For decades, Bollywood occupied an uncontested cultural centre in India. It dictated aesthetics, aspirations, language, and even emotional expression. To watch Hindi cinema was to participate in a shared national imagination. Yet today, that centre no longer holds. Regional films and series—across Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, and other languages—are not merely competing with Bollywood; they are quietly outgrowing it. This shift is not accidental. It signals a deeper cultural fatigue with sameness and a growing hunger for authenticity. The Repetition Problem Bollywood’s exhaustion is not about talent shortages or lack of resources. It is about repetition—of stories, faces,…
Author: Pradnya Oak
India is searching for calm.Meditation techniques, therapy apps, breathing exercises, dopamine detoxes, journaling prompts—our search histories are saturated with the language of wellness. On the surface, this signals progress: a society finally willing to talk about mental health. But beneath this apparent awareness lies a more troubling question—are we seeking healing, or merely an escape? A Nation That Is Tired The surge in mental health–related searches does not exist in a vacuum. It coincides with long work hours, shrinking job security, competitive education systems, rising living costs, and the constant pressure to perform—academically, professionally, socially, digitally. Burnout has become normalized,…
Scroll through Indian search trends or content platforms today, and one phrase appears with relentless frequency: side hustle. From freelancing and content creation to passive income and online businesses, the idea of earning “extra” has become not just aspirational, but necessary. Beneath the motivational reels and success stories, however, lies a quieter truth—India’s side hustle obsession is driven less by ambition and more by anxiety. When One Salary Is No Longer Enough For India’s expanding middle class, financial stability has become increasingly fragile. Rising living costs, stagnant wages, student loans, medical expenses, and housing pressures have turned the promise of…
In India, cricket functions as far more than a sport. It shapes conversations, controls public attention, and creates moments of rare collective emotion. Whenever a major match begins, streets empty, screens light up, and everyday disagreements temporarily fade. As a result, cricket often appears to unite a deeply fragmented nation. However, this extraordinary unifying power also raises an important question: does cricket bring people together—or does it quietly distract them from more urgent realities? How Cricket Became a National Faith To understand cricket’s influence, one must first acknowledge its history. Introduced during colonial rule and later reclaimed as a symbol…
“Cafés near me.”“Clinics near me.”“People near me.” The rise of “near me” searches is often framed as a triumph of convenience—technology finally aligning itself with our immediate needs. But beneath this hyper-local precision lies a quieter, more unsettling reality: the growing loneliness of urban India. Hyper-Connectivity, Fragile Community Indian cities have never been more connected. Apps tell us where to eat, whom to consult, how to commute, and even how to socialize. Yet this constant search for what is “near” paradoxically reveals how distant people have become from one another. What earlier generations found through neighborhoods, word-of-mouth, and community networks…
In India, competitive exams are not merely assessments of knowledge. They are rites of passage, social filters, and—often—quiet sources of collective trauma. From school-level entrance tests to national examinations that determine careers, mobility, and dignity, exams have come to occupy an outsized role in the Indian imagination. They promise meritocracy. What they often deliver is anxiety. An Exam That Decides a Life For millions of students, a single exam carries the weight of years of preparation and familial expectation. Failure is not framed as a momentary setback but as a moral shortcoming—insufficient discipline, inadequate sacrifice, personal inadequacy. Success, meanwhile, is…
Authenticity was once a quiet virtue; something that was supposed to be lived instead of displayed. Now-a-days, it has become a performance, carefully curated to gather traffic online. In the age of influencer culture, being ‘real’ has been distanced from honesty or vulnerability, instead it has moved towards appearing ‘reletable’ in ways that have potential to be monetised. What began as Ordinary people sharing small fragments of their lives with the world on social media has now evolved into a highly professionalised industry. The ‘Influencer’ does not merely exist online but they perform their existence. Every supposed candid moment is…
The idea of working from anywhere has been sold as a modern dream. A laptop by a mountain window. Emails answered from a café in a quiet hill town. Productivity wrapped in freedom, autonomy, and choice. For many Indians scrolling through job portals and lifestyle reels, remote work appears as an escape—from traffic, rigid offices, and the exhausting architecture of urban life. But beneath this seductive promise lies a quieter truth: work from anywhere often means work all the time. Freedom Without Boundaries Remote work dismantles physical offices, but it rarely dismantles expectations. In fact, it often amplifies them. When…
AI has seeped into nearly every aspect of our lives. In this article we will be discussing its nature, essentially: AI: a boon or threat.
Is traditional education failing modern students? This editorial explores outdated curricula, skill gaps, and mental health impacts, urging reform.