To the original!

Unapologetically bhiduWhy we love the veteran actorrsquos Instagram account thatrsquos raw and real brimming with greenery and 100 per cent Jaggu DadaJackie Shroff ActorKal subu subah uth ke message karta hoonrdquo is how Jackie Shroff confirms an interview with this writer Clearly the veteran actor who stole ladiesrsquo hearts back in the 1990s texts exactly the way he talksHis handle is apnabhidu his Threads display name is pedlagaobhidu lsquobhidursquo friend along with lsquobawarsquo brother and lsquodarlingrsquo are used liberally all throughthe interviewShroff got onto Instagram three years ago and has since been using it to talk about the environment why we should nurture and protect trees and the importance of staying fit His posts carry photographs of him dressed in chic bandhgalas and happy shirts with a sapling in hand on some days we see him midpushup Every post including the visuals and text is 100 per cent Jaggu DadaWe catch up with the star the next morning at 830 over a video call this writer is sipping coffee to stir to life he at 66 is fresh as a daisy He is sporting a Gandhi topi and dark glasses inside a room in his Bandra apartmentldquoIrsquom not new to the Internetrdquo he clarifies ldquoI used to blog in 1994 but not many knew about it I continued till 1997rdquo Does he have a social media strategy he follows ldquoAisa kuch bhi nahin hai bhidu If I see something I like if I notice someonersquos hard work or something that needs to be talked about I post Sometimes mera bachcha log tell me kya daal ne ka Of course I have a team to manage my social media but itrsquos not like they call the shots or I dordquo he saysFitness and green living are clearly his passions Therersquos a large plant in his bedroom that we catch a glimpse of He urges us to have one in ours as wellldquoWe all exhale carbon dioxide all day Even if my wife and I are saying lsquoI love yoursquo to each other nikalta toh carbon dioxide hi hai We need to ensure there is enough oxygen around us especially because we are all so used to using air conditioners We must breathe good airrdquoWith fitness itrsquos clear that he gives more credence to pranayama ancient breathing yoga technique over vyayam or physical training We could have tried to explain why we prefer quoting him ldquoPehle saans ko utha phir wazan uthardquoWhat Shroff stays clear of posting is any content that could hurt religious sentiments ldquoThe views donrsquot matterrdquo he argues ldquoIrsquom not concerned if 2500 or 25000 people see my post Irsquom happy even if twoandahalf dordquo This approach is linked to his belief that social media must educate indiscriminately across dividesldquoTake thalassemia for instance It is such a deadly disease Babies as little as six months are forced to undergo blood transfusion Is this not a serious issue to discuss How many wouldbe parents undergo testing for thalassemia Itrsquos this that I wish to use my Instagram account to discussrdquo he says just as he is interrupted by a Persian cat who has got into a scrap with a pigeon Shroff tries to break the fight ldquoIska naam JD hairdquo he says pointing to the feline ldquoBole toh Jaggu DadardquoHe wonrsquot be long here Come New Yearrsquos Eve and Shroff is set to take off to his Talegaon farmhouse where he plans to ring in 2024 with close friends ldquoChal darling milte hain baad meinrdquo he signs offGautam S MenglegautammenglemiddaycomAn honest cuppaFor the founders of a coffee company openness and honesty are essential ingredients to building a product and communityVardhman Jain Coffee Startup FounderAt Bonomi it isnrsquot just the cold brewmdashsteeped lovingly for 18 hours and then expertly filteredmdashthat is undiluted As cofounder Vardhman Jain lets in a lay teadrinker to the world of readytodrink coffee he paints nuanced portraits of the two kind of users who exist ldquoThose who are serious and invest in a home brewing and grinding setup and those who drink it for energy to break the lethargy first thing in the morningrdquo Jain and Armaan Reet his partner were certain they donrsquot want to compromise on the fundamentals which they call the lsquofirst principlesrsquo the flavours the low acidity and the promise of a refreshing lowcalorie beverageThe two friends met during their coinciding stints at Uber crossing paths again when Jain joined Reet as a consultant for a former version of the business Come February 2022 BONOMI was reborn as a coffee companymdasha long journey for Jain which began a decade ago when he bought his first drip coffee maker Through the years of evolving his taste palette and training as a barista on weekends Jain now has a commitment to flavour When BONOMI users praise the brandrsquos offerings on X yoursquoll find Jain lightroastguy openly admitting to the research and effort that made it all possibleAnd they always have their ears to the ground ldquoFrom day 1 we were certain about making all our products inhouse and not contract manufacturing like the other players in the markethellip Every new flavour or category we venture into we make sure to send samples to our customers for feedback or invite them for a blind tasting to our brewery If it doesnrsquot pass the customer test we donrsquot launch itrdquo Jain