theweekendbriefs

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs Special # 1

Hello Everyone!

This weekend brief is different. Not entirely different, but very much curated around a central figure. I felt a lot of people should know, hear and read about an impeccable personality and I really regret to know about her feats and achievements very late. And this edition is dedicated in memoriam, to the Late Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( R.B.G ) ( 1933 - 2020 ). Fondly known as The Notorious RBG.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( 1933 - 2020 ) | Image Courtesy : The New Yorker

Many of you like me might not know who RBG was or why is she all over the papers. Her Wikipedia profile reads, “ Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton and was generally viewed as a moderate judge who was a consensus builder at the time of her nomination. ( Wikipedia ).” 

Well the description falls short of the towering personality RBG was and how her life is not just a celebration of achievement and honor, but also a reflection on how women in society have had to struggle, balance and navigate a world largely where laws were written by and for men. I came to know about RBG’s demise a few days ago, and the past week I have come across many interesting articles that sheds light on her thoughts, her work and her meteoric rise as the Supreme Court Justice of the United States. RBG’s demise has opened up a interesting space to discuss about women’s rights, progress, the glass ceiling and equality and how an untimely demise of a judge of the apex court in the country has come to dominate the presidential election. As I write this piece, RBG will be the first woman to lie in state at the U.S Capitol on Friday, a rare honor often reserved for esteemed presidents and senators. And

Without much adieu, here are some interesting articles on RBG ...

“He was the only boy I ever knew.…who cared that I had a brain...”

Image Source : Getty Images

Marty Ginsburg, spouse of RBG is an interesting profile. Here is a man, as established lawyer and expert, largely enjoying the space in the shadow of a Supreme Court Judge who also happens to be his wife. While RBG went setting milestones, Marty was her biggest cheerleader, companion and also someone who was not threatened by his spouse’s rockstar career or rise to glory. A beautiful article on the Vogue, chronicles the beautiful, fulfilling relationship between Marty and RBG. The article titled , “ May every woman find her Marty Ginsburg ”, is a joy read and you can find the article here. 

You should also catch up on the numerous tributes that have come on the Vogue,  The New Yorker, Guardian and Indian Express. 

“ In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf. ” 

In an eye-opening, candid op-ed written for the New York Times, RBG opens up about being a women and a judge, fighting her way to the top, speaking aloud on gender discrimination and the work-life balance. This interesting article is more of a reflective piece is an engaging read and rightly titled, “ RBG’s advice on living.” . You can read it here.

Image Source : New York Times / Betmann Archive via Getty Images 

“For me, she will be remembered as my teacher and, in a very real sense, she used all of her positions to teach Americans about this country...”

RBG was also a professor and one of the first female professors at the Columbia Law School. A demanding, well-read and tough teacher, RBG was know for the finesse in teaching Comparative Law  and Constitutional Law while also playing a pivotal role in moulding informed citizens for the future. The many letters in this article shed light on her teaching and working career. You can read the article here. Here is also another article broadly outlining the massive vision and how RBG attained it step by step. 

Also, here are 8 books on knowing up close the Real RBG.

Lastly on the reading, here is a photo story chronicling the life and times of RBG. 

Listening and Watching RBG

Image courtesy : Pinterst

For those of you, who would love to watch a RBG’s life, I have two recommendations. One, is an excellent documentary titled, R.B.G ( streaming on Netflix ) directed by Julie Cohen and Best West. The documentary sheds light on how her early legal battles changed the world for women. 

Image courtesy : Wikipedia

The second one is an autobiographical legal drama that goes by the name, “ On the Basis of Sex” starring Felicity Jones as RBG and Arnie Hammer as Marty Ginsburg. The movie chronicles RBG’s early life as a struggling attorney and a new mother fighting against all odds not just to make space, but history. 

Last up, for the audio-inclined here is a podcast ( very much biographical ) hosted by Poppy Harlow and Jeffrey Toobin at CNN, “ RBG : Beyond Notorious”. You can catch it here and at all major podcast streaming apps.

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This special was a spurn of the moment thought and I strongly felt the life and times of RBG should not just be celebrated but remembered, reflected and should serve as a torch in these dark times. I end this special with an excerpt from one of the articles I have linked above. This for me sums up pretty much everything about RBG her life, struggle and ultimate glory.

In her 2015 biography, The Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, author Irin Carmon notes that Ginsburg “likes to quote the opening words of the Constitution: ‘We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union.’ Beautiful, yes, but as she always points out, ‘we the people’ originally left out a lot of people. ‘It would not include me,’ RBG said, or enslaved people, or Native Americans. Over the course of the centuries, people left out of the Constitution fought to have their humanity recognized by it. RBG sees that struggle as her life’s work

To the Notorious RBG. Rest In Peace. 

Signing off, 

The Weekend Briefs

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 18 September 2020

Hello Everyone!

And yet again we reach the magical Friday evening where we wind down, eat junk, resume our binge watching, prepare for weekend or if you are not in mood for anything, crash onto the bed. This week turned out to be rather normal, flowing as usual and I have been busy reading, working and curating/searching for good content. 

Image courtesy : Meghna_Design

Without much adieu, first off...

Tell us something to read..

They live in a world of their own, at the end of our world...

Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the archipelago, the mystical, serene bunch of Islands at the confluence of the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean is more than what meets the eye. The culture, the stories and the breathtaking views of the Ocean make it a worthy vacation spot. However, of the 400 odd-bunch of islands, some of them are strictly cordoned off for visitors so as to protect the primitive tribes in these islands. The North Sentinel tribe that inhabit the north Sentinel Island are one tribe desisting all kinds of human contact and turn hostile the moment they see a foreign entrant on their shores. The Indian government has strict laws and regulations to protect the island and this indigenous tribes, which are the last of the hunter-gather-forest living tribes in the world, from outsiders. 

However, late in 2018, the demise of John Allen Chau, an American explorer-evangelist, at the hands of the Sentinels, shocked the world. Chau’s ambition was to preach the gospel to the tribes and the reticent tribes no-contact policy strengthened his resolve to contact them. Last week, I chanced upon an interesting article that chronicled the life and last days of John Allen Chau. This extremely intriguing and well-researched article sheds light into the Chau’s uprbringing, influences and asks the reader to ponder whether Chau was a hysterical explorer or evangelist or was there any merit to his thinking? This article is a long read and can have a disturbing effect on the reader for a while. Reader discretion is advised. You can find the article here.

Image courtesy : Google Images

But Wait... there was another person who was the first human to contact the tribe.. 

