Amit S

Firstpost is set to lose @palkisu today, who is setting out to build her own independent media venture, in partnership with @orfonline. Hopefully this changes the game, with an Indian led platform armed with academic rigour, that hopefully directly challenges legacy western media entangled in their disinformation campaigns. There is a dire need to fill the glaring void in international mainstream coverage especially from India’s prism.

Bano Qudsia (1928–2017) was a prominent novelist, playwright, and spiritualist celebrated for her major contributions to Urdu literature. After earning her master's degree, she built an extensive and highly respected body of work across multiple mediums. She shared a long marriage and a deep personal bond with her husband, fellow writer Ashfaq Ahmed. She is best known for her masterpiece novel, "Raja Gidh", which is widely recognized as a modern Urdu classic. Qudsia also wrote critically acclaimed stage and television plays, such as "Aadhi Baat," along with numerous popular short stories. Her distinct literary voice explored complex social and philosophical themes throughout her career, cementing her lasting impact on the literary world. #banoqudsia #urdupoetry #urduadab #rekhtashayari #rekhta

Rafta Rafta ❤️ Posted this earlier, but the video didn’t play… sharing it again, as it’s very close to my heart 🤍

That is the fraud. American power on screen is “craft.” British power on screen is “heritage.” Indian power on screen is suddenly evidence of political conditioning. Same cinema. Same nationalism. Different skin colour. The Economist has a wonderfully colonial rulebook for cinema. When America straps a camera to Pentagon hardware and sells state power with a soundtrack, it is “spectacle.” When a film is made with CIA-adjacent mythology around national revenge, it is “serious storytelling.” But when India puts its own enemies and terrorist attack scars on screen, suddenly the magazine reaches for the psychiatrist’s couch. That is the real joke here. Fighter jets, spies, commandos and national vengeance are perfectly acceptable as long as the flag fluttering in the background is American or British. Then it is culture. It is craft. It is cinema doing what cinema does. The Economist has invented a very elegant little rule for cinema: Top Gun: Maverick can fly on Pentagon muscle, RAMBO & Zero Dark Thirty can ride CIA mythology, James Bond can sell six decades of British spy glamour, Dunkirk can turn wartime memory into national legend, and all of that is called storytelling. But the moment India puts terror, retaliation and national memory on screen with Dhurandhar, the magazine starts diagnosing the audience instead of reviewing the film. What @TheEconomist cannot digest is not one film. It is the fact that Indians are no longer outsourcing their memory to London’s approval. A country that has lived through decades of Pakistan-sponsored terror is apparently expected to process all that pain in whispers, with tasteful disclaimers, and preferably under the supervision of foreign editors who still think they are qualified to explain India to Indians. And that is why the review reeks. Not of sophistication, but of the old imperial tic: Western nationalism on screen is a nation telling its story; Indian nationalism on screen is a pathology requiring diagnosis. The costume has changed. The sneer has not. The funniest part is that The Economist probably thinks this is fearless criticism. It is not. It is just another imported lecture from people who never mind propaganda when it wears aviators, a tuxedo, or a CIA badge, but develop exquisite moral sensitivity the moment India stops being apologetic on its own screen. Just FYI: Decades of Pakistan-sponsored terror are apparently meant to be processed quietly, apologetically, and preferably without ever producing a mass-market cultural response. That is the old script. India is no longer following it.

"Everything is a path. The mountain is a path, the cloud is a path, the silence is a path." — Haruki Murakami

and yet the sun still rises.

Steve McCurry #photography Reflection, Agra, India, 1999

The little i had left by Luca Ponsato

Given the illiterate posting on this matter let me clarify: This is NOT a large amount and is fully in line with borrowing projections in the FY27 budget estimates Please avoid commenting on public finance and raising panic through illiteracy or at someone’s malfeasant behest

Dear GenZ, This is the beginning of the 1980 Hindi movie Qurbani You should see this I have no further comments.

