Extra Salty

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure wonder if we have stopped reading actual, physical books these days. Books are certainly being published in large numbers but a majority of our reading seems to happen on phones, computers and tablets. Not only do we get our hobby fixes from podcasts, TV binging and social media scrolling, but important cultural conversations are also happening there. Arguing passionately against this theory is ...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure explore the sleep crisis impacting our entire world. Statistics about bad sleep are through the roof and sleep has become more than a self-help or social justice issue; it is actually a subject of human rights concerns. As we go through our daily life either a little fatigued or sometimes dead tired, the big questions here are how, when and why did everything start going wrong with our collectiv...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure evaluate a year's worth of sports scandals impacting women athletes in India and ask if women in sports matter at all. Women the world over cope with being marginalised in a lucrative sports industry designed for men. In India, it is much worse with issues such as poor coaching and sports facilities, zero or negative media coverage, and offensive gender scrutiny are pervasive. Meanwhile patrioti...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure ask an age-old question about the ways in which we deal with the good, bad and ugly from our past. Humans try their utmost best to cope with the burdens of past relationships, traumas and memories using methods like therapy or engaging with alternative healing through psychics, astrologers, tarot cards and sometimes by attempting to connect with those in the afterlife. Writer of ghost stories Je...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure discuss the supremacy of the English language in South Asia. While there is immense pride in mother tongues and local languages, it is hard to imagine career and business success, literary and cultural currency, and social mobility without fluency in English. Can our polyglot subcontinent ever shake off this colonial domination over our minds and lives? Guest Daisy Rockwell won the International...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure discuss new films and television shows that have decided to tackle casteism and caste violence in India today. Films like Sairat, Article 15, Fandry or shows such as Dahaad have paved the way for mainstream conversations and debates about the pernicious and enduring caste system. While such social justice-oriented productions are indeed a welcome change, they raise important questions about prec...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure ask if Bollywood these days can be seen as mindless entertainment or if it is peddling political agendas. The world’s biggest film industry has seen some massively successful blockbusters sprinkle their plots with allusions to Kashmir, British colonialism, terrorism, geopolitics, espionage and religion all heavily laced with an over the top patriotism. Lyricist, poet and Bollywood insider ...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure tackle South Asia’s new fixation: a busty, blue-eyed, blond doll named Barbie. A recent blockbuster American movie about this famous doll has had South Asians swooning over Barbie and showing up swathed in pink at movie theaters, all the while claiming to be smashing the patriarchy! But this fair and lovely doll was not particularly popular when toy giant Mattel launched her in the region ...

Amrita Ghosh and Bhakti Shringarpure ask what happens when women decide to travel a world that seems explicitly designed for men. Even with privileged passports and upscale arrangements, can a woman ever truly feel safe traveling by herself? And what compromises do women have to make if they choose to be journalists or travel writers? Guest Suchitra Vijayan traveled 9000 miles across India’s vast border for her book Midnight&...