Image courtesy : The Logical Indian

Imagine being told at a very young and impressionable age that, in a certain part of the world, far from the hinterland lives a tribe that won't talk to any outsider and to meet them meant be a researcher of a relatively unknown subject back then, “Anthropology”.  And now suppose that becomes your life’s mission to learn and in a time when women were not allowed to dream beyond.  Well, Madhumala Chattopadhyay proved everyone wrong. While reading up on the North Sentinels, I came across anthropologist Ms. Chattopadhyay who was the first person/human to contact the tribe and to befriend them. Ms.Chattopadhyay, fought the odds and won a scholarship to study about these tribes and  her papers and research are gold standards in field of anthropology. You can read more about her and her life’s work here , here and here.

A lamp showed me my mother was a rockstar...

Mrs. Helen Lamb | Image Courtesy : NYT

Helen Lamb was like any other woman in the 60s and 70s. They worked hard, had some amount of independence in thought due to certain privileges and was a dotting mother whose life revolved around her family. And many years later, her son discovers his mother was not just the normal everyday family woman, but a star architectural designer who designed some brilliant, modern lighting in contemporary American cities. William Lamb writes a moving article about discovering the hidden yet dazzling part of his mother’s life and how a lamp she designed paved way for it. You can read this article here.

My Grandfather’s Kofta Recipe

Cooking should not just satiate the diner, it must invoke a long forgotten beautiful experience apart from the savory experience. Like when one first tastes the Sulaimani chai, the world must stop and make you remember your beloved or when the Biriyani Dum breaks it should remind you of celebration. Hungry much? As someone who worships the art of cooking, I keep the idea of experience -invocation as my first principle whenever I cook. And I was more delighted to read an article about a man who must have walked into the evening of life, who took a similar joy in cooking and paid attention at every step of the dish he prepared. His granddaughter years later, pens this moving account of how her Grandpop’s meticulous cooking ideas and why it became an experience to cherish for years to come. You can read this article here. 

Alright...there is too much to read...tell us something to watch...

Image courtesy : IMDB

I was on a lost track after finishing The Crown and on looking up at HBO/Hotstar’s catalogue and stumbled upon Succession. The plot synopsis read very much like a rich white corporate mogul and his family’s problems. Ahh, too much drama but I decided to give it a shot. And beating all my expectations, Succession blew me away. The Roy family is dysfunctional, rich and delusional for whom the world is under their feet and everything and anything can be brought with the sheer power of money. This series has some brilliant moments, strong screenplay and astonishing performances from an ensemble cast of Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and many others. As I write this, I am hoping Succession sweeps the Emmy’s this year and I sincerely hope Jeremy Strong  wins Outstanding Actor Award. You can catch Succession on HBO/Hotstar. 

I am a greedy, ambitious actor... never a megastar...

It’s the year 2002. Karan Thapar sits down for his show Face to Face on BBC with a rather unusual guest. He is an unfamiliar face for many of his viewers, but for the Malayali eye, his voice or a mere glance is enough for us to fill with pride. That guest is none other Mammootty. Apart from the awards and adulations Mammootty has gathered in his long journey in cinema, Mammootty or Mammooka, is an actor who lives and breathes cinema. I came across this interview a few days back and was hooked to the sincerity and eloquence with of Mammootty’s words. The 25 minute long interview is not just a glimpse into Mammootty, it flows of his supreme passion for acting and cinema. You can catch this interview here. 

Image Courtesy : Mathrubhoomi 

Karan Thapar: Is that the secret of your success?

Mammootty : I don't have the secret but I have passion in me. I love. I am mad. I am crazy about acting. I wish my urge to be an actor shouldn't die. It should die with me.

In the coming weeks, I shall be watching Shetland and Hinterland on Netflix. The rustic British landscapes and a crime investigation must not be missed. 

And finally, tell us something to listen too...

Raghuram Rajan, former RBI governor and Professor at Chicago Business School is always a delight to watch and listen. His ‘Dosa-economics’ and ‘ I do what I do’ statements and his illustrative writings on many topics of finance and economics, public policy  makes the most bland and dreary topics interesting. Raghuram Rajan was a guest at Enquiry’s show hosted by Shoma Chaudhury and he gives an accurate analysis of the faltering economy, 23.9% GDP crunch and the financial landscape post COVID. You can catch up the interview here.

Image Courtesy : Wikipedia

If there is one artist, I will always loop back to on clueless days, it is Rex Vijayan. Rex Vijayan was the main guitarist at rock band Avial and now is a forefront composer at Malayalam Cinema. He is noted for his brilliant mix of techno, electronic and contemporary music and seamlessly integrating it with some of the top Malayalam hits in the past decade. A testimony to his talent was when Apple Music curated the best Malayalam music of the past decade ( 2010-2020 ) they put Rex on the cover art. I recommend Mayanaadhi and Sudani from Nigeria’s soundtrack as his best. You can catch him here, here and here.

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All right, that’s all from the Weekend Briefs today. We hope our readers look forward to a weekend to unwind, relax and be tummyful. Write to us if you have content that can feature in our pages. 

Thanks to all whose constant support and encouragement brings us back to the writing table every Friday/Saturday. 

Till the next time, 

Signing off,

The Weekend Briefs. 

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 12 September 2020

Hello everyone!

After a brief hiatus, we are back with a new edition of the Weekend Briefs. To be very honest, the hiatus was self imposed due to pressing schedules, never ending meetings, being a good ‘ol listener to many and  scrambling through many content to find the best for weekend briefs. Anyways with Unlock (some number) under progress and world resuming to business as usual, the English Premier League ( EPL ) kickoff this weekend and the IPL next week, we can find some joy, relief and unity the sporting world offers.

Alright moving on to our regulars, first off...

Tell us something to read

Artificial intelligence has been touted as the next big game changer in our world.  While I am a big fan of the limitless possibilities of AI and also transcribing this briefs  with the aid of a AI powered text processor* I also share the same skepticism Stephen Hawking shared about AI. 

Image Source : Apple

Last week, a certain article had re-kindled some of my interest in AI and  in the past 24 hours I have been looking around for articles that present a simple, yet curious read for a general audience. This certain article interestingly was written by a robot, specifically, the GPT-3 ( a deep network natural language learning processor ). The article published in the Guardian was a response to the  editorial team’s questions on, “ Why humans need not fear the emergence of AI?” The AI brought out many iterations/response to the question, which was further edited by human editors. You can read this article here and the guardian editors note on editing articles written by robots.

However, on the contrary there is also a rising sentiment to whether Robots or AI powered beings ( whatever shape and form they take ) will replace human jobs, will they do much of our jobs with speed and efficiency and maybe over time gain so much insights into our behaviors to make them work for us or They could soon start writing articles with or without human input. An interesting Op-Ed in the New York Times looks at this intriguing premise. Farhad Manjoo, an opinion columnist at NYT offers compelling arguments on the global society marred with rising technological pusuits and issues of broader nature. The article titled, “ How Do You Know a Human wrote this?” can be found here. 

