Hi

Hello Newslaundry Team.

I hope this mail finds you in the best of health.
It’s been far too long, but no matter.

Your commitment, ladies and gentlemen is very inspiring and touching..(like a child learning to ride a cycle)
The relentless effort and desire to put all your content piece by piece till it showcases the standard you have set is always a delight.

I know by all accounts, that mails aren’t read untill Mr.Sekhri isn’t glorified by the mufatkhoor’s and the non mufat’s.

I am putting this earlier on in the mail, because i forgot to write it in
N.L. Team, the issue of ragging in many college’s especially Govt.Colleges still go unnoticed.
Having been from one, i know about it’s scope and intensity.
Please, i implore the N.L. Team, to do a story on this because this is getting to become a white lie in our society now.
People know about it, they have put up posters and professor’s pay lip service to it in institutions.
Many students even now simply suffer in silence about it.
And also about the issue of corruption in college’s by student bodies both in private and govt. Institutes.
People say corruption is ending, this generation is better.
Fuck, no. I have first hand seen it, and infact the level and magnitude is growing.
How will we ever become serious about anti corruption when Student’s in college’s…are stealing money…in fucking college.
And then we bitch about those in the assembly and the Parliment.

Now, about the N.L. Hafta presenters.
Shout out to your producer, and the recorder Mr.Anil.

Miss Pal, 

Mam, you are simply, a delight to hear. Apart from your contradistinctive points of view and your impeccable and peerless diction, it is a treat to listen to you, mam.
I would have said i have read articles by you, but i haven’t…(i generally don’t consume articles via Newslaundry..)
Also, having just discovered your weekly The Awful and Awesome Entertainment wrap is chicken soup to my soul..(my soul doesn’t really need much….saste mein kuch bhi mil jaata hain aur hum khush ho jaate hain…typical mufatkhoor mentality…but in all seriousness, it is a treat.)

Mrs.Madhu Trehan

The voice…the only voice that can “chup karo” to the unquenchable Mr.Sekhri.
Mam, as usual with all the other previous letters, “Mam, ek aur interview please”.

I have to admit your interviews are what kept me going through my board exams.

Your lines of thought always feel very organic and at the same time supported by facts and experiences which always add that bit of authenticity.And by the way that conspiracy theory during the earlier podcast of the S.P. Split were exactly my same thoughts about the matter… although my mother did say, “You watch too much Youtube Shutube”.

And also about any big business in this country can never be truly non corrupt.(the tata case).

Miss Manisha.

The most humane of the N.L. Team.
Your analysis of all the subject matters, is beautiful, but the impact of all social norms and legal and political issues are shaded with the concern for the common man, and your attempt to highlight that does not go unnoticed.
I am sorry i don’t have anything to say more…my fingers are trembling with excitement because now i get to go to the two people who give me the most grief..

Ranga Uncle and Sekhri Babu

Yaar…kuch bhi kaho in doono namuno ke baare mein…dil kush kar dete hain ye dono…& that punjabi burrrrrah.
God, that’s good.

The suvave, simplistic and the angry young babu.
Reminds me of Mr.Bachchan and Mr.Shashi Kapoor in Deewar.

It feels like ranga uncle is a monkey goading the bull, that Mr.Sekhri is.
It’s like watching a live game of the proverb, “Aa bel, mujhe seeng maar”.

Imagine if you guys were dating…

Aur haan jee, mein abh muft ki chai nahi peta hoon Mr.Sekhri…aapki kripa se.(yaar subscriber bana diya mujhe..)

Waise idea sahi hai, kyunki jab tak gaand pe laat nahi padti hain, tab tak is desh mein koi izzat se apna kaam nahi karta hain.

Now,This isn’t a letter asking you to do this or that, or include this or that.
I am 22 year old kid, the fuck do i know about journalism.

But i would like to write about the effect that Newslaundry has played on me.

For the past 5 years, and Especially the last two years, you guys have provided a alternative to the mainstream 
But not falling into the trap of buzzfeed like outlets.
The word Responsible is what you guys have taught me, and for that i love you guys.
Also, Authentic.
Without any censorship, without any curtailment all of your viewpoits and ideas have added a flavour in hafta that makes it indescribably ” You”.

