Mind u Read

Everyone’s been going gaga over the new Cadbury Dairy Milk ad — a faithful recreation of its own iconic asli swaad zindagi ka ad from 1993.   The original ad evokes a lot of nostalgia for many of us and this re-creation milks that emotion very well. The twist with the gender reversal is the key point that made everyone fall in love with it.   I however feel there is one critical aspect of the original that the new one completely misses.   Before I speak about it, let’s see what the new ad does.   Here goes…

This post originally appeared in my weekly newsletter.  You can sign up for my newsletter here:   Mind u Read Weekly Digest . Too much content The Indian cricket team won a historic test match at the Oval last week. I caught bits of the match on the Sony Liv app. I had a doubt though and tweeted it out… Great win by India again. I have a genuine question. How do you folks manage to find time to watch test matches when there are so many other distractions all over the internet and otherwise? #INDvENG — Kartik Dayanand (@KartikDayanand) September 6, 2021 Most people confirmed my doubt — a majority of them watch it in small bursts when there is some excitement in the game. They get to know about it on Twitter or other platforms and then jump in to watch that segment of the match. This is very different from the way we grew up watching complete matches on DD. Without any other distractions except for power cuts and news bulletins. The choice and ease of access of content...

There’s one question on a lot of people’s minds these days: "Is the colossal mismanagement of India’s Covid-19 crisis going to dent Narendra Modi’s image…will his blind followers finally open their eyes?"   The short answer is: NO .   The long answer is complicated.   I said in an earlier blogpost that there are only two kinds of people in this world – those who love Modi, and those who hate him; there’s no one in the middle.   Back then I spoke briefly about those who love him unconditionally despite his many failings. I didn’t shy away from calling them Bhakts. That was more in the context of their anger against the Congress party. There are many other reasons too, but in this post, I am going to focus on what I think is the single biggest subconscious reason why someone turns into a Bhakt.   And mind you, I am not using the word Bhakt in a frivolous manner. I am treating this matter with utmost seriousness. I am intrigued by their condition, and you’ll know...