A quick quiz: Can you decode the following? T, TG, TS, TN, UP, AP, MP, WB, Pjb, Hry, Ch, C’garh. If you can, you have either worked in an Indian newsroom or have the patience of a saint. If not, welcome to the chaos of the modern Indian headline, where cryptic abbreviations are the norm…
There comes a moment in every young man’s life when he must face his demons – not in the boardroom, not on a battlefield, but in the far more fearsome arena of adulthood: the kitchen. My younger son Vikas, now trying to survive in Melbourne, has just entered that phase. Though he has landed a…
There is a new virus going around, and no, it is not airborne or waterborne – it is mic-borne. The symptoms are unmistakable: compulsive wisecracks, uncontrolled sarcasm, and a chronic inability to distinguish governance from giggles. Punjab’s Chief Minister, Bhagwant Singh Mann, once infected professionally, now appears to be in full relapse. Zinger of the…
There is something almost poetic about a vanquished general dusting off his shalwar, adjusting his sherwani, and declaring victory – while the ashes of defeat still float gently behind him. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s latest call for peace with India, following Operation Sindoor, belongs squarely in that tragi-comic genre where denial wears the uniform of…
In a farcical twist worthy of a low-budget action flick, Pakistan’s military top brass attempted to rewrite military history – armed not with facts, but with a photograph pinched from a 2019 Chinese army drill. At a ceremony organised to commemorate a supposed military ‘success’ (details classified, perhaps even from reality itself), Pakistan’s Chief of…
This playful take on a Kerala court ruling spotlights Hyderabadis’ uproar over losing complimentary biryani gravies. Quotes are for effect, and all characters are entirely fictitious. In a judgement that sent shockwaves through WhatsApp family groups, a Kerala consumer court has declared that restaurants are not legally bound to serve free gravy with porotta and…
In a world where political leaders compete more for laughs than legacy, this imagined Nobel spin-off rewards the true champions of gaffes, goof-ups, and grand delusions. What if one fine day the Nobel Committee in Oslo decided they had had enough of giving awards to peace-loving scientists and serious do-gooders? What if they finally gave…
Donald Trump has done it again. In a passing comment during a testy Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the US President claimed credit for defusing tensions between India and Pakistan, apparently, ‘through trade. ‘If you take a look at what we did with Pakistan and India… we settled that whole… and…
General Asim Munir has been promoted to Field Marshal – Pakistan’s highest military rank – for what looks like provoking India into hitting back. After the Pahalgam terror attack, which was carried out by Islamic terrorists trained by Pakistan’s own army and spy agency, ISI, India retaliated hard. Now, instead of facing tough questions, Munir…
The Like button, AP news agency reports, has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a doodle on a Yelp pad. Once a tool to rate restaurants, it is now a global metric for human worth, a currency of affection, and a subtle tool for mind games. What began as a noble effort…
