A Review Of #NL Hafta from Harjosh Singh, Krithika B Iyer And Indu S

Hello everyone,

My name is Harjosh Singh. I am a subscriber just to let Abhinandan know and not a mufatkhor. Currently i am living in Maryland which is like few miles away from Washington DC and working as a Business Analyst for a local Bank. I am listening to your podcast since your first hafta, I remember i was using SoundCloud to listen to Bill Burr’s weekly podcast and i subscribe your channel even though you guys were putting small clips of Bill Maher’s views on Islam and terrorism. I am huge Bill Maher’s fan and i am sure now my email will definitely going to be selected as Abhinandan is also one of them. All you folks are great and different view points on different subject make 1 hr + podcast not boring. 

I know i am not smart enough to disagre with Anand but his views on KPS Gill is hard to believe, i read several books on 84 riots and i have to admit that local professors from Guru Nanak Dev Uni Amritsar and Punjab Uni Chandigarh covered both sides of the stories better than anyother writer. Professor Jagroop Sekhon and Parmjit Judge book name ‘Terrorism in Punjab’ is one of the best. It shows what made KPS Gill a hero after killing 100s of youth. 

Anyway, don’t want to bother you with my views. I just want to say you folks are doing great job keeping the news free from ads. I can promise you as long as your institution survive i will contribute to your work with closed eyes.

Thank you so much once again.

Rab Rakha!

Dear Newslaundry,

There was one the hilarious discussion in your older podcasts started by my favorite – Mdm. Madhu Trehan on how she did the Art of living course and felt nothing. I wanted to plant the seed of doubt in the believers around me but the search on podcast list with “Sri Sri” only returns the podcast 58 in which you discuss the destruction of Yamuna plains and not this funny anecdote.Can you point to me the right podcast?

So now my introduction – Krithika Balasubramanian – subscriber. A regular IT person working in Belgium but avid news junkie – I read different perspectives but trust only slow news like BBC or others that get recommended/discussed in the HAFTA. I am like Dr. Anand Ranganathan midly right of center so it goes without saying I like his point of views a lot. Off-late I am enjoying Awful and Awesome Entertainment, its so good that it should go behind the paid wall. I saw Deeps in her interview with Saeed Naqvi and gosh! she looked so gorgeous. Dear Deepanjana, please wear those cotton kalamkari cotton sarees you look as gorgeous as you sound. I like Rajasree’s chuckles in AAE so natural just like 2 girls friends gossiping about the entire world but themselves.

Abhinandhan, keep those gaalis man, its raw and suits you a lot. I hang-on to every word that comes out of Madhu Trehan, I wish her very Halthy and long life and hope that I age like her – wise and full of energy. Want to know how she keeps so fit.

Chota packet mein badi doom hai – award winning Manish Pande. Her reasoning and perspectives come from a deep place. It is always cheerful to hear her speak. Aur bola karo. Ladkhon ko maar thoda dhakka yaar, side mein lagao inhein.

For detail subscriber only talks, I would like a discussion on saints and seers please do a series to dissect – SriSri, Satguru, other christian and muslim clerics.

Hi NL Junta,

I have been an avid consumer of your podcasts and articles for over two years.  I have found your approach to journalism, and the creation of an advertisement free portal very inspiring. 

In your last episode, I heard Anand describing ‘whataboutery’ as a ‘cerebral intellectual exercise’. I could not, but help applaud his testicular tenacity in displaying bovine gastrointestinal refuse with such logophilic elegance. I am guessing that the galling creativity of the remark silenced any convincing repartee from other panelists. It struck a nerve in me and spurred me on, to write this email.

In the last couple of years, I have been tired of seeing every politician use the excuse of whataboutery to justify his/her illegal, unethical acts;and the so called tele-journalists turning debates into theaters of the absurd. Anand’s statement was just the last straw.

Here is my view of ‘whataboutery’. It may not change the views of AR, who has exasperatingly used the phrase ‘what about Kamlesh Tiwari’ several times in the past to derail umpteen discussions. But, I am going to write anyway…

‘Whataboutery’ has been an excellent means to avoid addressing an issue, that is begging for attention. It is akin to asking a person, why is he so alarmed about an elephant in the room, when he did not worry so much about mice running amok in his house a few weeks ago. Arnab Goswami, and his cohort through this ‘cerebral exercise’, have been responsible for not only trivializing several issues in the country, but have also destroyed the art of rational debating on television.  

Right to freedom of expression does not just enable me to voice my opinion, it also gives me the right to not express certain views. Right to freedom of expression is an urban myth in India, and is indeed a privilege of those with political or muscle power. But, I would still prefer, that my voice, and voices of others, not be drowned by the loud cacophony of ‘whataboutery’. In addition to physical threats, if opinions that do not strike a chord with the majoritarian view (or view of the political party in power) are silenced and ridiculed in the pretext of whataboutery, there is going to be little exercise of the right to FOE. 

The poverty, the inequalities pervasive in a ruthless casteist-classist society, misogyny, corruption,  etc. etc- am sure disturb and plague most people in this country. Although the deplorable conditions of large communities in our country should urge each of us to fight incessantly with all the means at our disposal, very few of us get down in the trenches to clean up the mess. Despite the lack of sufficient initiatives taken by most people to address burning problems in the country,  I think it would be ridiculous to dismiss every individual as a hypocrite, if and when, he/she decides to voice protest against a problem he/she perceives. People address concerns and protests about issues that they are passionate about, and it is unfair to expect them to display the same passion for every issue. Corny but true- Passions and emotions cannot be dictated.

Our ethics, beliefs and opinions are a function of our experiences and environments. It took racial discrimination in South Africa for the barrister from colonised India, educated in England, to comprehend that all the subjects of her highness,were not treated justly. Despite the harsh realities of apartheid  S Africa, Gandhi’s writings indicate that he believed that the brown Indians were superior to the blacks from Africa.  Gandhi’s ideas evolved with time. I do not know of Gandhi apologizing for his racist views, and admitting that he was a hypocrite, before beginning his struggles against the Raj. I do not know what course history would have charted if the Brits and Indians refused to take Gandhi seriously owing to his beliefs in his early years. Branding every individual as a hypocrite for allowing oneself to change ones mind seems ludicrous. Wouldn’t one have to maintain contradictory double standards simultaneously and consciously to win the badge of hypocrisy?

I would like to thank AR for helping me across the activation barrier to write you this email. Although I am seldom certain about AR’s stands, and rarely agree with his views, I enjoy reading his articles immensely. As has been mentioned by several other people, I too loved the piece on the Chemistry Nobel prize. Would really love to see a lot more popular science writing on your website from Anand. Considering the fact that you have significant number of academic researchers following you, wonder if it would be possible for you to begin a section on Science on the NL website. I remember that the idea of a Pop-Sci podcast was discussed briefly and dismissed in an earlier Hafta. Hope you would reconsider it, since there is barely any research reportage in India. In fact, I cannot think of any program other than Turning Point which made an attempt to convey Scientific ideas in India. I would also love to see interviews of scientists and mathematicians on NL. Interviews are probably more feasible logistically than a Science podcast.

Although my email might give the impression that I am obsessed with AR, it is not so. My favorite NL team members are the hilarious Abhinandan and insightful Manisha .

I love the entire NL gang, and your success truly makes me feel optimistic about idealistic initiatives bearing tangible results. 

It is but inevitable, that your venture is only going to get more successful, and you are going to reach out to a lot more people.

Best wishes,

Indu

P.S: I am a subscriber.