Anand Ramachandran

56 inch Chest with a 26 inch Spine BJP surrendered to the Cockroach Janata Party. Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. All FIRs against protesters withdrawn. Compensation for NEET victims accepted. Every single demand met. The 37-day protest at Jantar Mantar ended with CJP posting "Cockroaches won. Democracy won." This did not have to end this way. And one of the main reasons it did is sycophancy. For those of us who have been following Indian politics long enough, this movie is familiar. We watched it play out with the Congress party over two decades. The script is the same. Only the cast has changed. Here is how the sycophancy spiral works. A powerful leader consolidates authority. The people closest to them rise not because of their ability but because of their loyalty. These loyalists tell the leader what the leader wants to hear. Criticism is treated as disloyalty. Disagreement is treated as betrayal. Over time, the leader becomes surrounded by people whose only skill is praise. JP Nadda. Gogoi. Sanjay Jha. Digvijay Singh. Different parties, same species. They thrive not by being strong but by making the leader feel strong. The problem is not that these people are sycophants. The problem is what sycophancy does to the information flow. BJP's own supporters have been demanding Pradhan's resignation for months over the NEET examination scandal. Students died by suicide. Parents were devastated. The anger was real, widespread, and legitimate. But the people around Modi told him it was a non-issue. That the noise would die down. That the party's core support would hold. That Pradhan need not resign because resigning would show weakness. This is what sycophants do. They filter reality. They present the world as the leader wants to see it, not as it is. And the leader, addicted to the dopamine of constant positive feedback, treats any dissonance as noise rather than signal. When you are in a sycophantic spiral, you are so accustomed to praise that even mild criticism feels like an attack. So you default to more praise. More reassurance. More "everything is fine, sir." Until it is not fine. Until a satirical movement born from a Chief Justice's insult to unemployed youth puts people on the street and forces your Health Minister to sit across from two 20-somethings and accept every demand they put on the table. Watch the footage of Nadda meeting the CJP representatives. This is India's Health Minister, a senior BJP leader, practically begging for a handshake. This is what sycophancy produces. Not strength. Weakness dressed in a party robes. When the moment demanded firmness, strategic communication, and a genuine engagement with legitimate grievances, the party sent a man whose instinct was to surrender because he had never been trained to fight. He was trained to agree. Nadda showed BJP's core voters that the 56-inch chest has deputies with 26-inch spines. This is the real cost. Elections are not won by core voters alone. Core voters will vote BJP no matter what. But elections are won by swing voters. And swing voters are watching. They are watching Nadda fumble. They are watching the party that projects strength act from weakness. They are watching a satirical Instagram movement outmaneuver the most formidable political machine in Indian history. Even if swing voters are lost, core voters can be demoralized. They may never switch loyalties. But they may not show up at the polling booth. The dissonance for them is real. They signed up for a party that fights. A party that does not bend. When they see their leaders bend on national television, the gap between the party's self-image and its behavior becomes too wide to ignore. They may not articulate it. But the enthusiasm fades. The booth-level energy drops. The margins shrink. Congress walked this exact path. A formidable force reduced to losing official opposition status within a decade. Not because the public turned against them overnight. But because the sycophants drowned out the grassroots leaders. Because the Digvijay Singhs, Gogois, Mani Shankars and Sanjay Jhas rose while the genuine talent was sidelined. Because the leadership stopped hearing the truth and started hearing only what made them comfortable. BJP has one structural advantage Congress never had: it is not wedded to a dynasty. It has the RSS's organizational depth. It has a self-correction mechanism. But sycophancy corrodes self-correction. When the leadership structure is infested with weak men who have no real connect or command, the mechanism rusts. Modi and Shah can clean house. They can replace the Naddas with fighters. They can rebuild the feedback loops that once made BJP the most responsive political organization in the country. But that requires acknowledging that the problem exists. And acknowledging that the problem exists requires hearing it from someone other than a sycophant. That is the trap. And it is the same trap Congress walked into. And in all likelihood, BJP will continue to walk into.

Some waiting period examples:

The first thing you notice about the marble temples is the Victorian lawns, symmetrical fountains a lotus pond shaped like the flower. There are no fruit-bearing trees that can attract monkeys, birds and insects; no flowering trees that can attract snakes thehindu.com/opinion/column…

Rainwashing aside, the best find of this trip was the Navi Mumbai airport. Truly impressive infra and design. Not surprised to find that Zaha Hadid Architects designed it. It's got a superbly international feel to it, and wears the curves and stretches and form and function that Zaha Hadid's firm is known for. I call it beauty without ornamentation. Best part is that the space seems to be functionality-first. From the aero-bridges, to the basement cab pickups, to ventilation. The latter, if you've noticed, is a big issue with Mumbai T2; the air gets really stale around the large food court. Navi Mumbai airport was literally refreshing. And, they have a well-serviced Wagamama outlet too. Hope the infra stays this good. Would be a great option for both domestic and international travel. [The exterior shot would look much better if the sun had been up. No such luck.]