Lastly on the topic of AI. I have found an interesting blog that offers a very critical insight into the world of technology, the whims and fancies of surveillance governments, horrors of facisism and many more. “Real Life” as the blog is titled has put up an interesting article contesting the neutrality of AI powered text and speech and underpinnings of liberalist coherence in these text. You can read this article titled, “Lawful Neutral ”  challenging read here.

Iran’s Housing Crisis : A Photo Essay

Photo essays are a joy to read and powerful tool of journalistic endeavor. It brings life to the banality of text and allows the reader to develop a visual angle to the context. Iran is a country in the news for all the many right and wrong reasons. I choose carefully not to delve into the geopolitics at hand, but its a country whose beautiful landscapes and complicated history as always baffled me. The New Yorker last year ran an interesting photo essay titled “ The Ghost Towers : On Iran’s Housing Crisis.  ”  chronicling the many equations, constants and variables present in the housing equation. Urban housing is not merely a demand-supply problem, it goes beyond the economic curves and rational theories of consumer good. Its extremely contextual and intersectional. Read this beautifully composed article here. 

Alright, enough with the reading...tell us something to watch..

The self imposed brief hiatus meant I could catch up on some watching on OTT platforms. The advent and rise of OTT platforms especially in this post pandemic era is a welcoming  change in the Big-ticket-Big Screen Landscape. With a few regional industries and even the mammoth Bollywood taking leaps of faith in making exclusive releases on Prime or Netflix, it is an indicator OTT is here and will be a competitive force in demanding our attention. 

First up, my recommendation ( for those who have not caught it yet ) is C U Soon. 

C U Soon |  Image Courtesy : Prime Video 

Malayalam industry is hailed for its remarkable eye to content, detail and pushing the envelope of exciting cinema in India. With a large dish of extremely talented actors, producers, technicians, every new Malayalam movie round the corner is not just pleasant to watch but offers a breath of superior cinematic experience. C U Soon, shot entirely virtually and on an iPhone and portrayed on the virtual landscapes of Zoom, Google Chat and FaceTime was conceived and developed during the pandemic lockdown. Inspired by 2018 flick, “Searching”, C U Soon, offers a string of brilliant performances from Fahad Fasil ( ♥️ ), Darshana Rajendran and Roshan Mathew, is an emotional thriller keeping you at the edge of the seat. While the actors dazzle with their performances, Mahesh Narayanan’s fine cut editing, direction and virtual cinematography gives a distraction/disturbance free and focused environment. You can catch C U Soon on Amazon Prime and Mahesh Narayanan, FaFa’s interview with Anupama Chopra on Film Companion here.

While Netflix has had a few nice releases, I am looking forward to watching “Social Dilemma ” and Charlie Kaufman’s “ I am Thinking of Ending Things ”. You can read reviews of both these films here and here. 

and...Tell us something to listen to...

If there is one thing that has been constant and increasing in number over time in a working life is meetings. The running joke in our WFH life is, ‘this meeting could have been an email.” And over time, we lose patience, the sanity and feel increasingly rattled with more meetings. The Freakonomics podcast features an interesting episode on “ Making Meetings Miserable ”. The episode sheds light on the behavioral insights of what makings meetings terrible and what could be the workarounds to make it better. You can catch it here. 

Also, interesting podcast to binge listen to is “ Planet of Money” hosted by Jacob Goldstein on NPR. The podcast is relatively simple in explaining the haranguing concepts of money, finance and economics. You can catch it here.

Image Courtesy : NPR

and for our readers who really wish to relax this weekend, here is a Spotify Playlist titled “ Easy Mornings ”

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Alright, that's all we have for this weekend. We have been less frequent over time, but when schedules and monotony buries us, the Weekend Briefs is a space to go back to. 

Thanks to Navnit for his timely suggestions for the podcasts and listening recommendations. If you all have suggestions for text, movies, video, audio etc please write to us. 

Hope everyone has an exciting and relaxing weekend.  

Signing off,

The Weekend Briefs.

* PS: The AI Powered Text Processor is the new Microsoft Word inbuilt with some empowered AI Techniques to help us write by speaking to it. Word of Caution, it listens to everything.

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 1 August 2020

Hello everyone!

What an absolute wacky week this has been! On Monday, when the clock struct 10.20 hrs, our zoom room chimed and chimed and it has never stopped. 155 students connecting from places we can't (to-date ) count or sometimes pronounce ( Kozhikode, Alappuzha and Thumpamon we are looking at you ). On top of that, our desktops are running multiple softwares, that crash and confuse all of us. And as one Ms.Doshi ( echoed by Ms.Abraham, Ms.Singh, Mr.Baby, and Mr.S )  once said after a very tough studio session, “ If it wasn’t my computer, I would have broken the screen... ”  With all the frustrations, the many laughs and joys of remote working, Weekend Briefs is equally excited and eager   to see how things are shaping up. 

Image Courtesy : Silver Leaf Computer Services

Without much further adieu, what do we have to read here this weekend...

Mr.Congressman, I don’t understand your question

On Wednesday, lawmakers in the US sat down to investigate the moguls of the online economy namely, Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. The CEOs attended the session via videoconferencing and were grilled by the lawmakers on how some of these firms crushed competition, adopted predatory pricing and misled many consumers by tying their choices to their products. NYT has put together a handbook of sorts to explain the hearing for layman. If you would like to watch a highlight of the same, the Verge has put an excellent video capturing the main points of the hearing. You can watch it here.

Image Courtesy : New York Times 

Within those cities..I found myself

Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” is a book helped me see how cities are an excellent story telling device. Many planners ( aspiring, established and learners) still return to Calvino’s masterpiece and there are always one slide in some presentations that quote this book.  Tarun Patel, ( our newest addition to the faculty team ) with his spouse, Pooja has illustrated few cities that appear in this book and have put together an interesting blog with drawings serving as medium of  interpretation of the book. They have sketched out 10 out of the 55 cities in the book. You can read and view some of their interesting sketches here. 

Image Courtesy : Tarun & Pooja Patel 

Listen, why don't we use this <insert ordinary object here > to open this....

The pandemic has opened a world where many ordinary things have become extremely helpful in maintaining social distancing and protection when one ventures outside. In the initial days of mask shortage frenzy , scores of videos popped up where people cut their jeans and shawls and made masks out of this. Similarly, many ordinary objects have transformed into indigenous and unique solutions to cope with the challenges of these times. This illustrative article filled with some comic sense, shows how several of these objects have transformed bringing a little happiness and relief in the uncertain times. You can catch the article here.