In this age of misinformation and self absorption…you guys are the real fucking deal.

For your boundless paitence 
I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

May life shine upon all of you the joys it has to offer, and the road ahead bring an unending zeal which will hopefully enrich all of your lives and those around you…as you have done to me.

Also, could you guys do a critique of how Mr.Goswami conducted his Newshour programme once, his methods of debating and pitting the panelists, and always getting what he wanted from them.(It felt later on, almost like, he had his own personal agenda on stake…whatever it was.I may be wrong here, but he was a guy who always got his way…i am not interested if anyone was pulling his strings, or if he had any.)

He has had and will have a tremendous influence on this generation and the future generations of news anchors will definitely look to him as a role model..which i believe could set a very dangerous precedent.

People should know what he is, and what he stands for…you can’t be so ingrained in the public eye and have so shifty arguments…his interviews with all notable politicians speaks loudly for this argument, i believe.)

P.S.
Did Miss Pal ever teach english…

Ranga uncle, please don’t take it personally Sir…aap neurotic toh nahi ho naa…
And apart from your regular, very highly educated listeners, today you’re reading a mail from a Dropout.

Yours Humbly
Ojasvi Chaku

Hi,

I am a subscriber for 2 years now, NL has been one of my main sources of media criticism.

Recently Abhinandan and Anand were debating about interpretation of texts. Religious texts can be subject to multiple interpretations, but I think Abhinandan went too far by saying everything except math can be interpreted in any way. There has to be some sense/logic to interpretations. If Abhinandan writes an article critiquing Modi then that cant be interpreted as a research paper on physics, so he is taking an incredible leap of twisted logic when he says every line in non-mathematical text can be interpreted in any which way. And some texts, even religious ones,especially if one considers the time and place, are very clear on what their intention was, one need not interpret them differently just for the sake of defending the people who believe in it.

Anand too is being stubborn in the good/bad Muslim thing. He is taking the text too literally and rejecting liberal people who identify as Muslims to be bad Muslims. Religious identity is centuries old and not everyone bothers reading scriptures or even if they do read, they don’t bother adhering to it word for word. So just because human society has changed over that time, calling them bad Muslims is at best an irrelevant technicality.

As Indians we are all bound by the Constitution, now I know that all of you disagree with the first amendment, which curtails freedom of speech. You guys say stuff almost everyday that can be judged as offensive and are hence in violation of that amendment. That does not make you guys bad Indians, nor do you cease to be Indian, you are just rejecting part of that text. A judge in court would go by that technicality, that’s his job, we don’t have to talk/think like he does. Nor do we have to talk/think like a regressive Islamic cleric.
It is not that hard to strike that balance, where you identify with a religion or ideology and yet reject (many) parts of it which might very well be the core of that text. We see such “quasi-religious” people all the time, like Muslims who eat pork or drink alcohol and yet observe roza, or Christians who are pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. I am perplexed why Anand has to be so technical here and call liberal Muslims as bad Muslims.

Hey guys at Newslaundry Hafta,

I hope you guys are doing great. I am a regular hafta listerner, and a habitual feedback provider, either on Twitter or on emails. My letter has been featured on your hafta sometime ago, so I donot expect this letter to be featured again, however I want the point that I am going to address below to be discussed in next Hafta. I hope that works.

In the last week’s hafta, there was a discussion about “How Bollywood doesn’t make any political movie nowadays”. Except Abhinandan, everyone else agreed upon the fact that there has been no political movie out of Bollywood in at least last 10 years, if not 20. Abhinandan tried to defend himself but he failed to do so tbh as he could only recall Maachis (1996) and with a great effort Parzania (2005).
So to help Abhinandan’s point, here is a list of Political Bollywood movies since 2000 –

Nayak (2001)
Haasil (2003)
Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi (2003)
Gangajal (2003)
Satta (2003)
Yuva (2004)
Sarkar (2005)
Parzania (2005)
Apaharan (2005)
Rang de basanti (2006)
Dil dosti etc (2007)
A Wednesday (2008)
Gulaal (2009)
Rajneeti (2010)
Arakshan (2011)
Shanghai (2012)
Satyagraha (2013)
Madras Cafe (2013)
Haider (2014)

Every year there has been at least one decent political film coming out of Bollywood.