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Articles by Neera Majumdar
9 cameras on you, empty boxes and a Little Red Book-The Tibet Museum in India is must-visit
How do you build a museum with no objects? Imagine this—You have one bag, the clothes you are wearing, some food, and are walking across the high Himalayas in the dead of the night. You must not be seen by the Chinese patrolling guards, and it’s so cold that if you stop and rest, you will freeze to death. If you get caught in Tibet—‘prison and torture.’ Caught in Nepal—‘deported and handed over to Chinese authorities’.
‘Ghar ka khana’ to delivery apps - Indian food is changing, but you can’t blame women
New Delhi: Foreigners are not the only people with a problematic and limited understanding of Indian food. Most Indians themselves don’t know much beyond ‘ghar ka khana’. That’s the precise problem Australian food writer and historian Charmaine O’Brien says she faced while documenting and researching Indian food. Brien, who has travelled the country for the last 25 years, has studied the outside-inside binary in Indian culinary habits.
In trying to save the world, James Bond just saved the franchise
Daniel Craig as James Bond one last time in ‘No Time To Die’ | Facebook/ JamesBond007IN Text Size: How does a physical James Bond live in a world where terrorism threats are going digital? Where viruses are more dangerous than guns? What is the use of a suit-wearing spy when you have Pegasus? And yet, the magic of 007 lives on, and No Time To Die may be the best of all installments. Cinema is again giving us something that the pandemic had taken away – an escape.
The Maggi milkshake is coming for you. Cringe food is the Roadies of today
Illustration by Manisha Yadav | ThePrint Text Size: Everyone you know is a food puritan — even those who write ‘food lover’ on their Instagram bio and ‘experiment’ every week. There’s always something that will make you crinkle your nose and say, ‘No, that’s taking it too far’. And what better week to test this thesis? In the last couple of days, a lot of ‘cringe food’ showed up on Indian social media. And a Maggi milkshake, took the, er, cake.
Young India wants Covid vaccines, but CoWIN just won't let us win
Youngsters pose for a photograph after receiving the first dose of Covid vaccine in Prayagraj on 1 May 2021 | PTI Photo Text Size: How many millennials does it take to change a lightbulb? None, they are all waiting for vaccination slots on CoWIN. It was 4 pm on 30 April 2021 that the floodgates opened. There was panic, there was chaos, there was refreshing of the phone browser and last-minute dash to find a photo of the Aadhaar card.
Valentine’s Day or not, India has no infrastructure for love because it’s no internal matter
Illustration by Ramandeep Kaur | ThePrint Text Size: Indians said ‘I love you’ to Alexa — the Amazon device — more than 19,000 times last year. It’s only a symptom of a larger disease — loneliness, and that too in a society where love is increasingly ceding space in public. Love — cloying, mushy, gooey, sticky, platonic — is becoming more and more elusive today.
Why AK vs AK matters in self-soaked Bollywood
A still from 'AK vs AK' | Facebook/NetflixIN/ Text Size: In a film industry obsessed with itself, AK vs AK comes as a relief. Yes, it is about the actors — Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap — but there is no hero in this Netflix film. The format is unusual for Bollywood, the actors are not trying to be underdogs, and there is definitely no tear-jerking moment of victory at the end of it. AK vs AK is a thriller in ‘reality’ TV — a film in a film.
Ladakh to Singhu - Why cold wave in North India can have more costs than before
File photo | Farmers protest at the Haryana-Delhi border at Singhu | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint Text Size: As the New Year begins, a cold wave has gripped North India. A slew of headlines about the dropping temperatures has connected 2020 and 2021. ‘Delhi records 1.1°C’, ‘Don’t drink alcohol, get indoors: IMD’, ‘Srinagar freezes at -5.9°C’, and ‘Farmers vow to carry on protests despite cold, deaths’. Baby, it’s cold outside.
Work to biting nails to Netflix - What we learned and unlearned in 2020
Illustration by ThePrint team Text Size: As 2020 slowly walks to its end, as if wading through treacle, there’s a New Yorker cartoon by Brooke Bourgeois that aptly sums up the year. Two women are talking to each other on a sofa, and one says, “I just got used to the new normal! How can I be expected to go back to the old normal all of a sudden?” Of all the things we have learned and unlearned this year, a ‘new normal’ was the worst. Or perhaps the best.
The bee, not the brand - India needs to bet its money on the right honey Original
Representational image | Commons Text Size: In 1974, ABBA sang, “Honey honey, don’t conceal it, a-ha, honey honey”. Many decades later, Indian media discovered what was really concealed in the honey — Chinese sugar. The Centre for Science and Environment or CSE food researchers have found that most honey sold in the Indian market is adulterated. Some have called this India’s ‘Honeygate’. Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu have all reportedly failed the purity test.