Image Courtesy : New York Times

Alright, tell us something to watch...

The Singapore ‘Invisible’ Story

When I stepped foot onto the Changi airport last December, it was wonder and excitement and curiosity about how this country transitioned from a third world to first world country ( taking a cue from Lee Kuantans Yew’s book). What fascinated me more was how the country solved it’s housing problems and more than 90% of the people lived in public housing. I had a chance to see some of these public housing sites up near and listen to a close relative explain how public housing is the most affordable and is linked to the national pension scheme. HBO Asia delved deeper to show us how life revolves around these public housing sites with an incredible moving show, “ Invisible Stories ”. This six part anthology examines life of the ordinary Singaporeans and immigrants, stripped of the glamour and pompousness of the Singapore success story. Invisible Stories is streaming on Hotstar India. 

Image courtesy : IMDB

Ballet in a bath tub....why not?

The fine and elegant Ballet makes an impressive comeback in these times and imagined and executed remotely. This elegant video shows the famous Swan Lake ballet with ballet dancers choreographing the entire sequence from their bathtubs. 27 elite ballet dancers from renowned dance companies across the globe perform a modern-day Swan Lake from their own home (filled) baths. Swan Lake Bath Ballet was choreographed, filmed and post-produced completely remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic ( BBC Youtube ). You can watch it here. 

Image Courtesy : BBC UK 

Something to listen to...

How do you run a Fortune 500 company ? and how do you be remain relevant in these changing times? and how do you also break the glass ceiling while doing all this? Indra Nooyi has been hailed as one of the finest and powerful women leaders of our time. The Freaknomics podcast catches up with Indra Nooyi and she shares her journey from the big city of Madras to the the global city of New York. You can catch this interesting podcast here.

Also, for those who are extremely worked up this week and want to wind down.. here is Sushin Syam’s extremely relaxing track, “Lagoon Chill” from Kumbalangi Nights. This soothe ballad must definitely push you towards the weekend. Sushin Syam works in the Malayalam Movies and was a pivotal force in changing the musical landscape to a more house-technoseque background scores for our films. His major works include, Kumbalangi Nights, Varathan, Anjam Pathira etc.. You can listen to Lagoon Chill here ( this is a 1hour on loop track ; apt for working too ... ) 

P.S Kumbalangi Nights is streaming on Amazon Prime and is one of the finest movies to come out in the recent times. 

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All right, that's all from the Weekend Briefs today. We have been a less frequent owing to the many commitments we have, but when we do come we come with the best. Thanks to all the love and happiness you share with the page. Special thanks to Navnit for the podcast recommedation and to the Tarun & Pooja for their contributions. 

Hope everybody has a kick-ass and reflective weekend. Keep enjoying and making the best of this beautiful time. Till then, 

Signing off, 

The Weekend Briefs

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 1 August 2020

Hello everyone!

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 17 July 2020

Hey Everyone!

I can imagine the relief and happiness when a lot of my colleagues type “ Weekend is Here” followed by emoticons of dancing men and women on our WhatsApp conversations. I experience the same joy when I write a new edition of the Weekend Briefs, and the weekend only begins when the publish button is clicked. 

Anyways, the week as usual has been filled with unexpected surprises and the bare mention of paper sizes below A4 can tip off my colleagues. Amidst all the chaos & confusion , novelty filled playlists, light yet touching words of encouragement, the afternoon rains , and good food has helped me muddle through the weekend. Without much adieu, lets move onto our reading lists for the weekend...

Image courtesy : Johan Papin

King without a Kingdom in a new republic

I have been reading a near personal and heroic narrative of V P Menon  , the sidekick to the great Sardar Vallabhai Patel, who was a tough negotiator and got all the princely states to agree to accede to India. However, many of these princely kingdoms were annexed by the British and plundered to be mere sources of income for the British Raj and the departure of the British could have signaled a reign of autonomous rule for these kingdoms but those plans were foiled by the Patel-Menon duo resulting in an India we see today. Interestingly, one such kingdom was the Kingdom of Oudh in Lucknow, which was annexed by the British but had much regal splendor and fame in the United Provinces back in the day. Now, imagine a royal descendant turns up at gates of the Government of India and announces all the royalties and titles taken away from them to be restored to them. NYT’s Ellen Barry captures an interesting tale of an eccentric family of desposed royals who lived in near isolation and obscurity in Delhi’s Malcha Mahal. The family still believed they were royals in every sense of the term and how equally tragic their life was. Read this extremely engaging and informative piece about a family and a king without a kingdom. To be honest, this was one of the finest pieces  I have read in recent times. You can read this here. 

Image courtesy : NYT

WE CONQUERED THE MECCA OF CRICKET!

For the  Indian cricket fan, nostalgia of a bygone era involves some fine moments in the history of the game. Sharjah 1999, Eden Gardens 2001, Lords 2003, Multan 2004 and many more. Here was a new team with a nice mix of young and experienced, under the agile captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, shrugging off the blemishes of a match fixing and corruption scandal and playing directly to the hearts and minds of a billion people. All of the above mentioned moments are uniquely special but if there is an image to show India had truly arrived at the cricket scene, it is the image of a defiant Ganguly swirling his jersey on the balcony of the Lord’s Cricket stadium. 18 years have passed since that memorable evening at Lords, and Indian cricket has changed way beyond recognition. Indian Express takes a walk down the memory lane with Mohammed Kaif, who was the unsung hero of the run chase. You can read his interview and listen to him recollect those fond memories here. 

P.S If you wish to revisit the  Lord’s victory ( what ECB even calls as ‘One of the Greatest ODI Matches ever’ ) you can watch it here. 

Image Courtesy : India Today

In a world for/of men, the woman stands out !

The world is now opening up to the revelation, how the world is designed by and for to be used by men. Look around at every single utility ever designed. The dimensions of a cell phone are designed so it fits into the palm of a man, desks are made believing the end user is always a man. In several silent ways, these daily inequities play out against women even though proven research says women do much more unpaid work than men and have to muddle through to a career while rearing children, making a home and many other chores. This week NYT’s Program launches a unique column titled, “ In Her Words ; 7 Days, 7 Issues “ highlighting the many inequities women face in 7 beautifully illustrated and concisely written articles. What struck the most with me was the following few lines from the first issue written by Emma Goldberg. 

“Researchers at Boston University and Microsoft found that a software program trained on text from Google News was also more likely to link women with domestic activities. When asked to complete the statement “Man is to computer programmer as woman is to X,” the program responded: “homemaker.”

