Jyotsna

Hello, 

Congratulations on great election coverage! I followed the team and gained a better understanding of West Bengal politics. I have one request from the NL team. I have been reading for forever, but I still feel I have not read much literature on two topics specifically – India and its states, and feminism. Given the diversity of the NL team, could you recommend books that, in your view, best represent India, any specific state, and any writing on feminism (open to fiction & non-fiction)? Thanks in advance! 

P.S. - I love all the article recommendations in Hafta, and I make it a weekly habit to read them all.     

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Ankit

Hello everyone, 

I think you’re losing out on a lot of subscribers because of the app. In Abhinandan’s words, it is s**t. I gave it to my mom, and she was just confused. Granted, her tech skills are also poor, but an app should be idiot-proof to attract a larger audience. My mom is a borderline BJP bhakt but open to information. She really needs NL. I suggest Abhinandan look into this rather than rage-baiting cricket fans for ‘mail’. It doesn’t count for anything.

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Saikat

Interesting discussion in #588. Aunindyo is always interesting and contrarian. Like him, I am a Bengali in my 50s. Unlike him, I grew up and still live in Bengal. I found his analysis largely accurate.

The left intellectuals indeed moved to the TMC pre-2011 during the Singur and Nandigram agitations; very few after. The then CM, Buddhadeb B, wanted to attract large-scale national and global investments. Prominently, the Tata Nano plant, as well as JSW, Salim, Sumitomo, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi in industry, and DLF, Unitech, and Godrej in real estate. 

This angered both the local crony capitalists, who had been cosy with prior CM Basu and saw their influence waning, and the left intelligentsia, who considered this a betrayal of left politics. The Singur and Nandigram agitations, led politically by TMC, were funded by the former and given popular legitimacy among the urban elite by the latter.

It worked out great for the cronies as they flourished under TMC, but not so well for the left elite.

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Varun

Hi NL team, 

Over the past few weeks, there has been quite a furore among the subscriber base over whether Cricket is a sport.

While I personally don't give a damn about the sport (football is infinitely superior), I also realise this is subjective. Unless the proposed debate has a set of objective parameters for judging its qualifications as a sport, the exercise seems pointless.

That said, I think if you can get someone like Ramchandra Guha or even Amit Varma (from the Seen and the Unseen) on the panel, it would be a joy. Both are smart, witty, and always engaging to listen to. Even Sharda Ugra would be a fine addition.

Guests of this calibre would enrich the debate a lot more. Although I'm sure no one will change their mind, perhaps we can gain a new perspective on sports, and hopefully, on life as well.

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AB M 

Hi Team NL,

I am writing to share some feedback regarding the moderation of the live chat during your post-election results streams.

I have been tuning into these streams for years, but there appears to be a consistent lack of active moderation. The chatrooms are frequently filled with objectionable comments and repetitive trolls. Most recently, I noticed trolls making inappropriate personal comments about TNM panellists and Manisha, yet no bans or kicks were issued.

If active moderation is not feasible, please consider disabling the chat or moving the stream to a subscriber-only platform to ensure a more productive environment.

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