Indian farmer and soldier as ‘he’- why 21st century editors are at war with their keyboards
A farmer hand-picks cotton in a field in Sirsa, Haryana (Representational Image) | Prashanth Vishwanathan | Bloomberg Text Size: An Indian Army officer always makes sure his country comes first, then his family and his life. Do you find anything wrong with this sentence? What about the next one. Farmers are angry with the Narendra Modi government’s new farm laws. A farmer is essential to the economy, he shouldn’t have to brave water cannons to have his voice heard.
Soumitra Chatterjee, the Bengali legend you probably haven't heard of but should
Soumitra Chatterjee in a still from Apur Sansar | Facebook Text Size: As the actor turns 84 today, ThePrint takes a look at the career of Chatterjee who deserves a wider acknowledgement in the country. The camera zooms into a letter — a letter of recommendation. It says Apu is a “sensitive, conscientious and diligent” person. The camera cuts to Apu’s face. A young, extraordinarily ordinary man with an earnest smile, beams in black and white.
Humble headline? No, it’s a weapon for media, Facebook, Google, your WhatsApp group
Indian newspapers | Sajid Ali/ThePrint Text Size: Most people have an above-average number of arms.’ Read this headline, and then read it again. It’s a mathematical fact, but you’ll still be confused. This is how it works. The average number of arms is always lesser than two because some people don’t have hands or are amputated. So, by default, if you have two arms, that’s above average. This is also why you must always click on an article and not just read the headline.
Atheism, abortion, art, sex — things Mira Nair film on Amrita Sher-Gil can't miss
File photo | Amrita Sher-Gil with three of her paintings | Wikimedia Commons Text Size: No, she isn’t India’s Frida Kahlo, she is India’s Amrita Sher-Gil. To consider her a lite version of any other artist would be to ignore one of the greatest women India has seen. And a proposed biopic by Mira Nair — who else would do her justice — shows we still haven’t paid our dues to one of the pioneers of modern Indian art. Everyone, from Jawaharlal Nehru to Mulk Raj Anand, was Amrita’s fan.
Chai, chaat, chowmein - Indian street food won’t die, neither cholera nor corona can end it
A collage of Indian street foods | Commons | ThePrint Text Size: Indian street food isn’t dead — cholera didn’t kill it, neither will corona. But it got pretty close. Ever since the coronavirus-induced lockdown, most Indians have craved two things: a carefree ‘normal’ life and some chaat. But chaat, which comes from the word ‘chaatna’ — licking — is the one thing you shouldn’t be doing outdoors when a virus is looking for its next host.
Modi govt turns on air-travel sign. Cabin crew, coronavirus, chaos, prepare for take-off
Passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport after domestic flights resumed operations Monday | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint Text Size: Now everyone can fly, reads Air Asia’s tagline. But the problem is, no one wants to, if they have a choice. Because the only thing ‘Red, Hot and Spicy’ is a pandemic, not SpiceJet. One of the first to feel the aftershocks of the coronavirus, the airline industry slowly came to a halt in 2020.
Political distancing and media apathy: How India developed Amphan-sized blindspot
PM Narendra Modi, WB Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankar visit cyclone Amphan affected areas & attend an administrative meeting at Basirhat College in West Bengal Friday. | CMO Text Size: The national media and the national government in India developed an Amphan-sized blindspot as the strongest and costliest cyclone of the 21st century formed over the Bay of Bengal.
After 40 days of lockdown, Indians just wanted alcohol not 'Gujarat Model'
File photo | People buy alcohol in Delhi's Paharganj | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint Text Size: For 40 days and nights, the ‘Gujarat Model’ had been successfully implemented across India. Then, on the 41st day, following a Ministry of Home Affairs circular, the red, green, and orange coronavirus zones parted like the Red Sea — for India’s tipplers to make way to the alcohol shops.
Satyajit Ray: Cine maestro & literary genius who could say no to Indira Gandhi, Narasimha Rao
Satyajit Ray in New York | Commons Text Size: New Delhi: ‘What is so great about Satyajit Ray?’ This is the one question that most Bengalis are usually asked. Some may have heard about him in passing, some may have seen his films, but most have come to know of him because Bengalis drop three names casually in conversations: Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore and Amartya Sen. Ray was a polymath — just like his prolific father Sukumar Ray.