You can read the entire series here. 

Enough of the readings... Tell us something to watch

Taking a cue from the above, imagine if a movie spoke to you about gender abuse, fused it with a few supernatural occurring and set in the pre-independece era India.  Bulbbul ( Streaming currently on Netflix ) does this concoction of themes quite poignantly. Directed by Anvita Dutt Guptan, produced by Anushka Sharma, Bulbbul boasts of an ensemble cast of Tripti Dimri, Rahul Bose, Paoli Dam who give riveting performance to make this an engaging watch. With just over 95 minutes and soaked in a visual palette of crimson, Bulbbul is a quick and promising watch. Several scenes are beautifully composed and the soundscape of the movie captures the elegant yet scary forests where the movie is set in. Watch it for the brilliant performances of Rahul Bose and Tripti Damri. 

Source : Netflix India

WFH WFH WFH by Apple

Ever since the Weekend Briefs began, there is a healthy obsession over the most trendy word of the year WFH ( Work from Home ). Apple captures the drama and many nuances of the Underdogs working from home and how WFH is transforming our lives in this era. This 6-minute mini, is enjoyable, effable and an elaborate Apple product placement video. Good marketing and the increasing human connection to its products has always been a forte of the chaps at Cupertino. You can watch this short here.

Image Courtesy : YouTube 

Tell us something to listen to...

History of India podcast by Kit Patrick is a light, educational podcast chronicling the many historicities of India from 6th century BCE. This extremely grounded podcast by Kit focuses on why Indian history plays a pivotal role in understanding how the history of the world. You can catch Kit’s podcast on major podcast streams and read the exclusive review by first post here. 

Meanwhile, we have been listening to this incredible playlist called Groove on Apple Music. Filled with deep, techno tracks , this is a finely curated playlist from Apple Dance Music can help you get into the ‘groove’ when doing mindless tasks such as figuring out on scaling a powerpoint to newer ratios or V-looking up an excel spreadsheet. You can catch the playlist here. 

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Well that’s all from the Weekend Briefs for this weekend. I am off to begin my weekend, by cooking dinner! 

If you would like to feature/suggest for the upcoming editions for Weekend Briefs, please ping us on our Instagram page.

We would like to thank Umesh S for his podcast recommendations this week. 

Hope you all have the best weekend of fun and frolic. 

Happy Weekend!

Signing off,

The Weekend Briefs.

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 10 July 2020

Hello Everyone!

After a pretty long week filled with meetings, works, deadlines and missing an issue of Weekend Briefs, we are back again. With rains becoming a regular visitor and a weather with beautiful hues, I look forward to a joyful weekend  and the perfect time to read, relax and refocus.

Image Courtesy : Grace Easton

First up on our reading choices for the weekend :

A City without Cars

Imagine a city without cars, where one could walk down the street or hop onto a bus to go to work or school. Or maybe, even play on the streets without the fear of being run over. For most of us, this is a utopia. But the car has become an object of desire and aspiration and for true driving aficionados, the street should always be reclaimed back by the car. But what has such a vicious ambitions led us to. Cities made for cars and only cars, where people give way to the automobile. Many of us can never even imagine a city without cars, or even come to terms to see people occupying central spaces on our streets. This opinion piece by Farhad Mango at the New York Times imagines Manhattan without cars and completely reclaimed by pedestrians and wide sidewalks. This interactive opinion piece places real renderings of New York City without cars and filled with ordinary citizens reclaiming back the public space.  With articulate analysis, Farhad and Practice of Architecture & Urbanism, creatively re-designs the entire New York City without cars. Could this be the future of cities. ? Read more here. 

Image courtesy : New York Times 

WFH FOREVER!

Initially, when the long email from HRs came to our inboxes announcing Work from Home (WFH) was in place, I rejoiced. No more having to iron clothes, spend time on commute, run around and I imagined the perfect work-life harmony did exist... But then, I realized the peril we have gotten into it. A lot of the boundaries you established are now blurred, you are no different than customer service always tethered to a computer and being available 24/7, I realized the efforts of  a lovely lady who cleaned my home everyday the moment I began to clean up and then reluctantly over a period of time, I had to admit the human connection or touch makes a huge part of who we are and the work we do. With WFH becoming a norm for a long time to come, and the many monotonies of video calls and meetings setting in, how do we re-establish the candor and joy in our work life. This interesting article that appeared in Mint today, takes a look at what can be done to break away from the forever WFH thought and to be acclimatized to the new normal. Check out this article by Harish Bhat here.

Image courtesy : GrowWire

Up in the air..again...

With flights and airports resuming operations, a million questions pop up on Reddit asking what are the many precautions to take while traveling, how does it feel to travel at half capacity, or little to no inflight services, how does one proceed from various gates while navigating cautiously amongst a crowd. Some of these questions have well elucidated answers, some also tend to vary on experience. This interesting photo story by Moris Moneo on New York Times captures all the moments from checking in, to security clearance, to boarding and much more. Check this engaging photo story here.

Tell us something to watch...

I heard much about Knives Out last year, (around the time of its release), wherein it was much acclaimed and even celebrated as a closest to an Agatha Christie mystery thriller. Knives Out does live up to its all acclaim and its ensemble cast plays up the notch at every turn. Knives Out is the perfect answer if you are looking for engaging and intriguing experience. 

On other things to watch, imagine living in a spaceship. Far away from earth, packed with all the essential supplies for survival and yet only be able to view the earth through the window or a screen. Does this sound similar to reality? Our lives currently mimic this analogy perfectly in these current times. Exploring this interesting proposition is CGP Grey’s YouTube Vide : Lockdown Productivity: Spaceship You. You can watch it here. 

Tell us something to listen to..

My this week’s listening list is closely similar to the above article on city without cars, but more elegantly and eloquently narrated and explained by none other mentor, teacher and dear friend Dr. Rutul Joshi. Rutul teaches at Faculty of Planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad. While he is widely admired for his brevity in explaining Planning jargons, themes situated around the Just city, Transit Cities and Cities for People etc bring the teacher and storyteller out of Rutul. Rutul has just recorded a brilliant podcast for CRDF’s Urban Planning in India series hosted by the Centre of Architecture & Urbanism ( CAU ). Rutul begins his discourse by asking us to imagine a utopian city and then takes us through the many challenges of India’s Urbanism through the lens of Land Use and Transit integration and why creative use of density can better manage overcrowding in cities and win our public spaces back. Rutul recently admitted in a conversation, this was  a nervous endeavor to record with almost no supervision and had kept him up at night. To be honest, no traces of any kind of nervousness was found in this podcast. This is Rutul Joshi, speaking and teaching Urban Planning 101. You can listen to the podcast here.

