Meet Kyra, Naina and Zara, the new AI influencers who even get hit on
Whether it’s taking part in pageants, chatting up celebs or becoming the face of brands, India’s rising tribe of AI models is disrupting the influencer industry
My Story
Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Mumbai | Chevening SAJP Fellow | Formerly with The Telegraph, Calcutta
Couldn’t believe what the newspapers said and so I became a journalist! It's been 16 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!
Long live longevity! Why everyone is trying to turn the clock back
A greying world has meant a new focus on living longer and healthier. A look at how science and money are coming together in the quest for immortality
Gen Z teens ‘coming out’ younger with stronger family & peer support
For many queer individuals in India, the social pressure of ‘coming out’ — a metaphor used by LGBTQ+ persons to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to friends and family — is already daunting. But teenagers opening up to parents is a growing phenomenon of adolescents bravely owning their identities as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender while still a middle grader. What is remarkable is how families and schools are stepping up to guide them through this phase and find acceptance in ways that were once unthinkable.
The bitter truth of quickie gate-cane weddings in Marathwada's sugar belt
Despite efforts by village authorities to crack down on child marriages by roping in priests, tent owners, music bands, decorators, caterers and card printers, these impromptu gate-cane weddings — stripped of all wedding festivities — remain difficult to detect or prevent.
A river of forgotten promises lies buried in Mumbai’s poll noise
As a sudden dust storm swept through the city, followed by rain, bringing both relief from sun-parched days and havoc to the homes lining the banks of the Mithi River, it was a grim prelude to the impending monsoon season for families settled along the brackish river’s edge. Two decades on, not much has changed, say its residents. As monsoon clouds gather, it’s a familiar scene every year.
Even after a year on Ozempic and 20 kg lighter, I am still really conflicted about it
The protagonist of British-Swiss author Johann Hari’s recently released book ‘Magic Pill’ is Ozempic — the diabetes medication-turned-weight-loss marvel that helped him go from 92 kilos to 73 in a year. Yet, as 44-year-old Hari globe-trotted from Tokyo to Iceland, conversing with its makers, experts, and fellow users, he was left pondering if this hunger-slasher was indeed the answer to his lifelong struggles with food, weight, and body image. Hari talks about the promises and perils of Ozempic
Is stethoscope losing its pulse or docs their ear for the beat?
For over 200 years doctors have leaned on this trusty medical tool to poke, prod, listen and draw accurate inferences about what ails the patient. Until technology changed it. With echocardiograms and nifty pocket-sized ultrasound devices elbowing their way into the diagnostic arena, a recent conference on AI and healthcare at Bombay Hospital in Marine Lines, became the stage for doctors to deliberate the fate of this iconic medical relic—the stethoscope and whether the revered art of “auscultation”— the act of detecting maladies from listening to sounds from the heart, lungs or other organs—might actually follow the path of the doctor’s head mirror and fade away.
Koliwadas say low catch, soaring diesel prices are factors in poll
Vast Koli settlements in Andheri Versova, Khar Danda, Worli, Madh, Colaba, Vasai and Satpati face common concerns. Educated young men and women are leaving the occupation. Fishing is a diminishing trade thanks to the high cost of diesel used to fuel boats. The catch is vastly depleted owing to polluted waters and overfishing, the use of purse seine nets and LED lights. Infrastructure projects like the Coastal Road have driven another nail to the coffin of their dying trade, they say. The Kolis uniformly feel that govts do not consult them or take them into confidence over issues that put their livelihood at stake.
Politicians' vocal cords suffer silently as poll campaign picks up
As we brace for the impending political showdown with candidates giving it their vocal all, spare a thought for the unsung hero — the voice box — that often bears the brunt of their campaign rhetoric.
Talk like a woman: Surgery helps trans women find their voices
Those who struggle with their old, ‘male’ voices now have the option of completing their transition as voice feminisation procedures become more accessible in metros
Groom riding on a horse? That’s so yesterday. Car-copters latest craze in UP, Bihar shaadis
Jugaad choppers fashioned out of humble hatchbacks have become a flourishing business, thanks to dulhas who want to make a grand entry
Bonded Labour in Maharashtra’s Sugarcane Belt: A Bitter Reality
Greedy contractors shackle vulnerable tribals with promises of a proper house or salary advances. It could lead to generations of bonded labour.