4am Dairy Milk, dancing prawns, langar - what coronavirus did to how we eat
Customers at a McDonald's outlet | Photo: Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg Text Size: A few nights ago, I had a rather Haruki Murakami-esque dream about dancing prawns. It was the result of me stalking a meat-and-fish delivery app for prawns a few days earlier. As India extends its lockdown due to the novel coronavirus, what is ‘essential’ food and what is not has been turned on its head. It has thrown at us choices and restrictions that we have never faced before.
From Modi to Delhi Police to RBI, everyone told India not to panic. And what did Indians do?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi | File photo | Kamal Kishore | PTI Text Size: This week, panic, pandemonium and a pandemic all hit India at the same time. And yet, the words ‘don’t panic’ had the exact opposite reaction on Indians dealing with coronavirus or COVID-19, Yes Bank moratorium, and the rumours in the aftermath of the Delhi riots.
I ate the non-vegetarian Harappan meal and had no beef with it
Clockwise: Sauteed offals, braised Parwal, stuffed chickpea, braised fowl, salt cured tender lamb Source: Neera Majumdar | ThePrint Text Size: A Bengali, a Punjabi baker, a Gujarati law intern, and a Sindhi lawyer walk into a restaurant. They eat the food of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the vegetarian and the coveted non-vegetarian. And with each dish they taste, one or the other finds something in common with the food cooked in their home — a brinjal fry, a meat fat soup, or a fowl curry.
Why Left bastion Jadavpur University has become a battleground between Mamata and BJP
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was stopped by protesting students outside Jadavpur University who shouted slogans and waved black flags on 24 December | PTI Text Size: New Delhi and Kolkata: Often, people ask if Jadavpur University is Kolkata’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. There’s a reason for that. Both institutes are known to be Leftist campuses, anti-establishment and prone to protests — sometimes even violent.
Ten years of WhatsApp: From chat revolution to political weapon to Whexit
The WhatsApp Inc. mobile-messaging application | Photo: Bloomberg Text Size: If you had to name the revolutions that changed your life, WhatsApp would be pretty high on that list. The messaging app currently has more than 1.5 billion users across the world. It went from an app with a rocky start to one that has brought governments to power.
Kali Puja cuisine has veg mutton, chopsuey, biryani, guilt and Gelusil
Kali chromolithograph by Raja Ravi Varma | Commons Text Size: While most of north India revels in Diwali and its fruit-and-nut sacrifices, in east India, Kali Puja takes precedence. And every year, a debate breaks out between vegetarians and non-vegetarians over food supremacy. But food in Bengal, like food from anywhere else, has 10 hands.
Don’t hate millennials for not buying cars. They will be driving India’s economy soon
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (file photo) | PTI Text Size: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is not the only one to have partly attributed a problem in the economy to millennials’ lifestyle choices. Tuesday, when Sitharaman said that millennials’ preference for Uber and Ola has contributed to the slowdown in India’s automobile industry, she was just echoing what many policymakers are struggling with world over: How to best mesh millennials with the economy.
Drugs, religion & politics: Sacred Games Season 2 doesn’t paint a rosy picture of India
A still from Sacred Games season 2 | YouTube Text Size: The second season of the Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif Ali Khan-starrer Sacred Games on Netflix is Season 1 on drugs — literally and metaphorically. What other recent Indian show has been able to combine Partition, ISIS, lynching, Afghanistan, corrupt home ministers, an Arnab Goswami-lookalike, nuclear threat, Mombasa and Mumbai?
As India falls 7 spots in global ranking, is it a safe country to raise children?
Illustration by Soham Sen | ThePrint Team Text Size: According to U.S. News and World Report’s global perceptions-based survey on the best countries to raise children in, India ranks at 65 out of 80 countries. The top country is Sweden. ThePrint asks: As India falls 7 spots in global ranking, is it a safe country to raise children?
Amitav Ghosh is the Jnanpith Award winner and climate crusader India doesn’t know it needs
File photo of Amitav Ghosh | Commons Text Size: Author Amitav Ghosh became the youngest and only Indian English writer to get the Jnanpith Award this week. It is the highest literary honour in India. While presenting the award, Gopalkrishna Gandhi praised Ghosh as the “philosopher of the environment” and “sailor among novelists”.
Jiggs Kalra - the food chief with the gastronomical Midas touch
Chef Jiggs Kalra | Facebook Text Size: New Delhi: Jaspal Inder Singh Kalra or Jiggs Kalra, without whom the food landscape of India would have been very different and dry, passed away Tuesday morning. He was 72. Dubbed the ‘tastemaker of the country,’ Kalra was a columnist, chef extraordinaire, restauranteur and consultant who put India on the global cuisine map.
