In this episode we pay tribute to Doordarshan while talking about the incomparable Dilip Kumar, cabinet reshuffle by Narendra Modi in wake of rising criticism for his handling of the pandemic, the craze surrounding Euro 2020, the soon to be hosted spectatorless Olympics in Japan, the race for the 20th Grand Slam title for Djokovic at Wimbledon and the England cricket team fielding a B team after many players from the main squad were diagnosed with the virus.
Jul 10, 2021•45 min•Season 2021Ep. 228
Kannada went viral a few days ago when Google thought it to be the ugliest language in India. We saw this as an excuse to talk about quirky languages, including one in Kongthong, near Shillong, where villagers communicate by just whistling. In other news, Twitter is under fire for not complying with the new IT laws. In sports, the legendary Mikkha Singh passed away. We also have a little question for you in this episode. Listen to know more.
Jul 03, 2021•33 min•Season 2021Ep. 227
In which we talk about the second wave of covid-19 in India, heroes who saved lives, Lagaan's 20th anniversary, Kerela's one bottle one person alcohol rule, the new world Test championship in cricket and education in India.
Jun 27, 2021•26 min•Season 2021Ep. 226
Few countries can match India on scale and complexity of a nationwide rollout of any item under the sun. Be it the general elections or the covid-19 inoculation plan of over 300m citizens by the end of the summer. India faces a daunting task but appears to be up for it. Covaxin, the home-grown vaccine has kicked up some controversy. Data of stage 3 clinical trials have not been yet made available. How are other countries faring? And in other news the legendary Mahinder Watsa, a trained obstetric...
Jan 31, 2021•31 min•Season 2021Ep. 225
A depleted Indian team beat a full-strength Australian line up in what will rank as among the best Test Series of all time. For those who grew up in the 1990s watching India struggle against the Aussies, this was a moment to cherish. A second-rung team of folks as old as 21 years old put their hand up and performed. This podcast is a tribute to those the young lads with humble backgrounds making it big on the biggest stage there is.
Jan 25, 2021•32 min•Season 2021Ep. 224
Burger King's stock climbed by over 265 per cent soon after its IPO. Breakdance will feature as a sport at the Olympics in Paris 2024. Gitanjali Rao won the first Time Kid of the Year. And finally, do you dare to eat Fugu?
Dec 21, 2020•35 min•Season 2020Ep. 223
The Pfizer BioNtech vaccine was authorised in the UK and the US. The worlds most exceptional teacher was awarded to Ranjitsinh Disale, a 32 year old teacher from Solapur. Dharampal Gulati, owner of the iconic MDH masala died this month. Bob Dylan sold his catalogue of nearly 600 songs to Universal Music. A firm in Japan now sells bullying insurance to cover legal and medical costs.
Dec 13, 2020•41 min•Season 2020Ep. 222
Jadhav Payeng, the forest man of India made it in the curriculum of an American school, giving us an excuse to talk about him. Diego Maradona passed away. The Undertaker resigned after a career in wrestling that lasted over 30 years. And a train in Japan barks like a dog to keep deers from being overrun.
Nov 29, 2020•29 min•Season 2020Ep. 221
The Odisha government announced an incentive of Rs. 250,000 to promote inter caste marriage. Same sex couples tied the knot for a first time in Taiwans mass military wedding ceremony a year after it legalised gay weddings. Meanwhile, in a quirk of evolution, not all of us will get wisdom teeth. And Indian Super League that begins later this month, gives us an excuse to talk about the rich and illustrious history of Indian football.
Nov 01, 2020•25 min•Season 2020Ep. 220
In this podcast, we talk about Pakistan contesting Indias claim for an exclusive Geographical Indication tag to Basmati rice in the European Union. Researchers in Scotland have figured out a way to test if a whiskey is authentic without the need to open the bottle. And an Indian couple in the UK got hitched in a drive in ceremony to get around restrictions that allow only 15 people to gather at a time. In India, meanwhile, the arranged marriage industry has had to change its tune as interviews a...