An aerial view of the Churchgate Reclamation, published in The Associated Cement Companies Ltd. Diary (1938) titled “This is how Bombay builds.” The photograph captures a rapidly transforming Mumbai, where rows of modern apartment blocks were rising on newly reclaimed land. What was once the sea had become one of the city’s most prestigious residential districts. #MumbaiHeritage #OldMumbai

For my first post, I’m sharing a letter @NVIDIA signed on why open models matter. AI will transform every industry, power every company, and be built by every country. Open models strengthen safety and cybersecurity, accelerate innovation and diffusion, and enable sovereignty. The world needs both frontier closed models and frontier open models. images.nvidia.com/pdf/Open-Weigh…

What baffles me is the fact that a listed co #AdaniEnterprises makes an emphatic denial to the stock exchanges this week, and then my colleague @ari_maj breaks this mega #exclusive about their aviation biz CEO writing to @AAI_Official last month saying just the opposite. It shows total disregard to media but more importantly to disclosure norms. I can bet @SEBI_India will do nothing. Forget others, but what about millions of shareholders. It's not just one instance. Many cos even today make a mockery of such things.

1966 :: Selfie by George Harrison at The Taj Mahal

If you haven’t read this by @pbmehta you should. When there’s no accountability, god is responsible.

Exports. Vietnam and India - for context, Vietnam is one-eighth India in size. @livemint

So called assembly of Gilgit Baltistan in Pakistan occupied Kashmir passes resolution to become the "5th province" of Pakistan.

All sane Indians know that this man is telling the truth. He was Japanese minister in charge of bullet train. I’d say things would’ve been far worse than he is claiming. Who is the minister he is referring to?

Let me explain what this whole fight is about, because it is very different from what the tweet by the Japanese official makes it sound like. Back in 2015, India and Japan signed the Mumbai to Ahmedabad bullet train deal. 508 km. India would use Japan's Shinkansen trains and Shinkansen technology. Japan put up a massive soft loan, covering most of the cost, at almost no interest, 0.1 percent, to be repaid over 50 years. On paper it sounded amazing. Cheap money, world class trains. But every such loan has a catch. Cheap Japanese money came tied to buying Japanese things. Their trains. Their coaches. Their signal system. Their price, largely on their terms. That is normal. No country lends billions out of pure love. They lend to sell their own industry. Then two things went wrong, and this is where his anger comes from. One, the price. The Japanese Shinkansen trainsets turned out to be extremely expensive. India felt it was being overcharged for the rolling stock. So, talks hit a wall. Two, the timeline. The newest Japanese trains, the E10 series, would reportedly only be ready for India around 2032. India did not want to sit on a finished 1.08 lakh crore track with no trains to run on it. So India made a call. And this is the part I am proud of. Instead of waiting and overpaying, India decided to run its own trains first. BEML in Bengaluru got an order to build indigenous high speed trainsets at about 866 crore each, designed to run at 280 kmph. India will open the line with Indian made trains on the Surat to Vapi stretch around 2027, and bring in the Japanese Shinkansen later. And the signal system, the thing he is bitter about, India switched from Japan's DS-ATC to the European ETCS Level 2 system. The same family already used on the Delhi Meerut rapid rail. That is what he means by Japan being excluded from the signal system. India looked at the Japanese option, found it too costly and too slow, and picked a different one. Now let me be fair, because I cannot be blind just because I am pro India. He is not lying about everything. India is genuinely a tough, frustrating negotiator. We change our mind. We push for our own interest till the last minute. We renegotiate things others thought were settled. To a Japanese official raised on politeness and fixed agreements, this feels like betrayal. But flip it around and look at it from our seat. Our job is not to protect Japanese honour. Our job is to get India a bullet train at a fair price, that runs soon, and that builds Indian factories in the process. On all three, changing course was the right call. Waiting till 2032 and overpaying for imported trains would have been the polite choice. It would also have been the stupid choice. There is a bigger thing hiding under his frustration, and I think it is the real reason for the anger. For decades, the deal was simple. Rich countries gave loans and technology, and poorer countries said thank you and bought whatever came bundled with it. You took the money, you took their trains, you did not argue. India argued. India took the loan, then insisted on its own trains, its own signal system, its own factories getting the work. We used their money to build our capability instead of just renting theirs. That is what stings them. Not that we were reckless. That we refused to stay the junior partner in our own project. I will give the Japanese side genuine credit. Their engineering is world class. In 60 years, the Shinkansen has never had a passenger death from a derailment or collision. That safety record is worth respecting. Their frustration with our chaos is also probably fair on a human level. Working with India can be maddening. Anyone who has managed an Indian project knows this. For me, the real issue is what’s in it for our country. India has the track. India is building its own trains for it. India picked its own signal system. India got a 50 year loan at almost zero interest. And India will still get the Shinkansen later, on better terms than the original bundle. If that is what Indian recklessness produces, I will take it every single time. Be tough. Be a nightmare to negotiate with. Just make sure the country wins at the end of it. :)

1.5 million views on this tweet by ex-Japan minister blaming India for delays in Indo-Japanese Shinkansen project “Sheer recklessness of the Indian side..” “They just don’t keep promises..” “The minister in charge was awful..”

