Split Decision
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Sanity Break #1
Deepa Mehta’s ‘’ is Canada’s official for best international film—and is based on a coming-of-age novel set in war-torn Sri Lanka by Shyam Selvadurai. It drops on Netflix on December 10 and we can’t wait!
Headlines that matter
CHINA IS AT IT AGAIN! Beijing is once again constructing new camps on disputed areas of the border—even as both sides have been holding multiple rounds of talks to resolve the conflict. An unnamed Intelligence Bureau official says: > “The Chinese troops have so far shown no intent to retreat from India-claimed territory and have been acting against the > agreement reached so far between the two sides to initiate the disengagement process.” The Indian military has been ramping up its presence in response. But a buildup on the border is hardly good news for the troops on the eve of a long, cold winter. () Speaking of angry neighbours: Pakistan is furious with India because we are asking the EU to grant sole geographical indication (GI) status to our basmati rice. Such a status would restrict the use of the word ‘basmati’ to rice grown in parts of India. If approved, basmati would become like champagne. That sounds lovely except not to Pakistan which accounts for a third of EU imports of rice. () ENGLAND SHUTS SHOP The nation is back in lockdown, this time for four weeks starting Thursday. All pubs and restaurants will close along with nonessential retail shops, and different households will be banned from mixing indoors. But colleges and schools will remain open. PM Boris Johnson : > "The virus is spreading even faster than the reasonable worst-case scenario of our scientific advisors, whose models ... now > suggest unless we act, we could see deaths in this country running at several thousand a day." In related Covid news: Some Indian experts claim that the government is holding back data, which makes it hard to understand what is going on, especially unexplained patterns in data. For example: the near-equal case fatality rates—how many die out of those infected—in Kerala (0.4%) and Bihar (0.5%) in contrast to Punjab’s high 3.1%. They are also challenging how authorities define our recovery rate. has more. : A new book written by three leading epidemiologists predicts India could witness multiple peaks. DEAR INDIANS, EAT MORE SUGAR! India is the world’s second-biggest producer of sugar—and there is a chronic excess supply of sugar in the country. The reason: governments offer big incentives to sugar producers for political reasons. But the high production costs make it difficult to sell abroad. And consumption in India has stagnated at 19 kg per capita per year compared with a global average of 23 kg. The solution: Sugar mills are working on a big campaign to persuade Indians to eat more sugar! > “If per capita consumption rises to the global average, domestic demand will climb by 5.2 million tons a year, according to > Sudhanshu Pandey, the top bureaucrat at the food ministry. That would slash the surplus, cut overseas sales and save the > government money by reducing export subsidies.” Honestly, we have no words except to note that 77 million Indians , the second highest total in the world. () BARCELONA FACES BANKRUPTCY The Spanish football giant is vastly overpaying its star players—and could go broke if they refuse to accept a salary cut. The team pays its first team an incredible £235m a year—and Lionel Messi alone makes £988,000 per week, with bonus payments reaching as much as £13 million a year. Management is insisting that players take a 30% cut by Thursday—or else the club will be bankrupt by January. () NEW NUMBER FOR CYLINDER REFILLS Indane gas will now have a single national number to book refills starting November 1. The number—7718955555—is a 24x7 customer line. So your local numbers will not work any more. The upside: You don’t have to change the number each time you move. has more useful gyaan on how this will work. INDIAN TROLLS HATE ON HAPPY NEWLYWEDS Lekshmi and Hrushi Karthik decided to treat themselves to a post-wedding photoshoot to make up for a low-key, Covid-safe wedding. The “romantic and intimate” photos were shot on a tea plantation: "It was great fun. We laughed through it. We were really excited about it. It was a part of our honeymoon, we were just married and we felt free." Unfortunately, when they uploaded the photos to Facebook, trolls felt just as free to attack them: > "We received two days of relentless hate… People said we were showing nudity, they asked if we