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The Open Door
We must have been on the fifth slide. The presenter stopped mid-sentence with his mouth open and his face white as a sheet. He was staring at me as was everyone else in the room. I wondered if I fell asleep or something. I mumbled a sorry, and asked him to continue, only to find… Continue reading
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The Barber’s Assistant
Once upon a time, in a kingdom that once stood near where you are right now, there lived a king and a queen. The kingdom was small enough for a man on a horse to cross in a week, but large enough to have everything its people needed. To the north and east were mountains… Continue reading
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Who’s Afraid of GenAI?
With OpenAI’s announcement of Sora, it seems as if the conquest is complete: text is done and dusted, images too, and now video. Generative video has been in the works for some time, but with Sora, OpenAI has taken a leap and shown us the possibilities. There is no looking back from here, is there?… Continue reading
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The Billionaires
It’s been fascinating to see the public performances of two uber-rich Indian families in the past few days. A study in contrasts despite the similarities: both families are extremely wealthy in a country that’s lower middle income, both have sold the story of their humble beginnings, both have “self-made” men playing (or have played) a… Continue reading
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Que Sora Sora
There will be lots of commentary on how Sora will change everything. Everything. The movies we watch, the videos we consume, the advertisements we avoid and much more. This is the ChatGPT moment for video. Artificially generated video has been here for some time. You can even call animation artificially generated. Start from Disney’s Steamboat… Continue reading
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Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Superman? No…
Like the good prof who goes by the name Peeleraja once said on twitter (now they call it X or whatever), the best Indian apps are those that efficiently organize the serving classes for the benefit of the monied upper classes (aka “us”). Think of a time before these apps – for ride hailing, food… Continue reading
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Namibia’s Response to Germany’s Hypocrisy at the International Court of Justice #Gaza
Like millions of others, I spent a few hours watching the proceedings of South Africa’s suit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, The Hague. The two initial public hearings took place last week. It was instructive, to say the very least. South Africa was represented by a fine set of lawyers who seemed… Continue reading
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South Africa’s deposition against Israel at the International Court of Justice
Yesterday, 11 January 2024 was a remarkable day. If you were following Israel’s genocide in Gaza, you would have known that South Africa took Israel to court, literally. This video is the entirety of its deposition before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), The Hague, Netherlands. It is a little over three hours long, but… Continue reading
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What That MakeMyTrip Ad Means
Our Overton Window has shifted; if politics, society and culture lead, marketing is bound to follow. There has been much commentary on the MakeMyTrip print ad that graced several newspapers on the day of the India vs Pakistan world cup cricket ODI fixture on 14 October. As you may have observed, the commentariat is divided.… Continue reading
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The Embers
“Would you like some more of the champagne, ma’am?” the waiter asked, shaking her out of her reverie. “Yes, please,” she said. “He will be here in a few minutes.” “No problem,” said the waiter as he topped up her glass. He was already twenty minutes late. It will be ten more by the time… Continue reading