Jiggs Kalra - the food chief with the gastronomical Midas touch
New Delhi: Jaspal Inder Singh Kalra or Jiggs Kalra, without whom the food landscape of India would have been very different and dry, passed away Tuesday morning. He was 72. Dubbed the ‘tastemaker of the country,’ Kalra was a columnist, chef extraordinaire, restauranteur and consultant who put India on the global cuisine map. Traditionally, one of the lasting criticisms of the Indian food scene was that it had stagnated and that there was not enough experimentation or innovation.
What is Dal Raisina? The ‘special’ dish that PM Modi’s 8,000 guests will eat tonight
Dal Raisina (Representational image) | Commons Text Size: New Delhi: At Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony Thursday, one thing the 8,000 dignitaries and guests should look forward to is an exclusive dish only available at Rashtrapati Bhavan — ‘Dal Raisina’. The luxuriant pulse dish apparently takes nearly 48 hours to cook.
Delhi Crime: Why watch a Netflix series on the intensely reported Nirbhaya gangrape case
Netflix’s new seven-part thriller, Delhi Crime | Screengrab Text Size: The ‘Nirbhaya’ gangrape story has just broken out. The Delhi Police has been awake all night and protesters are gathering outside the police station. In sweatpants and a T-shirt, a tired but determined DCP Vartika Chaturvedi, played by Shefali Shah, looks at the protesters and realises time is running out. The scene almost evokes sympathy for the police.
Have a slew of recent Bollywood films changed the way Indians view war?
Illustration by Sajid Ali | ThePrint Team Text Size: After the Pulwama terror attacks, many Indians are clamouring for ‘revenge’ and ‘war’ against Pakistan. Recent Bollywood films like Uri: The Surgical Strike, Manikarnika and Padmaavat have glamorised the battlefield. ThePrint asks: Have a slew of recent Bollywood films changed the way Indians view war? In older war films like Border, Pakistan the country was the enemy.
Suchitra Sen, Bengali cinema's 'mahanayika' who remains an enigma
Also read: With 2019 elections approaching, Gulzar’s Aandhi is the film to watch again Known as Mrs Sen to her industry counterparts and Roma in her close circle, Sen brought something unique to the Bengali film industry. She symbolised the new bhadramahila of the 1950s — a woman who was modern and had principles, a woman who had a career but could put it on the backburner, a woman who could speak English and belong in the city.
Between BJP and Dalits, why khichdi is the lowest common denominator
The humble khichdi is the safest option for India’s ruling party. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided that the way to the heart of the electoral beast is through food. And unlike its previous attempts at subtracting from the menu (read the beef ban), the BJP now wants to ‘woo’ Dalits with a giant 3,000-kg vat of khichdi. The ‘Samrasta (or harmony) khichdi’, as the party is calling it, will be cooked Sunday at Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan.
Delhi Comic Con is proof that Indians are great at ‘jugaad’
Categories: Opinion Delhi Comic Con is proof that Indians are great at ‘jugaad’ Neera Majumdar 2 hours ago Comic Con 2018 in New Delhi | Neera Majumdar/ThePrint Delhi Comic Con is all about pizza, chai, cosplay and merchandise. This year, there is also a ‘star’ attraction from Game of Thrones. The Delhi Comic Con is not really a comic convention. Think of it as more of a merchandise haven — desi, American and rip-offs.
So long Chellaram Parker, and thanks for the stained pockets
Indian students used Chelpark ink and pens back when good handwriting also meant good character. If you were born in the ‘cursive-writing era’ in India, it is likely that you have memories of four-line notebooks, stained clothes and bluish/blackish fingers. Students back then were told that good cursive handwriting signalled good character and brought more marks in examinations. The natural progression after the slate and pencil was the haloed ink pen.
With online channels like Hotstar, is women's cricket finally getting its due in India?
The Indian cricket team may have lost the ICC Women’s World T20 semi-finals against England, but the ‘Women in Blue’ and their game are gaining popularity and viewership thanks to online live streaming channels like Hotstar. ThePrint asks: With online channels like Hotstar, is women’s cricket finally getting its due in India?
Cats that wink & science of comets: Sukumar Ray’s fantastic world of literature and creatures
Text Size: New Delhi: Ask someone, ‘Who is the most famous Bengali poet?’ More often than not, the answer will be Rabindranath Tagore. However, ask a child the same question and the reply could be Sukumar Ray. For decades, children have grown up reading the nonsense verses by polymath Sukumar Ray. His collection of poetry Abol Tabol (Rhymes Without Reason) and novella Ha Ja Ba Ra La (Topsy-Turvy Tales) are still some of the most popular children’s literature in circulation.