were wearing clothes underneath, > they said we were doing it for attention and seeking publicity… It was really awful for me. They were harassing me much more > than him. They were telling me to act in porn films, I was body shamed." The good news: Love has proved stronger than hate, and the couple have refused to take down the lovely carefree photos. See one example below. has more. THE $600 BILLION MENOPAUSE ‘OPPORTUNITY’ According to a new report by venture capital firm Female Founders Fund, one billion women around the world will be in menopause by 2025—and they will spend $2000 a year on average on prescriptions, doctor visits, treatments, devices, and products. That adds up to a $600 billion opportunity for businesses who serve their needs. And yet of the $254 million invested in women’s health-tech over the past decade, only 5% has gone to menopause treatments. () YOUR FIRST PANDEMIC HORROR FLICK IS HERE ‘’ is set in a dystopian near-future—i.e. 2024—when the world is still in quarantine thanks to an even deadlier virus, Covid-23. The creepy trailer—starring KJ Apa, Sofia Carson and Demi Moore and directed by Michael Bay—dropped on Friday. And almost everyone . Too soon? You think? THE BEST SEAN CONNERY TRIBUTES Ok so Michael Caine just : “Sean Connery A Great Star, Brilliant Actor and a wonderful friend. The Man Who Would Be King was THE KING.” But Raj Thackeray—yes, the Raj Thackeray—put out an astonishingly . But the bizarro prize goes to Big B who : > “What is the date today .. 31 . 10 . 20 .. add up ➡️ .. 3 +1 is 4 .. then 1 = 5 .. then 0 .. then 2, so 4+1+2 = 7 .. then 0 .. > so .. 3+1+1+2 = 7 .. and 2 zeros before you get there .. So .. 007 .. !! Sean Connery passes away .. he gave life to 007 !!” Mercifully, Amul :
Sanity Break #2
Zarathustra, an adorable fat feline, is the fine art version of the photo-bomber—inserting herself into the most famous paintings thanks to her owner Svetlana Petrova. This one is our favourite. The others are over at . (h/t subscriber Protima Tiwary)
Smart & Curious
A LONG LIST OF GOOD READS Sex/Love: * What’s worse than ‘ghosting’? ‘Zombieing’, of course! has the new made-up term for bad dating behaviour. * What makes a first date a total nightmare? asked a bunch of millennials the same question, and it makes for a fun watch. * Have you checked out ? The Insta handle tells and celebrates real-life love stories that break stifling norms. Culture: * Tanuj Solanki in offers a unique and must-read meditation on what it feels like to read fiction in a learned language—in this case, English—as opposed to your mother tongue. * NXIVM is a notorious sex cult that enslaved women. The founder was a man, but it was run and operated by well educated, wealthy women. has a must-read on how corporate feminism has spawned a toxic version of female empowerment. * Do you imagine hearing truly momentous news—of death or birth—on a cellphone or on a landline? Marcia Aldrich in pens a lovely essay on why cell phones—light and brittle—feel inadequate for phone calls that truly matter. * has a lovely weekend read on how past pandemics gave birth to Mumbai’s Art Deco architecture. The pandemic: * The numbers are higher than ever—and may climb even further—and yet people are less cautious now than at the beginning of the pandemic. offers two reasons why. * The pandemic has brought with it a new but less-noticed peril: ‘epistemic trespassing’—where experts in entirely unrelated fields have suddenly become Covid experts. Professor of Philosophy explains why this is a serious problem. * When will we be able to do things we used to be able to do before—eat out, jump on a plane, walk out the door without a mask? pulls together the likely timeline of our Covid future. Economics: Manavi Kapur in explains how behavioural economics can offer solutions to cut stubble burning—and save all our lungs. Useful to know: How do you know whether you are suffering from mental fatigue? And how can you cope? offers a useful checklist and guide. explains what makes our pooches happy—which is always useful gyaan for dog owners.
Feel Good Place
A LIST OF IMPORTANT REALISATIONS When you realise that you quit your old job… When you realise owls are just kitties with wings... When you realise that 1999 David Bowie was way smarter than almost every tech know-it-all today. (If you love Bowie, there are more excerpts of the same interview ) A LIST OF HALLOWEEN LEFTOVERS A mini-me Kamala Planes, trucks and automobiles! The right way to dress up as a clown! The absolutely fricking wrong time to dress up as a clown!