asserts Itrsquos a brand philosophy driven by pride in the product but also building customer trustJainrsquosmdashand by extension BONOMIrsquosmdashhonesty manifests in the cofounder talking about the challenges of running a startup as well as acknowledging when their products can be improved ldquoThe advantage of a blind tasting is that we can go back to the drawing board and fix the recipehellip For example the last one revealed that our cold coffee requires a little work with respect to the thickness of the beveragerdquo he sharesThe payoffs they are rewarded with arenrsquot just repeat customers Jain reveals that 70 per cent of their users funded the companyrsquos seed round of funding ldquoWe want to build it in the open and involve the community and users at every step of the processrdquo he says jubilantlyNeerja DeodharneerjadeodharmiddaycomSend me legal notice Irsquoll get you publicly noticedThe poster child for the war against processed goodies the Food Pharmer rips apart packaged foods one nutrition table at a timeRevant Himatsingka Health InfluencerOn the 1st of April Revant Himatsingka became a household name after he uploaded a video about a beloved health drink that made the entire nationstop sippingThe video talked about how the drink long advertised as nutritious and essential for growth contained unhealthy amounts of refined sugar It also pointed out that this fact was inconspicuously mentioned in the nutrition table as lsquoadded sugarrsquo on the back of the packetIt had only been a month since the Wharton graduate MBA had quit his high paying job in the US He was in the middle of moving back to his hometown Kolkata a decision Himatsingka says that scratched a longstanding itch to do something for the greater goodThe fateful day that spun the healthinfluencerrsquos world on its axis was April 13mdashthe makers of the health drink issued a legal noticeThough Himatsingka immediately pulled the video down it continued to circulate through WhatsApp and can still be easily accessed as anonymous accounts reupload it in a gesture of solidarity ldquoI got around four legal notices from different brands but the health drink one was the first and also the one that made headlinesrdquo says the 31yearold over the phone from the land of Tagore and trams ldquoNot only was I unemployed but overnight I had multiple legal notices to deal with You can only imagine my state of mindrdquoIn the weeks that followed Himatsingkarsquos social media handles fell silent and eventually after two weeks a subdued post about misleading nutritional values in processed food popped up ldquoI didnrsquot name any brandsrdquo he says ldquojust used words such as refined oil refined sugar and left it at thatrdquo He was flooded with DMs ldquoI got many comments and messages saying I mustnrsquot be deterred by legal notices Some confessed that they never knew what was in the packaged food or beverage they consumed until they saw my videordquo he says recalling the turning pointSoon Himatsingka was naming and shaming again but the following videos were more urgent He terms it positive aggression and even has that printed on TshirtsldquoI was bullied as a childrdquo says the voice of healthconscious India ldquoand after what I had been through this year I decided that I will not tolerate it anymore I thought to myself I will not be scared of them they should be scared of me and the public My new mantra is if you send me a legal notice I will get you publicly noticedrdquoLast week the makers of the infamous health drink announced a 15 per cent reduction in sugar content in their product ldquoThis is a quintessential example of what a nutritioneducated society can dordquo he saysAddressing haters he says ldquoEveryone thinks I make these videos to get noticed but I am also working with health experts to help with adding nutrition to the curriculum in private schools I also collaborate with government agencies to formulate long term policies about guidelines for the packaged food industryrdquoThe upheaval of the last eight months has expanded Himatsingkarsquos work in a way he couldnrsquot envision when he moved back to India ldquoMy focus for 2024 will be what can I do for 140 crore Indians in the long runrdquo he says with admirable resolution ldquoI am not working for those who are health conscious but for those children teenagers parents and adults who are not I can almost see them before my eyes skipping from Reel to Reel I want them to pause when I pop up on their device I want them to be empoweredrdquoHimatsingkarsquos immediate work is to get companies to print the nutritional value table on the front of the packages instead of the back Making the health hazards impossible for you the next time you take a spoonful to missArpika BhosalearpikabhosalemiddaycomRoped in by desireA creative professional uses Shibari Japanese decorative bondage and their Instagram account to speak about the healing meditative potential of bondage and kinkAmiya Shibari PractitionerKnots tied with a delicate touch and in intricate combinations are the defining feature of Amiyarsquos Shibari practice In posts and Reels where their hands nimbly turn rope into an artistic medium they make the Japanese form of erotic bondage look effortless An unabashed