For those looking out for a mix of Techno,House, Indian and Lo-fi, Tech Panda & Kenzani could be added to your lounge list for the weekend. Their, “Indian Monsoon” track is the perfect track to reminisce, feel a bit groovy and inspired in these times. Tech Panda and Kenzani stream on all music platforms and you can listen to Indian Monsoon here. 

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Well that’s all from the Weekend Briefs for this weekend. We would like to thank everyone whose looking forward to the Weekend Briefs has given us the vigor to keep on the look out and curate good content. Special thanks to Navnit and Ketaki for their recommendations this weekend. 

Hope you all have a warm, joyful and exciting weekend. Heres to read, rest and relax. 

Happy Weekend!

Signing off,

The Weekend Briefs.

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 26 June 2020

Hello everyone!

Alas, a weekend has arrived in all its pomp and glory but to be met with an avalanche of work. Like how someone recently quipped, “ Should we work on weekends?”, to which a wise man responded, “ Depends. If you have to, you do..” Keeping all the strenuous schedules aside for a moment, here is welcoming the working weekend with open arms and also reminding if you have to chill, you do. 

Image Courtesy : Octavector

First up our reading choices for the weekend :

The Just City Articles

What makes a just city? Its a question urban planners, academicians, sociologists and many others have pondered over the years as cities get built, celebrated and criticized. One of the finest literature available on the ideas of justice, equality ( and a personal favourite ) is The Just City Essays edited by Toni L. Griffin and others. 

The recent Black Lives Matter movement in the United States has put a lot of light on how ideas of equity, justice and opportunity are invariably tainted with ideas of color, gender, race etc. On such a tremendous occasion, with many seeing this moment as a time to reflect on the many blocks of values embedded in a city, The Just City Lab has decided to republish all of its essays for the next 26 weeks. This momentous step is important for urbanists, planners and everyone else to re-look some of these defining principles once again and reflect in the light of the recent happenings. Read up the first essay by Toni L. Griffin titled, “ Defining the Just City Beyond Black and White”. 

“I want a Just City where all people, but especially “the least not,” are included, have equitable and inclusive access to the opportunities and tools that allow them to be productive, to thrive, to excel and advance through the ranks of social and economic mobility.... - Toni L. Griffin ”

Image Courtesy : Design for Just City

We can't afford Therapy... 

Mental health is a serious topic of discussions and many practitioners have reluctantly admitted most of their consultations had to deal with breaking the stigma or taboo associated with therapy. At a time, when the outbreak shows no sign of slowing down, with a lot of jobs under duress, added on responsibilities and the physical isolation from a social world can be stressful to many. On top of that, therapy seems to be an expensive options. In light of these events, NYT contacted four mental wellness professionals who offered simple free advice or as they say it , “ from my couch to yours”. This beautifully illustrated advices speak volumes on how to battle the turmoil and insecurity surrounding us in these tough times. To anyone reading this and going through a difficult time, We feel you, We understand you and this too shall pass :).... You can read the illustrated column here. 

Image Courtesy : New York Times

All right this is good, but tell us something to watch....

“ If you could see your whole life from start to finish, would you change things?....” - Louise Banks

For a second, think back to the first time you learned a new word in a language. How did the new knowledge feel and if you know your mother tongue did the new word have an altered meaning to everything else. Or did it not? Language has precisely had a profound effect on our perception of reality and this has been debated to areas around philosophy, cognitive sciences etc. 

Imagine such a proposition where learning a certain language gives a nuanced or even better understanding of your reality and time? Arrival ( 2016 ) debates with many contours of such a topic and the layer of sci-fi thriller gives a eerie atmosphere to this movie. Arrival directed by the acclaimed Denis Villeneuve is a mind bending tale dealing with ideas of time, linguistics and layered with beautiful shots and numbing soundtrack. Watch Arrival ( streaming on Netflix ) if you want to debate and think about the many mysteries of time and language. I regret that I came to much late about this gem of a movie and to know Vileneuve ( a favorite ) was at its helm. 

Image Courtesy : SG_Posters 

Tell us something to listen to....

John Legend. The legend is back with his latest album, Bigger Love ( released 2020 ) with a groovy track featuring Jhene Aiko, “ U Move, I Move.” May this track set a mood to your weekend. And the lovely album art.  Bigger Love is available for streaming and download on all major music platforms. 

....and for fans of the piano who would like a more intimate, personal and relaxed tone for the weekend, here is the Piano Chill playlists on Apple Music and Spotify. 

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Well that's all from us today. Hope you have a good time working, relaxing, cooking and eating the best this weekend. 

Thanks to everyone who have recommended many things over the week and has supported this endeavor. We are open to newer and fresher suggestions. Please feel free to write to us. 

See you all next week!

Signing off,!

The Weekend Briefs. 

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 19 June 2020

Hey Everyone!

The weekend is here again, bringing us all the much needed breathing space and relief. With our jobs taking a majority of our time, the constant need to be glued to our screens, and managing the many little things that make our home, the weekend is a perfect medicine to soothe our nerves. 

P.S : For all those feeling a little let down this week, please follow Recipes for Self Love’s Instagram Page. 

Image courtesy : Recipes for Self Love @ Instagram

All right, as usual what do we have for you to read this weekend....

Dreams. Dreams. Dreams.

What do you dream these days? What shapes or forms does your dreams take in these COVID times and do you make an effort to interpret them? or do you remember thedetails from your dreams. New York Times recently asked their readers what did they all dream in 2020? How scary, thrilling, moody or happy were there dreams. ? NYT has curated 20 such dreams from their readers and presented them as an interactive, dopey webpage. Some of my favorites were taking care of baby fishes, Armenian revolutions, Social Distancing etc. Take a look at this well curated, beautiful page on dreams. Don't forget to also check out the comments section for even spookier ones. 

Speaking on dreams, an interesting conversation with dear friend and visual artist Debasish Borah led us to talking about one of his most beautiful works called I Dream of Smoking in Toba Tek Singh. Toba Tek Singh is a satirical short short story by Sadat Hassan Manto capturing the chaos around the India- Pakistan Partition Period. Deba’s zine ( he makes extremely good ones ) is a satirical take on many of those issues we debate over and over. As his website describes, “ The zine questions the ideas of nation and nationalism, leaders, and partition of countries through objects, letters, photographs and documents found and created around stories of separation.”  While you are checking out Toba Tek Singh, also check out for this beautiful book called The Lonely Cloud.

