Alok Patel

Jyotirao Phule three days ago and Dr. Ambedkar today remind us that India's Republic is built on foundations forged through relentless struggle against caste oppression, inequality, and ignorance. Phule, the pioneer who championed education for women and Shudras, laid the groundwork as Ambedkar's guru, while Ambedkar architected the Constitution's promise of justice, liberty, and equality for all. Their legacies underscore that true progress demands empowering the marginalized, a vision as vital as ever.

More than Nehru, it was Gandhiji who despite knowing Ambedkar's opposition to him, yet insisted on bringing him on board. That was an act of Supreme Constitutional wisdom. The inability to arrive at shared constitutional arrangements envisaged in the Cabinet Mission Plan, lead to partition. The new Republic of India, could not afford to alienate the depressed classes. After the violence of partition, it was a miracle that in less than three years, a Constituent Assembly that in large part consisted of Orthodox Savarnas, whobwere guided by a Dalit chairman of the drafting committee, delivered a Constitution that still endures. Nation building lies in compromise, reaching across ideological boundaries and working with even your most vociferous opponents.

Sinner leading with a set against alcaraz in the finals but what you say of Monte Carlo. Isn’t just a tennis tournament, it’s a postcard. Cliffside clay courts, the Mediterranean in the background, and pure Riviera vibes. Easily the most beautiful stop on the ATP Tour. #Tennis

RIP Queen Asha Bhosle ji 🙏 You were the OG baddie of indie pop in saree and gajra. From the iconic ‘dum maaro dum’ to Monica, Haye rama rama ho, to even experimenting with ‘Kya tum mere ho’ with Brett Lee… you served every era effortlessly. Your voice will live on for generations. Iske aage hum aur kya kahein… jaanam samjha karo ❤️

@nainaverse Hope you enjoyed the day, Artemis II bhi aaj hi laut aaya prithvi pe, janmdin ki historic vibes hai. True that na, that's thing about time. It never stops, putting us all in a place where we reflect on our old selves through each other. Here’s to staying connected.🤞

@_alokpatel Thank you for remembering AP. You were one of the first few tweeps i got acquainted with. How time goes by.. Your tweet is a mirror humbling me and reminding me of my old self. Stay connected! Aabhaar 🙏

@nainaverse Janamdin mubarak NA. May you keep shining and making the world a tad better. Initially years ke kuch twitter mehfil mein khub pahredari karte the hum log. Aaj aadhe lakh followers, celeb type status lekin dekh padh ke lagta hai mijaaz wahi hai. To you, carry on with Bebaaki and santulan in life. Happy birthday. Peace, health & prosperity. 💐

Valentin Vacherot made history with his semifinal run at the Monte-Carlo Masters- the first for any Monegasque player right after his surprise win in Shanghai as world No. 204, entering into the Top 20 in months. Goes against usual ideas about tennis momentum and rankings. Surge #Tennis

Colonel Sonam Wangchuk could not become a Brigadier despite a MVC.

"If we are serious about peace, then we must work for it as ardently, seriously, continuously, carefully, and bravely as we have ever prepared for war." —Wendell Berry

Amid US-Iran brinkmanship, restraint triumphed with a ceasefire, sidestepping Trump's ultimatums & averting catastrophe. This fragile pause spotlights diplomacy's edge over saber-rattling, Strategic de-escalation demands sustained multilateralism.

Western narratives paint Iran as 'backward' to justify sanctions & interventions. The truth is different. frontline.thehindu.com/world-affairs/…

I want to clarify something about this article @apar1984 and I wrote: An infrastructure for mass censorship is already in place, in India, and the new rules expand it. We're seeing mass censorship of accounts and posts on X, Instagram and Facebook, because of this infrastructure. This infrastructure: 1. Operates with speed: - blocking of posts has to be executed in 3 hours (govt is considering 1 hour), which means there's no scope for challenging them. This is the shortest takedown timeline in the world. Every order is an emergency order. - When platforms get 100 at a time, which happens, they act first, think never, and censor always. Impact: If someone was censored and can't understand why, this is why. No one has time to think. 2. Scale...Scope has expanded uncontested: - The reasons for which speech and posts can be taken down keeps expanding. New rules expand government powers to tweets like this one. - News websites and platforms are covered under IT Rules (illegally) - Streaming platforms are covered under the IT Rules (illegally) Impact: more types of speech is already being censored...satire, journalism, or political criticism 3. Operates without challenge, in two ways: - When you get 160 takedown orders a day (as X disclosed to a court) how many will you challenge? - Platforms don't want to react because they can lose market access in India. They're faced with unrelenting pressure from regulators, and basically choosing which hill to die on. Us being censored is not their problem. - Rules are changing frequently: 7 amendments to IT Rules since Feb 2021. By the time courts nullify one rule (and they don't always do this), new rules come up. How often will people go to court? 4. Ordering takedowns has been decentralised: - The (illegal) Sahyog portal, which is used for takedowns, is a hotline from government bodies to platforms. Thirty-three states, seven central agencies, and seventy-two companies are onboarded. 5. There is no transparency hence no accountability: - Users receive no notice. censorship orders are not provided on request. - blocking orders and the meetings of the committee that reviews them are protected by secrecy. - RTI's are not responded to. - Consultation responses are not public. 6. Government is seeking personal data of social media users using Sections 70B, 69 and 75 of the IT Act. This will lead to self censorship. 7. Lawmaking process has collapsed: - The new IT Rules consultations have a 15 day deadline. - Implementation timeline for the last one was 10 days. - Rules are being made where there used to be laws government by Parliament. The new rules mirror provisions from the Broadcast Bill which was withdrawn in 2024. Parliament is being bypassed. As we wrote: when the IT Secretary reportedly says that platforms should have started preparing to implement based on consultation drafts, it appears that outcomes are predetermined. Consultations appear to be a farce. MEITY, DoT and MIB are not accountable to anyone but the government for rules that are not in line with laws, and go against a key free speech verdict we got in 2015. That's why this is an infrastructure for censorship. It is in place, it is operational, and it is expanding. This is not just about the new rules. This is why we're sounding the alarm about: people need to know what is going on, and the Supreme Court needs to take this up. They are the court of last resort, meant to preserve constitutionality. P.s: Please keep a copy of this tweet, in case it gets censored. Or just tweet it and tag us... how many will they censor?