How did you react when people you looked up to were named in India's #MeToo?
With #MeToo hitting India, several popular names from entertainment and media industry have been accused of sexual harassment by women. ThePrint asks: How did you react when people you looked up to were named in India’s #MeToo? When I found out that Kiran Nagarkar had been accused of sexual harassment, I felt a mix of disgust and disappointment.
Enough Slumdog Millionaire, when will Hollywood make Crazy Rich Asians for Indians?
American rom-com drama Crazy Rich Asians directed by Jon M. Chu released in India this week. After The Joy Luck Club, it was the first major Hollywood film to have a largely Asian American cast. ThePrint asks: Enough Slumdog Millionaire, when will Hollywood make Crazy Rich Asians for Indians? India has multiple facets and Slumdog Millionaire showed one side of it.
Bigg Boss, Splitsvilla and Roadies: Why are Indians glued to what they hate?
Bigg Boss, Splitsvilla and Roadies all have multiple seasons and have been running for years in India despite criticism about the quality of content they bring to Indian television. ThePrint asks: Bigg Boss, Splitsvilla and Roadies: Why are Indians glued to what they hate? I don’t think people who watch Bigg Boss really hate it. Viewers I know see it as a social, even psychological, experiment.
Christian priests accused of rape: Isolated events or eroding credibility of Indian church?
The alleged sexual assault of a Kerala nun by Bishop Franco Mulakkal has stirred up a storm. While the bishop has been arrested, there is pressure on the Bishops’ Council to initiate a full-fledged internal probe in the issue. ThePrint asks- Christian priests accused of rape: Isolated events or eroding credibility of Indian church? There are two types of believers: blind believers, who believe in fictitious stories invented by the church authorities, and liberated believers.
iPhone gets bigger and costlier: Can the Indian wallet keep up?
Apple recently launched its new iPhone X series, which start from Rs 76,900 and go over a lakh. The company reduced the price of some of its older iPhones while discontinuing many others. ThePrint asks– iPhone gets bigger and costlier: Can the Indian wallet keep up? For the past couple of years, analysts have been predicting that India could be Apple’s next China.
Cartoonist Satish Acharya censored because some people are mightier than the pen
Censorship exists because Indians believe denial is better than cure. Why? Because some things, or some people, are mightier than the pen. Mail Today, the English daily, for which Satish has been drawing cartoons for a while said that they rather go with a photo than print his cartoon. Satish’s ‘crime’ being that he chose to show China’s talons spreading across South Asia. We Indians believe in the age-old adage: Denial is better than cure.
Amit Shah eyes Pakistan, and truck load of cows for Rwanda
The best cartoons of the day, chosen by editors at ThePrint. The selected cartoons appeared first in other publications, either in print or online, or on social media, and are credited appropriately. E.P. Unny, in The Indian Express, has a witty take on the Narendra Modi government’s Republic Day invite to Donald Trump. The cartoon suggests that the atmosphere of hate, fake news and chaos is perfect for a Trump visit.
Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi hug that stopped India for a minute
The best cartoons of the day, chosen by editors at ThePrint. The selected cartoons appeared first in other publications, either in print or online, or on social media, and are credited appropriately. Rahul Gandhi hugged Narendra Modi in Parliament Friday during the debate on the no-confidence passed against the NDA government. The hug visibly startled the Prime Minister. Many called the move a ‘political masterstroke’.
The only apple in Narendra Modi's eye, and Putin hypnotises Trump in Helsinki
The best cartoons of the day, chosen by editors at ThePrint. The selected cartoons appeared first in other publications, either in print or online, or on social media, and are credited appropriately. In Dainik Bhaskar, Mansoor Naqvi illustrates how Narendra Modi has his eye on one apple only — the 2019 Lok Sabha elections — while several apples that signify the many crises India faces has fallen on him but failed to elicit a response.
A FIFA World Cup that defied stereotypes, and the dilemma of Nitish Kumar in Bihar
The best cartoons of the day, chosen by editors at ThePrint. The selected cartoons appeared first in other publications, either in print or online, or on social media, and are credited appropriately. Soham Sen/ThePrint ThePrint’s Soham Sen illustrates the winners of the FIFA World Cup and how they broke stereotypes and stigmas. Mir Suhail | News 18 Mir Suhail suggests how this World Cup defied racism and the anti-immigrant sentiments of most countries like Germany, Russia, and US.
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