India Explained

Our latest on India Explained examines farmer suicides, the government's response, and media coverage of the same

An analysis of a classic Indian advertisement from 80s India: Dabur Lal Dantmanjan or toothpowder

We analyze an old classic from the annals of Indian advertising: the Pan Paraag advertisement with Ashok Kumar and Shammi Kapoor

We discuss the Indian army's act of tying a man to a jeep as a human shield to protect itself from stone pelting, and the subsequent fallout and reactions to the action

We speculate on the real intentions behind the Indian government's decision to ban red beacons from all official cars

This week, as an Easter special, we inaugurate a series of specials on Indian advertisements. We deconstruct a much-loved 1990s Indian advertisement, "Swaad Zindagi Ka" for Cadbury's chocolates

This week's stories, and media coverage thereof, discussed: the Indian ban on liquor 500 meters from a highway and the ingenious ways Indians are circumventing it; the BJP's Tarun Vijay says Indians can't be racist because they live with 'black' South Indians; and the IPL's opening ceremony or rather 8 opening ceremonies

Bunty and Rohit discuss the phenomenon of the IPL, the Indian Premier League, cricket's attempt to emulate an American basketball and baseball league, cheerleaders and all

Story 2 of Episode 4 addresses the controversy over BJP politician Tarun Vijay's remark that Indians can't be racist because they live with black Indians from the South

Story 1 of Episode 4 on the new Indian Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the sale of liquor 500 meters from a state or national highway, and the creative ways in which Indians are working around this.