dominatrix Amiya is one of the few Indian faces of this advanced kink practicemdasha rare femme one pursuing it professionally and building a community around itThe 26yearold who is also a tattoo artist and creative director tells midday that they were always fascinated by Japanese culture ldquoI was drawn by Shibari specifically because of its aesthetic value and the fact that it didnrsquot resemble dungeon bondagerdquoSilly HandsmdashAmiyarsquos sixmonthold Shibari venturemdashand its Instagram page sillyhandsshibari features visuals of rope in communication with skin the participantsrsquo bodies and faces have an almost meditative look about them Their workshops and classes arenrsquot sexual but sensual akin to a physical activity like yoga which helps people connect to their bodies and emotionsldquoShibari invites you to connect with those parts of yourself that are unexplored or that you havenrsquot been in touch with for a while Therersquos a lot of power in creating such spaces for others It is a way to explore bondage in a safer toned down manner rather than what we see in mainstream media which in my opinion is very intimidatingrdquo Amiya explainsThey invest much thought in how this form of bondage in its nascent stages in India will be received by people The softness evoked in the posters and promotional photographs too is a conscious choice ldquoI really like working with female and femme photographers who have a female gazerdquo says Amiya who has engaged in this kink for over a year The result is a sense of curiosityldquoWomen approach me because Silly Hands is a way for them to experience Shibari with a queer nonbinary person like myself In kink and BDSM spaces men hold a great deal of powermdashpower that doesnrsquot necessarily feel safe I donrsquot feel seen or welcomed in such spacesrdquo they confess Itrsquos no surprise then that women have sought Amiya out to have conversations that they cannot openly have with others perhaps not even their own partnersWith them you can be assured that a pair of scissors will be kept at the ready to snip the ropes and safe words will be discussed beforehand To them consent safety and communication are top priorities ldquoEven in the workshops and classes I offer to beginners therersquos a module at the start that focuses on these aspects safety and consent Consent can be very different in kink spacesmdashthere are things that you can and cannot do and even the things you can do are accompanied by risk that both parties should be aware ofrdquo they explainThat these grey areas remain undiscussed in kink spaces where there is often a power equation at play has much to do with sex education in Indiamdashoften flawed or compromised and largely centred on normative heterosexual pleasure This is a subject that Amiya often raises on their account ldquoComfort can only be achieved in environments where the other person is able to listen to you and read your bodily cues When it comes to consent I think if and who we are learning from matters a great dealrdquo Amiya notesThey speak about their own perception with grace and confidence ldquoIrsquom a very open person even when it comes to the more personal aspects of my life People can always get to know me to recognise that I am more than just one aspect of myselfrdquoNeerja DeodharneerjadeodharmiddaycomJo dar gaya woh mar gayaAfter bidding goodbye to mainstream news media a journalist refinds his voice and following this time on YouTubeSohit Mishra Independent JournalistIn early September the Mumbai journalist fraternity was murmuring about Sohit Mishra getting too brave for his own good The bureau chief of a leading news channel had quit his job reportedly over ethical differences with his employers and editorsBefore handing in his resignation Mishra consulted his familymdashwife parents inlaws and his closest friends The longest any of them took to understand why he was hanging up his boots was one minute ldquoThey understood I am blessedrdquo he tells middayThe same month Mishra 30 uploaded a video on his YouTube Sohit Mishra Official titled Alvida Laal Mike It was an explainer about why he had put in his papers It garnered over two million likesSince then Mishra has been using the free videosharing platform to report on news and issues on his own terms unfettered and not restricted by the threeminute slot allotted to hacks on news channels ldquoThe widely held opinion is that people donrsquot have the attention span to sit through long videos Thatrsquos untrue I can say this from firsthand experiencerdquo says Mishra ldquoPeople lsquolikersquo and lsquofollowrsquo and comment on videos that are as long as an hour Those who are curious about what is truly going on will make the time and watch my segment endtoendrdquo The subjects of his reportage range from what to expect at Mumbairsquos refurbished Byculla zoo to why tribal women living on the fringes of Kalyan scale a hill to fetch a pail of water from a waterfall ldquoWhen I published the Kalyan story state officials got in touch with me to inquire about the exact location of the village Soon water was made available to the community These are the stories I want to tellrdquo he saysThe response has been heartening and he didnrsquot quite expect it ldquoShuruat