Oct 11, 2020•30 min•Season 2020Ep. 219
The thirteenth edition of Indian Premier League kicked off in the United Arab Emirates. In a string of unfortunate events, Dean Jones died after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest. Former Union Minister Jaswant Singh passed away too. S P Balasubramaniam succummed to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the infamous Godman, Nithyanand is in exile and wants his own central bank. And a super rat was awarded a well deserved gold medal for detecting landmines in Cambodia.
Sep 27, 2020•35 min•Season 2020Ep. 218
Shinzo Abe, Japans longest serving prime minister called it a day and Pranab Mukherjee, Indias former president passed away. We talk about their illustrious careers. India and Russia were announced as joint winners at the first online Chess Olympiad when a global Internet outage caused Indian players to get disconnected. We digress to talk about doping in chess and segue into why Thar desert is turning green and why it may not be a good thing. Meanwhile, amid the covid-19 pandemic, the Indian ec...
Sep 06, 2020•29 min•Season 2020Ep. 217
It is that time of the year when we get high on some Ganapati fever. This year though the coronavirus has subdued all celebrations. In this episode we talk about how the festival itself has evolved over the years. In other news, MSD announced his retirement from international cricket. Miles away, Kamala Harris was appointed as the vice presidential candidate from the Democratic Party. And the hunt for a vaccine to beat the scourge is on.
Aug 23, 2020•31 min•Season 2020Ep. 216
We recorded the podcast on the 75th Anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing. The World has come a long way with countries showing aggression by banning each other's apps and internet services. Where is this heading towards? A Splitnernet? Or is it just the Election season in the US. As for our corona story of this episode, we discuss online gaming being one of the industries that are raking it in during Corona.
Aug 10, 2020•20 min•Season 2020Ep. 215
Indias National Education Policy of 2020, announced a few days ago, promises to ditch rote learning in favour of conceptual clarity. There is more to it, of course. In this podcast, we compare what it was like growing up in our existing system and what it promises to be under the new regime. And in other news, we talk about the worlds largest nuclear fusion reactor in France which took baby steps to begin its five year assembly phase. Expect some science chatter as we discuss the mind boggling p...
Aug 04, 2020•34 min•Season 2020Ep. 214
It has been a while. 4 Years, to be precise. Now under lockdown and nowhere to go, we are back with a new episode after taking a four-year vacation. We yap a bit about what's been going on in our lives before talking about how coronavirus has changed the way we live and behave with others. How has it impacted various professions? What does it mean for love at first sight? What are some of the novel ways in which folks are falling in love all over again?
Jul 27, 2020•31 min•Season 2020Ep. 213
Brexit will change the course of Britain and Europe in the coming months and years. Dattu Bhokanal, an army man from the drought prone region of Talegaon, once afraid of water, qualifies for the Olympics in water sports. England and Pakistan go at each other in a tightly contested Test series. And what lies beneath Cambodia.
Jul 28, 2016•24 min•Season 2016Ep. 212
Raghuram Rajan puts in his papers, Donald Trump advances, Kumble is Indias new head coach and Mohammad Ali RIP.
Jun 25, 2016•22 min•Season 2016Ep. 211
"Make in India" week was kicked out in Mumbai to a mixed response. Modi flagged off the event along several industry leaders. We spend some time talking about TRAI's decision against differential pricing effectively shutting down Free Basics and the reaction to it. Abhishek geeks out on gravitational forces and how it is a BIG thing in understanding the very beginnings of the earth. The other topics include Brendan McCullum retiring, Eagles being trained to bring down drones and BCCI banning Asa...
Feb 20, 2016•27 min•Season 2016Ep. 210
The last time we were on air, Sania had won her first doubles Grand Slam title with Martina Hingis. In this episode we talk about her winning her third. But before that we get into Indias urban development minister announcing the first batch of 20 cities to be converted in to smart cities, Delhi's "Odd-Even" policy to counter being world's most polluted city, and the man who almost conquered Antarticas 1000 mile journey alone.
