There was a period from around 2017 onwards when Chinese diplomats and spokespersons started answering questions in a very brusque, borderline demeaning way. They were called wolf warriors based on the movie by the same name. This sort of language and demeanour from China became more pronounced when COVID struck…
I visited my parents house after the weekend. I was there to attend a society party. It had been a long time since I last visited. Shifting to my own house, with kids growing up and an ecosystem being built around where I lived, made the visits rarer and rarer.
Language is a fascinating thing. So much of our identity, the way we process the world, the way we communicate, is dependent on it. It shapes our worldview, decides who our friends are, and plays a role in our biases and beliefs. And yet, it would be very rare that…
My father was posted in the small town of Bhavnagar, Gujarat, when I was born. I was there till I was four years old. Our landlords, who used to live on the ground floor, were extraordinarily kind and indulged me a lot, to the point that I would have my…
I recently met a hostelmate from my undergrad. He had gone to pursue a PhD from IIT Bombay. He mentioned the confidence that undergrads from IIT Bombay carried. According to him, this confidence took them far. Cracking the JEE at eighteen gave them the confidence to be the best in…