June 1, 2016

First Person

Forty Going on 14: How to Live With Your Parents as a Single Adult

Two years ago, my parents returned from their longish stint in the Middle East to move back in with me. Ring out the eggs and maggi, ring in the idlis and paranthas. How would it feel to live with my parents after eight years of living alone?

Anuradha Ganapathy June 1, 2016

Bollywood

15 Years of Socha Na Tha: A Reminder of What an Imtiaz Ali Romance Used To Be

Socha Na Tha takes us back to the time when Imtiaz Ali was a filmmaker who was interested in saying something, not repeating it. The film is predictable to a fault, but its sweetness is devoid of any pretension or baggage, a throbbing flaw in Ali’s recent outings.

Poulomi Das June 1, 2016

Love and Sex

The Blue Lagoon Of Sector 38

When I was growing up, I could pick up a porn film and a few life lessons for ₹15. No more. The arrival of high-speed internet, has marked the end of a pornographic era.

Karan Mujoo June 1, 2016