Feb 12, 2016•20 min•Season 2016Ep. 209
Sania Mirza and Leander Paes win Wimbledon titles by pairing with Martina Hingis. In cricket, Bangladesh is on a high and so is match fixing in the IPL. Old Monk, the iconic Indian rum needs some reviving. Iran and US ink a historic nuclear deal. And El Shorty Chapo, the most wanted man in Mexico escapes the countrys most secure prison.
Jul 23, 2015•30 min•Season 2015Ep. 208
The monsoons are back and Mumbai shuts down for a day or two. And then comes a lull. India and Bangladesh agree to swap pieces of land that will redraw the borders of both countries. Myanmar, our tiny neighbor has one of the worlds most persecuted minority known as the Rohingyas. They are circling about in the oceans on creaking ferries knocking on doors of countries to let them in.
Jul 22, 2015•21 min•Season 2015Ep. 207
More than 2500 people have died in India this summer from the murderous heat. Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA steps down after several top officials from his team were arrested on charges of corruption. The Indian ice hockey team crowdsources its way into a tournament in Kuwait.
Jun 12, 2015•27 min•Season 2015Ep. 206
Iran and America push for a nuclear deal in which Iran will agree to shun its ambitions to make a nuclear bomb. In return, America and other countries will lift a bunch of sanctions imposed on Iran. Chaos in Yemen reaches a new low as the Indian government completes one of its greatest evacuation programmes. Uber launches a rickshaw hailing app and monkeys disrupt internet in Gujarat.
Apr 25, 2015•32 min•Ep. 205
The legendary Australian cricketer and commentator, Richie Benaud passes away. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is conferred with the Bharat Ratna. Owners of NSE listed Indian companies appoint their wives, daughters and stepmothers as board members. And Ecommerce in India is on steroids.
Apr 17, 2015•38 min•Ep. 204
Indias splendid run in the cricket world cup comes to an end in the semifinals. We recorded this on the eve of the finals and we root for New Zealand, a tiny country of 4.4 million. Saina Nehwal is now world number 1 in womens badminton. Rajendra Singh wins the Stockholm Water prize, the equivalent of the Nobel proze for water. More than 750 students have been expelled and 300 people arrested for the mass cheating scheme in the state exams in Bihar. The defense ministry takes cyber security more...
Apr 01, 2015•30 min•Season 2015Ep. 203
In this world cup, Indian cricket teams dug dug medium pacers and so so spinners have far outclassed our star batsmen. We reach the last leg of the tournament and will play Australia at Sydney in the semi-finals. BBC hires a guy who fakes his way into a panel discussion claiming to be a former Pakistani Test batsman. In other sports news, Indian badminton rising star, Srikant Kidambi wins the Swiss open. Down south, a bunch of engineers have figured out a way to power street lamps by harnessing ...
Mar 22, 2015•27 min•Season 2015Ep. 202
BJP bans BBCs documentary on Indias daughter. In other news, it bans beef in Maharashtra. A solar powered plane takes off for a trip around the world. An in-form Indian team advance in the world cup. With the knock out stages of the competition round the corner, there are no clear favourites to win the cup.
Mar 17, 2015•23 min•Season 2015Ep. 201
For more than 50 years R K Laxmans You Said It made people laugh and squirm at Indian politics. In this episode, we talk a bit about his work ethic. In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party bags more than half of all votes in the state elections and yet continues to remain on thin ice. The cricket World Cup is on and India has won all their matches in the group stages so far. Arun Jaitley announces the much anticipated Union Budget and Aditya tries to explain how India calculates its GDP.
Mar 06, 2015•29 min•Season 2014Ep. 200
From what depths of his soul would Robin Williams have scrapped out all the laughter and pleasantries for us, said a Tweet summarising for us the man who spent most of his life spreading happiness through his quirks. RIP Robin Williams. Ebola has swept large parts of Liberia, Sierra Leone and New Guinea. There is no cure, 90 per cent of those afflicted die and the WHO has described it as a public health emergency of international concern. And Why do migratory birds get confused when they over ur...
Aug 23, 2014•31 min•Season 2014Ep. 199