Urdu is an inherently Indian language. I’m not worried about its future: Gulzar
What questions do you pose to a man whose legacy spans eight decades? But Gulzar has a way of holding forth when we meet him at his Pali Hill bungalow. Dressed in his signature white kurta-pyjamas, the 89-year-old, who has just been named recipient of the 58th Jnanpith Award, spoke about how languages adapt and endure
Met Museum Head Talks Art of Repatriation and Relevance
It’s not easy running one of the world’s largest museums with more than 1.5 million works spanning 5,000 years. And certainly not easy amidst heightened scrutiny over looted objects and mounting pressure for repatriation. Max Hollein—who took charge of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), New York as director in 2018 and CEO last July—knows this all too well. Fresh from signing an MoU with India’s Ministry of Culture and ahead of delivering a lecture at the CSMVS, Hollein remained composed as he sat down for a chat about policing its art and artefacts with a problematic past, recent restitutions and keeping the museum relevant in an age of sensory overload.
Breaking Barriers: Female Blues Musicians Challenge the Status Quo
It’s a curious time for female musicians. This year’s Grammys saw singer-songwriters like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Miley Cyrus soar, legends like Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell reclaim their spotlight and four out of five contemporary blues nominees led by women. Yet, the shadow of old sexism lingers. “Women still continue to fight harder than guys for airtime and stage presence… the real turning point is yet to come,” echoed the stars of the all-female lineup at this year’s edition of the Mahindra Blues Festival — Sheryl Youngblood, Dana Fuchs, Samantha Fish and Vanessa Collier in a candid chat with TOI...
Filmmakers versus critics: How ‘Animal’ brought out the claws
Unkind reviews are not new, even ‘Sholay’ was skewered. But, are critics harsher now or directors more thin-skinned? A look at how film criticism is changing in the digital age
Why affluent Indians are turning to the grey market for miracle jabs that make kilos disappear
Affluent Indians are turning to the grey market to get their hands on the so-called miracle jabs that make kilos disappear into thin air
Why India is still waiting for its first face transplant
Three hospitals get licences, but the surgery that could offer hope to acid attack survivors and burn victims is facing several roadblocks
Community-led study sheds light on urgent toilet needs of nomadic homes
In the sprawling Circus Ground in Ambernath, Pooja Ingole and her family navigate life in a tent community, home to 530 families for close to three decades, their homes held up by bamboo poles or asbestos sheets that barely shield them from the realities they endure.
Jamtara loses crown as new remote districts rewrite India’s cybercrime map
Move over Jamtara , there’s a new cyber playground in town. The once-notorious hub for online mischief in Jharkhand no longer reigns as India’s cybercrime epicentre. Emerging from the shadows are fresh contenders—districts like Bharatpur , Mathura, Nuh , Deogarh , Gurgaon, Alwar , Bokaro, Karma Tand, and Giridih—that have claimed the spotlight and are collectively responsible for 80% of reported cybercrimes across country.
Meet city's Banksy: Phantom street artist tackling social ills, wall by wall
Tyler, a guerrilla street artist from Mumbai, has been gaining attention for his thought-provoking and socially scathing art. Dubbed as Mumbai's Banksy, Tyler's works fuse graffiti with stenciling and often address issues such as surveillance, corruption, and communal politics.
Meet the farmers who are raising India’s craft chocolate game
Artisanal bean-to-bar brands such as Manam, Huraco and Soklet are helping forge a connection between consumers and cultivators
How Manipur's trans footballers are coaching kids stuck in relief camps
In 2020, Manipur witnessed the emergence of India's first all-trans football team 'Ya.All' - meaning 'you all' in English, 'revolution' in Manipuri and 'inclusive revolution' when combined. Currently, this team is on a new mission - coaching children stranded in Manipur's relief camps in the midst of an ethnic conflict that has plunged the state into civil unrest since May.
The hairy story behind India’s ‘black gold’ exports
It’s an overcast Monday morning in a low-income housing colony in Bengaluru’s Kamala Nagar. Malleesh, 21, Parasuram, 21, and Ravi , 24, are on a peculiar quest. Swinging a large sack slung over one shoulder while balancing a hefty net, crammed with aluminium vessels, they make their way through the neighbourhood, hollering ‘Kudalu patre kasu’ (vessels for hair), a boisterous call in hot pursuit of something valuable to them: balls of fallen human hair.
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