Hackie Chan @hackiechan@mastodon.social

Okay #India #introduction again.
I toot life observations channeling #philosophy, #creativity, #psychology and #humor.
Everything is fair game, from 4th seat domineering aunty on the local train to chest-thumping uncles running political parties.
I studied at a bunch of 'premier institutions' when I was younger (those coveted 3 letter ones). I've worked on a range of issues, from Wall Street to water and sanitation in Bihar/ UP.
Follow me if you'd like to be entertained, provoked and amused.

How rich are you?
"I have a comfortable bank balance" rich?
"I bought a house and car and paid off the EMIs" rich?
"I've never had to take a loan" rich?
"My father owns acres of land in Gurgaon and 5 SUVs" rich?
"I can afford a 4bhk in South bombay" rich?
OR

"I don't understand Parasite" rich?

There is no higher love
No deeper romance
No greater loyalty
More beautiful and eternal
Than that held
By a Bhakt
For his shining lotus Goddess.
#valentines2020

I feel neither hopeful nor hopeless about the future.

I live in unending curiosity.
I'm a child listening to the universe as it tells me a bedtime story, eyes wide open in wonder, periodically chiming "Ooooo! So what happens next?"

If you've ever experienced oppression, remember not the religion, community or gender of your oppressor.
Remember the nature of oppression itself, and how it feeds on whoever lacks power in a given situation.
That very nature of oppression is what you've been asked to fight.

Climate change and the global rise of the far right are the best things that could've happened to me.
I quit my job and started writing a book. I began pouring angsty poetry and doing standup comedy, since I figured I'd die by 40 anyway.

Just overheard at a cafe (sorry couldn't help it, said person was too loud):
"Main agle hafte apne baap ka pind daan karane jaa raha hu Haridwar. Woh bhi office se chutti leke. Koi point nahi hai, par mom insist kar rahi hai toh jaana padega.
Mujhse poocho to 100 pind daan karake bhi mere baap ko moksh nahi milne waala, har roz mom ko peet ta tha."
🔥

News channels exploit a fundamental loophole in the our psyche: we evolved to respond to and pass on alarming, scary news faster than neutral or "good" news.
This was our way of protecting the tribe from harm, but now it is the fallacy through which humanity cannibalizes itself.

#RepublicTV's victim blaming tactics and subsequent (un)apology reminds me of perpetrators of sexual and domestic violence.
Of course these tactics will work.
They've been tested and perfected for centuries on women, and now get routinely used on anyone lacking systemic power.
What's happening today is just a page taken from a manual written over time.

Truth is stranger than fiction.
#RepublicTV is a stranger to truth.
Their writers have brilliant imaginations
Which cook up jhoot pe jhoot.

I think all of these airlines have taken an important safety measure by banning Kunal Kamra from flights.
He will destroy the right wing.

#queer folk of #mumbai!

With the Mumbai Pride March now facing the likelihood of getting cancelled, come for this at least.
I'll be hosting. Varun Grover will be speaking. And music shall be our solace.
Book your tickets here: https://www.instamojo.com/GaysiFamily/mumbai-post-pride-party-2020-by-gaysi-family/

Airlines move to protect Arnab from hecklers faster than they move to protect their airhostesses from harassers and molesters.

Mumbai police denies permission for #Queer #pride march this year.

This roughly translates to "we believe any protest space will necessarily become about #CAA_NRC_NPR and we've been told to kill all protest spaces right now. So bear with us, we can't protect your right to assemble for any cause."

Haven't been watching horror movies lately. The news is enough.

This morning, Auto-waale bhaiyya opened the conversation with "JNU me ek choti ladki bhashan di hai, dekhi hai aap? Hum India TV par dekhe. Kitna paisa khilaya hai usko, pata hai?"
"Waise yeh India TV kabhi jhoot nahi Bolta."
Braced myself. He continued ranting.
Soon enough used a slur word for Muslims starting with K.
I squirmed with discomfort and silence (can't imagine what a Muslim person would feel). He noticed it and demanded, "Aap news dekhti hai ki nahi? Hindu hai na madam?"

WTF!