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Who gives a shit to Jeremy Clarkson’s crap?
VIKRAM MUTHANNA writes: Recently Jeremy Clarkson, that giant of a man, the patronising British ‘chap’ who presents Topgear, a show about cars on BBC Entertainment, did a show in India …
CHURUMURI POLL: Bangalore, best city to live in?
One man’s paayasa is another’s poison. While Bangaloreans, especially the lucky “locals” living in the holy triangle of Malleshwaram, Basavanagudi and Indiranagar, crib and complain at what has become to …
What Sonia Gandhi’s illness reveals about media
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, scooped by Indian Express photographer Anil Sharma, as she leaves her daughter’s residence in New Delhi on 14 September 2011. Nothing has exposed the hollowness of …
CHURUMURI POLL: Does World Cup excite you?
The newspapers are running columns and pages of it. The news channels are devoting tens of minutes (and millions of rupees) to assemble the stars. The corporates are unleashing their …
3 minutes 22 seconds on the coming skirt rivalry
Author-columnist Anand Giridharadas, the former Bombay correspondent of the International Herald Tribune, on the wedding of the year (so far). Soutik Biswas/ BBC: A cross-border marriage stripped of romance CHURUMURI …
Has Twitter found Mark Tully character assassin?
SHARANYA KANVILKAR writes from Bombay: Can a nearly spotless journalistic career of 45 years—30 of those for one of the most trusted broadcasters in the world—be tainted, tarbrushed and tarnished …
Because P. Chidambaram is an honourable man
Today, 8 March 2010—94 years and 6 months after he was born in Pandharpur, a Marathi manoos gave up the citizenship of his motherland, by returning his passport in Doha. …
‘Masth maja maadi for I am a WorldSpace widow’
RAMYA KRISHNAMURTHY writes from Bangalore: Dozens of fine people decided to take leave of our company in 2009: Gangubai Hanagal and D.K. Pattammal, Gayatri Devi and Leela Naidu, Tyeb Mehta …
If you can have nine, why can’t we have two?
Soutik Biswas of the BBC: “You have to visit the Telangana region to see how different it is from the rest of the state although people share the same language. …
Everybody loves a good car, not a good filter
The announcement of the launch of Tata Nano, the small car produced by the Tatas, saw the media falling over itself heralding the arrival of the “People’s Car”. The fact …
How a shutterbug with a stethoscope shot this
Bangalore-based Ajit K. Huilgol’s photograph titled ‘Leopard Descending,’ which shows a leopard climbing down a tree, has been declared runner-up in the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition …
Amitabh Bachchan hurls ‘sting’ bomb on Diwali
The BBC’s “star of the millennium”, Amitabh Bachchan, has always had a hate-hate relationship with the media, except when he has had to love it to push a product or …
Feng Shui and the lost art of cricket commentary
The return of the Ashes means the return of Test Match Special, the BBC’s informed but irreverent commentary team of “Aggers“, “Blowers” & Co, that leaves you wondering about Mandira …
The difference between India and China is this
No media debate on Asia is complete without comparing India to China, or vice-versa. Even among middle-class media consumers, there is a barely disguised contempt for the slow pace of …
A moment of pride for a brilliant son of Mysore
churumuri.com is delighted to join in the celebrations at noted wildlife biologist M.D. Madhusudan bagging the prestigious Whitley Award also known as the “Green Oscar”, in recognition of his efforts …
It happens in Incredible India i.e. Amulya Bharat
Amarnath Tewary on the BBC website: “A Dutch couple visiting India’s Bihar state, were charged an astronomical 10,000 rupees ($204) for four samosas, the spicy potato-stuffed snack. They paid the …
‘If you have a nice home and a Toyota Corolla…’
Chetan Bhagat, best-selling author of One night @ the call centre and The 3 mistakes of my life, on BBC: “Money can’t buy everything—it can buy India a lot. “Imagine …
Who decides what we should/ shouldn’t watch?
News has not been in short supply in the global village in the satellite age. There are the “Indian” English news channels: NDTV 24×7, CNN-IBN, Times Now, Headlines Today. And …
The chicken has come home to go woost
The BBC has an excellent special report on the growing crisis of food prices. In one story, it returns to six families to see if their eating habits have changed …
But can an IT expert pass off as a taxi driver?
VADIRAJ HOMBAL forwards a hilarious YouTube video of a BBC studio discussion in which presenter Karen Bowerman interviews a taxi driver mistaking him to be a computer expert. The man …
‘Nationalism has replaced cricket journalism’
India’s best-known sports writer, now a happy resident of Australia, has torn into the output of cricket correspondents covering the ill-tempered series down under. Rohit Brijnath, formerly of Sportsworld and …
‘BCCI is a body determined to kill cricket’
Nick Bryant of the BBC: “If you start paying football-style salaries, then it isn’t long, I suppose, before you get football-style behaviour. If you start hyping cricket tournaments with the …
God moves in mysterious ways for a 3-year-old
While media mavens feverishly debate whether journalists should abandon their professional duties and lend a hand in moments of crisis, a three-year-old Afghan girl born with a deadly skin disorder …
Are women less corruptible than men?
YOGESH DEVARAJ in San Jose, California, draws attention to a November 2007 story by Soutik Biswas on the BBC website about women in the Banda area of Uttar Pradesh wearing …
Indians favour stability over press freedom: BBC
Hard to believe but it’s true. “Although Indians are not strong advocates of media freedom and are generally satisfied with the accuracy of news reporting in their country, they are …