mein main bahut darr gaya tha I was terrified in the beginning I was not sure if the YouTube channel would work my experience on X formerly Twitter had been toxic But I was pleasantly surprised The comments are often constructive I have had viewers tell me that I need to stop focusing on politics and visit their city or village and highlight a social issue that they are grappling with Some give me leads that I pursue as stories I am grateful for the community I have been able to buildrdquoMishrarsquos channel has gathered over two lakh subscribers in four months and at the heart of this number is a journalist keen to do his job wellldquoWe have to stand up for ourselvesrdquo he says ldquoTake that step that you may be hesitating to take Go with your heartrdquoArpika BhosalearpikabhosalemiddaycomBrushing up factsThis scholar wipes propaganda off historyrsquos faceDr Ruchika Sharma History professorOne of Dr Ruchika Sharmarsquos favourite videos on her own channel is titled Nalanda Ke Teen Jhooth or Three Myths of Nalanda It busts the three popular myths associated with the ancient Buddhist monastery in modern day Bihar such as its destruction by Bakthiyar Khilji its burning down by the Turks and its sudden collapseSharmarsquos detailed academic references set her YouTube channel Eyeshadow and Etihas apart The Nalanda video alone has 13 references listed in the description And instead of a pen or a laser pointer shersquos holding a makeup brush Dr Sharma applies eyeshadow lipstick and other forms of cosmetics while delivering hard factsldquoI was born and brought up Mehraulirdquo she tells midday ldquoBoth sets of my grandparents are from Punjab in Pakistan They were refugees and a huge part of my childhood and teenage years were spent listening to stories that my dadi told me about Punjab before the PartitionrdquoHer first brush with history was in Class VIII when her teacher said something that Sharma would always carry with her like a talisman History cannot be taught from just one textbook It changed her outlook towards the subject till then her idea of studying was underlining sentences in a textbookSharma went on to major in Marketing and even got a job with a private firm but history kept calling In three months she quit and enrolled for an MA in the subject at the Jawaharlal Nehru University She majored in Medieval Indian History and now teaches at the IP College in DelhiWhen it came to her YouTube channel though eyeshadow happened before etihas ldquoThe pandemic was a pretty dark time in my liferdquo she reminisces ldquoI was in therapy and found applying eyeshadow very cathartic I began learning how to do it through YouTube I remember walking into class after the pandemic and my students telling me I should put up a tutorial I demurred saying I wasnrsquot that much of an expert A student suggested I talk about history while applying it onrdquoToday her channel has 201 videos and 109k subscribers ldquoItrsquos fine if you make mistakes about history but I think whatrsquos sad is the propagandardquo she asserts ldquobecause a lot of these myths tend to become very dangerous For example this idea that our community or our religion has treated women much better than yours I mean all religious communities have dehumanised women to a major extentrdquoShe didnrsquot start off as a myth buster she was just putting out academic content But of course it attracted much hate most of it from nameless faceless trolls on Twitter and InstagramldquoYouTube is okay because you can let the comments lierdquo she says ldquoTwitter on the other hand is a virtual lynch mob that will leave no stone unturned But their basic aim is to get you to stop what yoursquore doing So every time I see comments about my neckline my academic qualifications I know that it is to silence me It just goes to show that my work is causing an effect and these myths are getting dented if not bustedrdquoGautam S MenglegautammenglemiddaycomPetition to slayAt the Supreme Court and on Instagram this lawyer queer activist and bioethicist leaves a markRohin Bhatt Supreme Court LawyerAt the premises of the Supreme Court and in Delhirsquos busy streets Rohin Bhatt stands out with his pride socks and tiesmdashfitting accessories to his advocatersquos robes The Ahmedabadborn lawyer may be all of 25 but the impact of his work is already being felt In 2022 he wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud seeking interventions in the legal system to improve the experiences of queer lawyers Five months later the SC took its first steps towards the creation of nine universal restrooms and making its online appearance portal genderneutralBhatt who works with senior advocate Indira Jaisingh thinks of his social media accounts as diaries To his followers theyrsquore a look into the human rights lawyer he wants to become and the person he is A collage of photo booth pictures taken with his partnermdashan unabashed expression of queer joymdashis accompanied by an equally moving caption ldquoWhat are we in court for if not to fundamentally love be loved and be queerrdquoIt was posted on the day when hearings in the marriage equality case were about to begin ldquoThese are the things the community has always been in court formdashto have the full rights to love