The Wordsmith

The 18-year-old cricketer, Prithvi Shaw, with his backfoot punch as the inaugural shot, became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a century in his debut international match at Rajkot. Prithvi Shaw's immense talent at this age has always been praised and welcomed by the Indian cricketing legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. But soon after his maiden test century, he (his sports management company) has jumped into a legal marketing tussle with the e-commerce company, Freecharge and online food delivery company, Swiggy. Prithvi's sports management company, Baseline Ventures, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Freecharge and Swiggy over the unauthorised application of a caricature similar to the young cricketer celebrating his ton. Baseline Ventures demands 1 crore each as compensation amount. Freecharge and Swiggy have taken their post down.  What is a Cease and Desist letter?  A cease and desist letter is the first form...

He calls himself a 'marketing maven', often uses the word 'Dolt' for many on Twitter, and a regular face of Sherlock Goswami's Republic TV debate, Suhel Seth is hit with #MeToo on Twitter. Serious sexual harassment allegations have been labelled against Suhel by two women. They shared their accounts on the microblogging site. 'France 24' Journalist Mandakini Gahlot wrote on Twitter, "I am not at all surprised that Suhel Seth's name has come up in the #MeToo conversation. For years he has preyed on young women, and the whisper network was ripe with stories of his depravity. I was 26 when he publicly harassed and humiliated me. No one stopped him."  Mandakini further tweeted a lengthy thread, "Suhel kept describing the "cottage suite" he was in, and telling me to come check it out after dinner. I distinctly remember he said something about a jacuzzi. Anyway, I was well aware of Suhel's reputation, so I was on the...

The #MeToo campaign on Twitter gathers momentum amid fresh allegations surfaced against some high profile names of the media industry, politics and Bollywood. After writer Chetan Bhagat, Hindustan Times Nepalese Associate Editor Prashant Jha,  bollywood film director Vikas Behl and bollywood singer Kailash Kher, the fresh allegations are being labelled against the former veteran journalist turned Rajya Sabha MP Mobashar Javed Akbar alias M J Akbar, senior bollywood actor Alok Nath and 'Mulk' actor Rajat Kapoor. Journalist Priya Ramani has called out MJ Akbar on Twitter referring a year old piece written in Vogue.    " Dear Male Boss, You taught me my first workplace lesson. I was 23, you were 43. I grew up reading your smart opinions and dreamt of being as erudite as you. You were one of my professional heroes. Everyone said you had transformed Indian journalism and I wanted to be on your team. So, we set a time you could interview me at the plu...

जो बातें कल तक मीडिया संस्थानों के गलियारों तक सीमित थीं आज वो खुलकर दुनिया के सामने आ रही हैं। विभिन्न न्यूज़ संस्थानों में काम करने वाली महिलाकर्मियों ने यौन उत्पीड़न को उजागर करने के लिए ट्विटर का सहारा लिया। देखते ही देखते शुक्रवार की शाम को ट्विटर पर #metooindia कैंपेन ट्रेंड करने लगा। अलग-अलग मीडिया हाउस से जुड़े महिला पत्रकारों ने उनके साथ हुए दुर्व्यवहार की घटनाओं को स्क्रीनशॉट के ज़रिये ट्विटर पर साझा किया। उन्होंने न सिर्फ़ उन घटनाओं पर रोशनी डाली बल्कि कथित आरोपितों के नाम भी उजागर किये। उन स्क्रीनशॉट्स में महिलाओं की मर्ज़ी के बिना भेजे गए अश्लील संदेश, उनके निजी तस्वीरों की मांग, मर्दों के द्वारा किये गए उनके गुप्तांगों की तस्वीरों का ज़िक्र और कई आपत्तिजनक बातों की कड़ी शामिल थी। आरोपितों में कॉमेडियन, लेखक, फ़िल्म निर्देशक, सिंगर और कई पत्रकार शामिल हैं। इनमें से कई वेरिफाइड एकाउंट्स हैं। ये सिलसिला बहुत व्यापक तरीक़े से आगे बढ़ा। इस कैंपेन ने कई हुई दबी आवाज़ों को सामने आने का मौक़ा दिया। आरोपों का सिलसिला थमने का नाम नहीं ले रहा है। इसकी आंच में कई बड़े नाम भी बाहर आये हैं। इ...

The world is watching the on-going ‘Rohingya Crisis’ in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, the epicenter of the tension. As of now, more than 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims have been affected and thousand stranded and forced to leave their homeland. About 73,000 thousand Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since 9th October after an insurgent group attacked Burmese border police posts, charging a crackdown in which troops have been accused of murder and rapes. The Rohingyas were also accused of gangrape and murder of Buddhist woman in Rakhine province. Myanmar Military has said that more than 400 Rohingyas have died in the violence in Rakhine region. Buddhist-majority Burma calls it ‘ethnic cleansing’, while Rohingya human rights activists countered that as many as 1,000 civilians have been massacred by the government soldiers. Over 2,625 houses have been burnt down. The Telegraph UK reported that new satellite imagery depicts the collateral destruction of a Muslim village,...