Sunil Grover @WhoSunilGrover is a cut above the rest. A wonderful commercial for the upcoming Screen Awards @ieEntertainment by the @IndianExpress group . Congratulations and wishing you a great success for the upcoming awards event dear Anant ! 👏 @anantgoenka

“I would like to thank the teacher at last month’s Artificial Intelligence Summit who said something remarkable, your six can be my nine" At the RNG Awards, Raj Kamal Jha used this striking anecdote to reflect on truth and perception in today’s information landscape. What seemed like a simple, humorous remark became a powerful commentary on how rare it is to collectively acknowledge what is clearly false. #RNGAwards #IndianExpress #JournalismExcellence

Phir Se (Yet again) a bollywood musical journey. Often comes along music that moves you. Listen to Pritam's Kalank the title track. Soulfully sung by Arijit Singh loosely based on Raag Shivranjani. The same raag Pancham used in Mere Naina Saawan Bhado or Tanishk Bagchi's Saiyaara based on Raag Kirwani that Pancham used in Rimzim Gire Sawan. Then arrives Shashwat Sachdev. His music has glimpses of my all time favourite Pancham (RD Burman). I don’t watch many movies but there are songs that hold me. Shaswat did this with Dhurandhar. Gehra Hua is mesmerising raag Bhairavi. Na toh karvaan ki taalash hai is an old classic in Raag Yaman. Fa9la the tune that went viral reminds me of Raag Asavari - its an Arabic composition and they treat their songs differently. The beats override melody. The Shehnai while used in Hindustani Weddings, I have found the instrument like Violin to be a little on the sadder side. This brings Shehnai alive almost as a dance number! But the reason I write this is Phir Se from Dhurandhar -2. This is one of the most moving songs I have heard from Bollywood in a long time. I feel its based on one of Pancham’s favourite raag - Khamaj. It brings out Shringar Rasa. This can be used in a flirtatious way like in Bada Natkhat hai or in a melancholic way like Kuch toh log kahenge both from Pancham’s Amar Prem. If you have not heard Phir Se yet please do so now. If you have heard it, please do listen to it again after reading this. Irshad Kamil has written one of the finest lyrics in recent times and Arijit steals your heart with that dreamy voice of his. No one can bring you pain with melody like he can! I haven’t heard String instrument layering like this. Sitar, Piano, Bass Guitar with long notes. The way the song opens with a Sitar chorus before Arijit pours his auditory single malt and the Sitar solo lifts the piece. The haunting layered pieces in the background of the vocals and music is something not often heard. The mixing of the music with reverb, delay and saturation takes Arijit’s unique texture to a different plane. Whats unique is the song doesn’t rely on beats or percussion. It’s pure melody. It’s not a song. It will stir an emotion in you. The pain, the conflict, the separation, the longing , the complain, the helplessness, the emptiness being felt by the protagonist feels personal! Those who complain Bollywood music is dying don’t know what to listen! The best things in life are free, we just have to create the ability to appreciate and enjoy them thoroughly. Turn up the volume, close your eyes and go within…Phir Se. If it moves you to tears, don’t be apologetic, you are human after all! Music is not just entertainment, it is also an expression of life in it myriad emotions, moods and seasons. P.S Music is an area of interest and not of competence. I could be wrong in the raag identification, if so please forgive that and focus on the music.

A timeless classic. The moment the saxophone starts, chills run down my spine. 🎷🎸🔥

These tears aren't falling without reason 😌 This Bhai achieved success after such immense struggle—and it is the love of his Bhai

तुम्हारे शहर सिर्फ़ इसलिए आना होता है कि तुम रहती हो वहाँ,कोई बात छेड़े तुम्हारे शहर की तो कहता हूँ-"हाँ! मैं भी वहाँ किसी को जानता हूँ" बस इतनी ही है उस शहर की पहचान मेरे लिए कि वहाँ तुम रहती हो। @Kitabganj1

BREAKING: The Federal Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition seeking the recovery of Maria Shahbaz, abducted at age 12, leaving her in the custody of the man who forcibly converted and married her.

This is truly insane, and it should be front page news across America.  Denmark secretly deployed soldiers to Greenland prepared to blow up airport runways to stop a U.S. invasion. They brought blood supplies to treat the wounded. France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden quietly coordinated against us. This was not a drill. This was our closest allies preparing to fight Americans. Let that sink in. NATO allies. Countries whose soldiers have fought and died alongside ours for decades. They looked at this president and decided they had to prepare for the worst. Fewer allies does not make America great. It makes us more isolated, more vulnerable, and it hands Russia and China exactly what they have always wanted: an America abandoned by its friends. The American people deserve to know how badly this president has damaged our standing in the world.  bbc.com/news/articles/…

Amour (2012) Director: Michael Haneke