Mohua Das

Mohua Das

Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Mumbai | Formerly with The Telegraph, Calcutta 

Couldn’t believe what the newspapers said and so I became a journalist! It's been 15 years since and what a life-coach it's been as I wake up to it’s power and value, every morning. A good story isn't always about the president or popstar but everyday people and places with compelling tales. Those are the stories I hope to tell... and find the extraordinary in the ordinary!

The Times of India •

How Bachchan’s empathy made KBC a big hit

It has been 22 years since a quiz show beamed into people’s living rooms and managed to touch and turn around lives ever since. If Kaun Banega Crorepati ( KBC ) was a game-changer for Indian television and the average viewer, it also changed the fortunes for its host, Amitabh Bachchan . Former producer-director of KBC Siddhartha Basu recounts Bachchan’s charisma, camaraderie and connect with the common man through 14 seasons of the show...
The Times of India •

Battlefield to boardroom, transition for many veterans is drill of a different kind

In his 20 years of military service, colonel Sabyasachi Rath , 43 has flown helicopters in treacherous terrains including the Siachen Glacier, commanded units along the Northern Borders and clocked in 2500 hours of flying time for the Indian Army. Lately, Rath's survival skills have been put to test over a conflict he did not anticipate when he decided to retire in January, 2023.
The Times of India •

Torrents to Telegram, piracy makes a comeback in OTT era

Ask any teenager from the late 90s and even the most unassuming one will confess to a notorious history of discovering new music and movies through piracy. The noughties arrived with bootleg video libraries and dial-up internet modems. And the new web-straddling generation — mostly ignorant or uncaring of ethical and legal bearings of piracy — were either buying shaky-cam versions of a blockbuster off the streets or downloading entire discographies and films over peerto-peer file-sharing networks. It was only a crackdown on illegal sites and shops and the advent of streaming tech that prompted ex-torrenters to kick their habit. However, piracy is anything but dead.
The Times of India •

Clooneys love it, so does DiCaprio. Now, this goofy sport is winning over Indians

So what if it was a yellow plastic ball with holes that ricocheted off my paddle with a ‘thwack’ before fluttering towards my opponent who smoothly lobbed it over my head. For someone whose last brush with sports was playing dodgeball in school or wielding a mosquito bat in adult life, just tossing a ball across the net with a backhand swing, made for a sufficiently inflated ego and a glorious introduction to pickleball. Pickle what? A sporting craze — best described as a mashup of tennis, badminton and table tennis.
The Times of India •

Why trafficking survivors need more than 'rescue'

There are endless stories of human trafficking rescues — of women, girls and a handful of minor boys from far flung corners of the country sold into brothels, construction sites and even middle class homes — flooding our news feed every day. The world now knows about those caught in the trap of what is referred to as modern day slavery but the stories of struggle after they manage to escape the clutches of their traffickers, remains largely untold.
The Times of India •

How basketball became tool of resilience for wheelchair-bound

A familiar smell of perspiration soaks the air of a cavernous indoor basketball court in Mumbai University 's Kalina campus every weekend. The thud of basketball bouncing off the floor and full throated yells from the players, dominate the arena. It is a typical basketball training session with an occasional blow of the whistle telling them when it's time to switch things around. There's one sound that's different though.
The Times of India •

Schools embrace inclusivity, adopt gender-neutral uniforms, language

No more “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!” at the annual day function at Birla Open Minds International School from now on. The school in Walkeshwar and its 138 branches across the country have decided to do away with its traditional greeting at events and meetings by replacing it with gender-neutral alternatives such as “Dear guests” or “Hello everyone” as a step towards inclusivity.
The Times of India •

When Kal Penn made MILF jokes in the White House, and other funny stories

When Kal Penn, born Kalpen Modi, decided to split his first name and add an extra ‘n’, it wasn’t an actor’s obsession with numerology but a brown person in America taking a subtle jab at Hollywood’s fixation with hokey accents and turbans. “I joke that the ‘n’ stands for ‘not going to play a stereotypical cab driver.” Frank and refreshingly free of movie star airs, the 44-year-old Indian American actor spoke to Mohua Das about some honest and wildly funny stories that have gone into the making of his memoir You Can’t Be Serious
The Times of India •

Plight of city's homeless women that call for attention & action

The rape and murder of a pavement dweller at Sakinaka in September had trained the spotlight on Mumbai’s homeless women. If many wind up on footpaths and under flyovers for lack of shelters and affordable housing, others are fleeing abuse, forsaken by families or mentally ill who lost their way. Mohua Das tracked a day in the life of this invisible lot risking their lives under the open skies
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