and not be discriminated againstrdquo Bhatt tells midday In a hazy but special screenshot he can be seen assisting a senior advocate in the monumental casemdasha small role has transformed the very way in which he now sees the law Bhatt wrote on Instagram that this moment had arrived two years after he came out in this context he was both lawyer and litigantThe young advocate felt let down by the eventual outcome but the experience challenged the training he received as a law student ldquoWorking on the case as a queer personmdashas someone who has always been on the sidelines watching the fightmdashand getting my hands dirty was not just an enlightening experience of what it means to do a case where your personal stakes are involved but also one of the most influential cases Irsquoll do in my entire careerrdquo he says asserting that the fight is far from overIn the manner of many millennials and GenZs Bhatt admits that some of his posts may be made consciously but more often than not he isnrsquot policing himself It was in a joint decision that he and his partner determined that they would share pictures of each other publicly ldquoOnce the decision is made you have to live with the consequences Irsquom in the public eye whether I like it or not but he didnrsquot get to make that call for himself Oftentimes when I get trolled or threatened he gets trolled and threatened toordquo the lawyer rues about his partnerBut Bhatt like countless queer individuals in India says he is no stranger to hate online His letter to the CJI which requested an additional column in application slips to mention peoplersquos pronouns led to waves of trolling ldquoBullies hardly scare me I donrsquot open those messages and they eventually get deletedrdquo he declares Yet it is tough to be immune to fear when troll accounts have responded to his posts with his motherrsquos namemdasha detail he has never declared in publicmdashor his home addressSome days Bhatt opens up on social media about his struggles with depression and overcoming them Wellwishers in the legal industry and outside it tell him he needs to maintain a certain impression of seriousness But the lawyer has always been predisposed to ignoring wellwishers ldquoStudents have written to me after these posts telling me that they thought their mental health issues may hold them back from becoming lawyers These are conversations that donrsquot take place in my industry but thankfully things are now changing The hope is that I can reach out to more people like these studentsrdquo Bhatt saysNeerja DeodharneerjadeodharmiddaycomStarting the right conversationsA 52yearold model is using her Instagram to question why the profession should be limited by ageGeeta J ModelSay the words lingerie model and a certain picture emerges And this picture will automatically decide the age of the model The visualisation will not extend beyond this age groupGeeta J a Thane resident is 52 years old and a lingerie model And now through her Instagram accountmdashjust_geetmdashshe is asking why there should be an age limit to this professionGeeta was 50 when she won the first runnerup position in a beauty pageant and a finalist position in another Before this she worked as a preprimary school teacher Her achievements led to modelling assignments and also a reality checkldquoI was fit confident full of enthusiasm and ready to take on challengesrdquo she says ldquoOne of the entities that approached me was a lingerie label Everything was going smoothly till they learned how old I was After that the conversation changed They said theyrsquod start production of lingerie lsquosuitable to my agersquo and get back to merdquoGeeta had two choices stay silent or do something about it ldquoI did some research and observed that most lingerie brands feature younger models in commercialsrdquo says the now fulltime model ldquoI felt that a message was being sent out even if unconsciously that people donrsquot use certain products after they cross a certain age I have yet to see a model over 40 years of age in lingerie commercialsrdquoGeeta started a campaign on changeorg and set up a dedicated Instagram account to talk about ageism She also did a photoshoot sporting lingerie and posted the pictures on InstagramldquoIt is the digital age and advertisements pop up all over the Internet to influence shopping habitsrdquo says Geeta ldquoThey also have the power to change the perspectives of customers It is still not common to see women my age in lingerie workout gear or trendy apparel all of which I post regularlyrdquoThe response has been a mix of encouragement and disparagement but Geeta is happy to have at least started a conversation She is also aware that social media is a numbers game and that she needs to keep posting no matter how much hate she gets Her focus though is her passionldquoObsessing over metrics and numbers feels like Irsquom in a rat racerdquo she says ldquowhere I donrsquot have freedom or control over my work Negative comments donrsquot affect me much now but if for any reason I donrsquot feel like posting or need a break I take one Our best work and inspiration comes from being wellrested and rejuvenated That is when new and creative ideas truly blossomrdquoGautam S Menglegautammenglemiddaycom