Aug3

Courting the Indian paryatak

The new ‘resurgence’ of India and the burgeoning of the ‘great Indian middle class’ are phenomena that are written about ad nauseum. The gushing ‘India-is-so-cool’ and the alarmist ‘beware-India-is-arriving’ sections of the media, have both written about how the Indian consumer is fast becoming a force to reckon with. The more outlandish of these […]

Jul20

Cultural imperialism

Social theorists, especially those engaged in what has come to be known as postcolonial studies, speak of a thing called cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism is the process by which a dominant power either imposes or insinuates its mainstream culture over or into the culture of the peoples and societies it dominates. Since the […]

Jul5

A fun new show and a troubling thought

A while ago, I watched the first two episodes of NDTV Imagine’s new show, Junoon Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka. I must confess to have really liked them. Perhaps it’s because I’m partial to both Ustad Rahat Fateh Khan and Ila Arun. I had, quite uncharitably, slotted Annu Kapoor as an over-excitable anchor prone […]