Today marks a quietly momentous step in India’s long scientific journey, one that speaks of patience, precision, and national resolve. With the achievement of criticality at the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), India has entered the second stage of its three-stage nuclear power programme, a vision first articulated decades ago by Homi Jehangir Bhabha. This achievement is not just technical, it is strategic. Fast breeder reactors are the bridge between limited uranium resources and India’s abundant thorium reserves. They convert what was once considered waste into fuel, extending energy security across generations. To reach this stage, after years of design, engineering, and careful calibration, is a tribute to the scientific temper and institutional endurance that define India at its best. India now stands among a very small group of nations capable of operating large fast reactors, an accomplishment that carries both prestige and responsibility. It strengthens our capacity for clean, reliable energy, while reinforcing our technological sovereignty in a complex global landscape. My warmest congratulations to the scientists, engineers, technicians, and countless quiet contributors who have made this possible, especially those at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and across the Department of Atomic Energy. Their work reminds us that nation-building is often a long, disciplined endeavour, far removed from the spotlight, but deeply consequential. This is not just a milestone. It is the quiet fruition of a vision that has been decades in the making.

The opposite of patriarchy is not feminism. The opposite of patriarchy is matriarchy. Both are bad because they favour one gender over the other. The opposite of feminism is misogyny (anti-women) and misandry (anti-men). What is feminism? A concept that demands equal rights and opportunities for both the genders - men and women. Since the current society favours men more than women, feminism advocates for equal opportunities for women in socio-economic political spaces. Feminism is needed but largely misunderstood. What is menimism? A concept that is a reaction to save men from toxic masculinity, and opportunist women who misuse laws that favour them. Menimism is needed but largely misunderstood. Feminism and menimism are not the opposite of each other.

खिड़की से पृथ्वी open.substack.com/pub/alokpatelr…

There are no words.

In armed forces life, the self often merges deeply with the immediate environment. Spouses and children, immersed in the same structured, duty-bound world for years, tend to adopt this collective identity, blurring lines between individual uniqueness and shared military experience. Military environments foster a strong collective identity through training, routines, and camaraderie, where personal agency feels secondary to group purpose. This "breaking down and rebuilding" process prioritizes shared values like loyalty and stoicism over private self-concepts. Differentiation arises when individuals seek autonomy amid constant stressors, yet daily immersion reinforces environmental alignment. Immediate family members experience this osmosis acutely, associating their sense of self with barracks life, deployments, and hierarchies. Years of exposure create parallel identities, where children might view "normal" civilian life as alien. This shared adaptation provides belonging but hinders post-service transitions, as existential purpose tied to the military fades. Self-regulation helps personnel navigate this tension, balancing affective and cognitive processes against environmental demands. Yet, the risk of identity loss post-service highlights the need for intentional reflection to reclaim personal uniqueness. Families benefit from similar strategies to foster independent self-views amid the collective pull. #Defence #SainikSchoolTilaiya

There will be those who will talk about his batting average (“hardly 30, could not have been world class”). There will be those who will point to his strike rate. (“Does seem to be very fast. Many are much faster”) There are those who will wonder what is so special about him. And there will be those who will remember the man who square drove Andy Roberts for four in a World Cup final, hammered Patterson without a helmet in his final year in cricket (today many claim his reflexes had gone by that time, such is public memory) , hammered Imran into submission into the 1987 tour and was so dangerous that Qadir was kept out of the attack for an entire match because he was at the crease… They will remember the man who hummed Simon and Garfunkel tunes at the crease, kept twitching his face incessantly, and would wander off to square leg after hitting a bowler for four. “You cannot even curse the b***ard,” an annoyed yet amused Imran Khan would say. They will remember the man who did not make as many runs as others. But did something that was every bit as important - he made cricket fun. Whether ODIs, Test cricket or a Ranji match, hardly anyone left the ground when he was batting. Even when he was out of form. There are those who will look at his failures. And shake their heads at his numbers. And there are those who will remember Krishnamachari Srikkanth. #Srikkanth #IndianCricket #Cricket #Nostalgia (@g_rajaraman, @Raja_Sw, @VatsMusings, @alawyerwrites, @WG_RumblePants, @indranil9, @ushrit2020, @TheGrou75062162, @prempanicker, @CraigNelsy, @tds122, @anandkumarn)

The question of own identity persists when one differentiates the very self from its immediate environment. Armed forces life is distinct and dependent relations living in the same environment associate themselves with what they are living and experiences day and day out for years.

@Vedmalik1 @sapnamadan But the larger point is still unanswered- What about her own identity? Fauj has become her identity? Some level of Individuality remains or not?

So many profiles shouting “fauji wife” like it’s a personal achievement. Since when did someone else’s uniform become your identity? Pride is fine, but what about your own identity?

During Kargil war, FM Manekshaw travelled from Conoor to Army House, Delhi. Waited for one hr till I returned after mtg PM. He asked how war was going on & if there was anyway he could help. Next morning, with my wife, he visited wounded soldiers in Mil Hosp & returned to Conoor