Must-read article on China’s slowdown by Ruchir Sharma: China's share in world GDP has fallen from 18% in 2021 to 16.5% currently. China’s government deficit reached 15% in the last five years. China’s total debt is 350% of GDP, higher than the USA’s. China’s peak was in 2021; now it is slowing down.

The Argentina players found Jordan Pickford's water bottle, which revealed where they were expected to take their penalties. They all gathered around to study it 👀

🚨Lautaro Martínez was asked about Lionel Messi’s influence during Argentina’s World Cup semi-final victory over England. 🎙️ Reporter: “Lautaro, can you tell us what Lionel Messi said to you after you came on?” 🗣️ Lautaro Martínez: “People see the assists, the dribbles and the magic, but they don’t see what Leo does with his words. When I came onto the pitch, he walked over to me and said, ‘Attack the space between the defenders. Go for the headers. Keep making those runs.’ I tried it the first time and it didn’t work. I looked at him, and instead of telling me to change, he kept giving me signs to keep believing. He knew the opportunity would come. We were 1–1 with less than five minutes to play. Leo looked at the scoreboard, then looked straight at me and nodded. He didn’t even have to speak. I knew exactly what he wanted. I knew the assignment. That’s what makes him different. He sees the game before everyone else. He knows where the space will open, and he gives you the confidence to attack it without hesitation. Playing with him is incredible because he doesn’t only create chances with his feet. He creates belief in every player around him. At 39 years old, he’s still leading Argentina in the biggest matches, still deciding games and still showing us why he’s the greatest footballer I’ve ever seen. We’re in another World Cup final because once again, when Argentina needed someone to guide us, Lionel Messi was that man.”

Jude Bellingham on Messi after the match: “I have to say, at 39 or 40 years old, to still be playing at this level is simply exceptional. People watch him on television and think they understand how good he is, but when you’re actually on the pitch against him, it’s completely different. He’s so quick over the first few yards. You think you’ve got him, then he changes direction, glides away and suddenly he’s gone. It’s almost impossible to get close enough to make a clean challenge. The way he controls the ball is honestly alien. It feels like it’s glued to his foot. Every touch has a purpose, every movement creates space and he always seems one step ahead of everyone else. I’ve never seen a player at that age move with so much intelligence and composure. Most players slow down, but Messi has found another way to dominate games. He doesn’t waste energy—he controls the tempo. If I respected Messi before tonight, I respect him even more now. Sharing the pitch with him only makes you appreciate how special he really is. He’s one of those players you study growing up, and then when you finally play against him, you realise why people call him one of the greatest of all time. He’s an exceptional footballer, and I feel privileged to have experienced that firsthand.”

🚨Thomas Tuchel on England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina. 🗣️ “I have to say it because everyone watched the same match. The referee and VAR completely lost control of this game. In a World Cup semi-final, mistakes like these are unacceptable. You work four years for moments like this, and then crucial decisions are handled with unbelievable incompetence.” “The challenge on Anderson? How is that not given? The offside decisions? The fouls ignored? VAR had every angle, every replay, every opportunity to correct obvious errors and they still failed. If technology cannot get the biggest decisions right on the biggest stage, then what exactly is it there for?” “I don’t want excuses because England also made mistakes, but don’t ask me to stay silent when my players are denied fair decisions. We are told to respect referees, yet who takes responsibility when they get it completely wrong? Nobody. They apologise after the tournament while our dream is already over.” “This is a World Cup semi-final, not a training match. The standards should be the highest in football, yet tonight they were nowhere near good enough. One bad decision can change history, and England were forced to play against both Argentina and a refereeing performance that simply wasn’t at the required level.” “Argentina are a fantastic team and they punished our mistakes, but I refuse to pretend the officiating had no impact. It did. The referee and VAR created controversy from the first whistle until the last, and that should embarrass everyone responsible.” “England leave with heartbreak. Not only because we failed to reach the final, but because every player will always wonder what might have happened if the biggest match of their lives had been officiated properly. That is impossible to accept.”

🚨England Captain Harry Kane on Jude Bellingham approach Messi: 🎙️Reporter: “Harry, what did you make of Jude Bellingham’s approach to Messi during the match?” 🗣️Harry Kane: “I told Jude, you don’t have to approach Messi like that. You can’t wake the beast in him and expect nothing to happen. The moment you give him that extra motivation, he’ll punish you. That’s exactly what we saw. Against players like Messi, sometimes the smartest thing you can do is stay disciplined and not give them a reason to raise their level.”