Image Courtesy : Far Side Collective ( FAR ) 

People at work

This week during one of our morning briefs , a colleague mentioned however informal our meeting sessions are, its always on an official mode. Earlier when things were normal aka Before CoVID (B.C.) , we could walk into our offices, meet people on our way, breakout for a chai/coffee break, have lunches together and discuss many things apart from work. With the new normal, how much ever we try to replicate the ‘virtual office’ on our screens and platforms, we miss the people at work. Acclaimed author and columnist Manu S. Pillai, captures this missing feeling in his regular column at Mint. He mentions, we all enjoyed the relative emptiness, the joys of being at home during work and adjusting to a life void of hustle, crowd and chaos. However, now we miss the coffee and cigarette breaks, the excited debate on the country’s state of affairs and the simple face to face Good Mornings. As my colleague and dear friend Giby remarked, “ No matter how hard you try da...virtual is virtual, and people are people...”. You can read Manu S. Pillai’s article here. 

Video Calls

When was the first time you video-called someone? I distinctly remember my first video call when the 3G network allowed for such a thing to happen. I was more excited by how the then-latest cellular technology enabled you to see someone regardless of how far or oceans apart. This was 2010, I believed we were at the cusp of a revolutionary communication method. Goodbye Voice calls, Hello Video Calling! 

And then what happened? I never video-called anybody on a regular basis. Our phones and technologies improved over the decade and I still called people through voice calls. On occasions I would call someone over video and most times I used to dread picking up video calls because of infinite reasons. These two articles at NYT and Mint capture the same dread I experienced about video calls. However with the our lives being confined to our homes and with our eagerness to see others, Video Call has come back from the dead. Timezones can now be managed, appearances don't matter and most of all, you share an intimate, joyful moment in the lives on the other side. Video calls have been a life saver to meet my parents who live on the other side. And in the past decade I can count the number of times I have video called them. Now, 2330 hrs IST everyday is dedicated video calling time. ! You can read both the articles here and here. 

Image Courtesy : The New Yorker 

There is so much to read, tell us something to watch...

For the past two weeks, ever since I began writing for The Weekend Briefs, Thadi and Ammu ( my lovable children of ages 30 and 21 ) have been suggesting I watch a movie that goes by name,  Call me by your Name (2017).

Image Courtesy : Wikipedia 

And after much hesitation, I sat down to watch this yesterday. If there is a movie which dwells on silences, serene, tranquil moments of love it is this one. The movie is shot on 35mm film format, and is a visual treat to your eyes. More than everything, the storytelling is profound, nuanced and presented in a manner tugging on the viewer’s mind. My mind is still stuck in the beautiful Italian landscapes, the cycling rides of Oliver and Elio, the laidback weekend feels and the many frames that speak volumes to the viewer. If you are on the look out for a heart warming story of love, loss and a bit of melancholy, Call Me By Your Name is the perfect choice. 

Bonus : Please Please re-watch the last sequences with much earnest. I have never seen wiser, kinder monologues that reminds me of the many monologues of Robin Williams. 

Tell us something to listen to...

I have been listening to two brilliant soundtracks this past week while working. I was in double mind, because one soundtrack speaks of duty, honor, regales while the other speaks about love and melancholy. It was difficult for me to finally choose one, and I have decided to share both. 

The first, is The Crown ( streaming on Netflix ) original soundtrack composed by Rupert Gregson Williams with the main soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer. I would recommend a binge listen to the main theme and Duck Shoot. You can stream  the complete soundtracks on Spotify , Apple Music or Youtube. 

Image Courtesy : Netflix 

My second selection for this weekend is Sufjan Stevens, “ Vision of Gideon” and “Mystery of Love” from the Original Soundtrack of Call me by your Name. This breezy soundtrack should make most of your weekend and recommends many repeats. 

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Well that’s all from The Weekend Briefs for this weekend. Thank you to Debasish for sharing his work, Prasanth and Ammu for recommendations and all others for sharing our briefs on social media. 

Hope everyone has a refreshing weekend ! Eat, Read, Love and be Merry this weekend and fight the Monday Blues. 

See you all next week!

Signing off, 

The Weekend Briefs!

In Memoriam : Sushant Singh Rajput & Sachy. 

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 12 June 2020

Hey Everyone!

The ever beautiful, joy-fulfilling, ephemeral weekend is back. With a lot of cities and countries opening up post COVID-19 lockdowns, the world looks to get back on track and adopt several norms of the new normal. For few of us still working from home, this is a slight relief as service resumes. 

Meanwhile, Ahmedabad and many parts of the country has its first share of monsoon rains. The rains have cooled cities down, brought more cosiness and calmness from the raging heat. If it rains this weekend, I am stirring a nice cup of coffee and putting on some Prateek Kuhad for company. 

Image courtesy : Prateek Kuhad

Moving onto the reading list for this weekend!

Obama’s Commencement Address

There is something eloquent and inspiring when Obama speaks and imagine when he does provides dollops of wisdom to a graduating class watching it live from their homes, distant from the usual fun and frolic of a graduation day. This address comes at a time, when the world is grieving and cowering in fear of a pandemic, panicking over job losses and anger over hate and injustice meted out to a community. Obama glides over all this while asking the young of today to not lose hope and change has happened because young people dared to hope. Read this beautiful piece of advice here.

and never forgetting the ever graceful, ambitious, and fiery Michelle Obama’s advice to the class of 2020. 

Bonus points : 

Image Courtesy : Gillian Goerz for New York Times

NYT has covered Advice to Class of 2020 from a wide variety of public personalities such as Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Billy Porter etc and illustrated some of their advice. You can read it here. 

Diary of a Wuhan Lockdown Survivor 

With the world opening and waking up to newer realities, it’s very interesting to hear several narratives emerge from wide areas around the world. Fang Fang, documented her narratives from Wuhan and her widely acclaimed blog posts is now being published as full fledged book. Now why is this interesting? Live Mint captures the intensity and determination of Fang’s truthful account from China, where such open truthful accounts isn't tolerated. Read up on this interesting piece covered at LiveMint with a few excerpts from the book.

To create something big

Ryan Holiday’s writing has inspired me on my detours on Medium. His blog, Forge on Medium speaks with Zen like clarity and Stoic wisdom. In a recent article he has written, he speaks about the many little or few things we achieve that go unnoticed in our moments of hurry to be extremely productive. However, we often forget its the many little practices or the simple act of showing up and deciding to do one simple task correctly, with much mindfulness is what eventually counts in the longer run. Ever wanted to write a book? Ryan says and to quote Hemmingway, “ Produce two crappy pages at least...” Read on more here from Ryan Holiday.

Tell us something to watch

Image Courtesy : Netflix/ Wikipedia

Every time someone speak about Michael Jordan (MJ), there is an awe attached to his persona. Even if you are not an NBA fan, most likely you must have heard of His Airness. However, what most people don't know is what makes MJ special.? Is it his innate ability to carry the game on his shoulders? Is it true, MJ works on Sundays too? Well, Last Dance ( currently streaming on Netflix ) is the perfect answer to everything on MJ. Last Dance captures the tension and drama behind Chicago Bulls last season where MJ along with this trusted accomplices Scotty Pipen, Dennis Rodman (and many others) bring home the ultimate glory for the Bulls ( and MJ’s ) final season. 

A good watch for those interested in knowing the psyche of MJ, how teams operate with a superstar and not for a superstar. :)

Netflix and Amazon Prime has taken the lead up in bringing many delayed releases to their platforms. In these lockdown times with the big screens and the popcorns not opening up anytime soon, these platforms are not letting the viewer down. Next on our list of things to watch are two releases, Choked (streaming on Netflix , released on June 5 ) and Gulabo Sitabo ( streaming on Amazon Prime, released on June 12 ). 

Choked directed by Anurag Kashyap is a black comedy on the demonetization narrative. Its hugely refreshing to see Kashyap pick up this genre after a very long time and draws a fine line without divulging into a ramble of critiquing the demonetization move. Watch out for excellent performances of Saiyami Kher, Roshan Mathew and the ensemble cast who keep up the pace of the movie. Sylvester Fonseca tight shots and seamless camerawork will remind people of long tracking shots seen in Birdman. 

Image Courtesy : Indian Express / Netflix 

Tell us something to listen to..

My dear friend Akash Parmar ( fondly known as Parmarjee) has been resourceful at the last moment to send me an interesting video blog/podcast  which he has urged me to exploit to the last bit. Being cinebuffs for as long as we can remember, he has recommended everybody subscribe to Nerdwriter1 on YouTube. Nerdwriter is a series of video essays putting ideas to work as he writes on his official YouTube page. However what Akash has recommended and what has captured by attention is an interesting video essay piece on the montage sequence of the critically acclaimed, Oscar winning Parasite. The video essay captures the many nuances in camera work, editing sequence, music and many Easter eggs in the movie. Please watch and check out more of Nerdwriter1′s content. 

Image courtesy : The Nerdwriter

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Well that’s all from the Weekend Briefs for this weekend. We would like to thank all those who have recommended us readings, podcasts and in general been extremely supportive to take this forward. Special thanks to Akash Parmar for his recommendation, Shreesha for the research on articles. 

Hope you all have a killer weekend. At the time of going to print, rains have come to my doorstep. 

Happy Weekend!

Signing off, 

The Weekend Briefs. 

[theweekendbriefs]

Weekend Briefs - 05 June 2020

Hello Everyone!

What a week has this been. We had cyclone Nisarga hitting and skidding off the Island City of Bombay, protests erupting all across the US over George Floyd’s death ( at the hands of a system ), SpaceX + NASA off to space, an elephant falling prey to a trap bomb, and all the frenzy filled up on our screens and feeds. Looks like COVID-19 is defining our new normals constantly.  Amidst all this, the week has just flown and its Friday once again, The Weekend is already on our doorsteps. 

There is so much special love for The Weekend. We all are looking forward to some relaxing , reflecting, eating well ( and full ) and gearing up for the next week. Without much ado, here is the Weekend Briefs for 05 June 2020. 

Image courtesy : mixit.co

First up on what to read :

Kindness is our sure shot of hope...post COVID-19

Source : Getty Images / Thinkstock / Indian Express

Shelja Sen writes about why practicing kindness in these times of uncertainty is our survival drug. Her article focuses on the many things we could do during this time and her take on ‘Playfulness Quotient’ (PG) is a beautiful take on how to break the monotony and uncertainty of life during these times

This article was published on the Sunday Eye, Indian Express. You can read the article here.

Online Teaching

Yes, we are all gearing up towards an online semester and more than a response to the pandemic it's a pedagogical challenge. What and how will be teach online is one question on minds of educators, teachers, university administrators and of course students involved in all kinds of streams. The more probing question at the heart of the conversation is, How effective or special is online teaching compared to face to face learning?

LeighAHall writes on these exact questions in this article published at Medium.

Last one on the reading list for the weekend.

“Bangalore, what a rocking city yaar...”, when Aju ( played by the ever charming Dulquer Salman ) in Bangalore Days ( 2015, Malayalam, Available for streaming on Disney+Hotstar ) our imagination goes sky high with him. Termed as India’s Silicon Valley, Bangalore has been a hot shot destination for those who looking to work in the IT industry. However, there exists a sharp contrast and EPW’s Engage explores these contrasting images around the Outer Ring Road-Bellandur region. This interesting photo essay shows a tale of two cities, one shaped by the another. You can read the article here.

P.S Check out EPW’s Engage for interesting articles on Democracy, Gender, Power and much more. 

Enough of reading! Tell us something to watch!

What makes the best teams in the world? Cooperation? The strive to success? The ability to reflect and learn from failures? Well the answer is a mixed bag and who better to answer it than the battered yet resurgent Australian Cricket Team. The Test : A New Era for the Australian Cricket Team ( 2020, English, Available for streaming on Amazon Prime ) explores the psyche, camaraderie, bitterness of the new Australian Team after the famous Sandpapergate controversy. Under the aegis of Justin Langer and new leadership icons the team undergoes a tumultuous transformation captured up and close.

Image Source : Amazon Prime Video

Recommended watching for a bunch of people going to work as a team very soon :)

Fans of The Office, you are in for a treat as Steve Carell’s latest outing “ Space Force” has just debuted on Netflix. Who knows better to tickle the funny bone than Steve Carell? 

Image Source : The Verge

What do you think we should listen to?

Our dear friend Navnit, after constant prodding has agreed to curate podcasts for this page. He suggested all heavy lifting podcasts dealing with  Freak-o-Economics to India- Pak conflict. Finally, after much debate, we settled onto 20,000 Hertz.  

20k Hz talks about stories behind the worlds most recognisable voices, from Siri to Alexa to the many voices that fill our daily life. 

Listen to the first episode on Siri, featuring the original voice of Siri, Susan Bennet.

and for fans of Lo-Fi playlists to work, study, relax over the weekend here is an excellent 2-hour playlist, “ Looking at the Sky ”  to lift your mood.

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Well that's all for this weekend. Hope you all have a killer best of the time on Saturday and Sunday. 

The Weekend Briefs would like to thank Shreesha for her quick research for articles to read and Navnit for the playlist suggestion. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to write to us. 

Thanks all! Happy Weekend. 

Signing off, 

The Weekend Briefs.