random thoughts

 No price is big enough to have an unfettered voice. But $44 Billion to use Twitter as a personal megaphone is the limit. There are some who welcome Elon Musk buying Twitter as he is all for allowing unmoderated messaging on the world's most popular common digital town square. Social media, and before that internet, ushered in the most democratic digital space for humanity. Old media was all about mediated communication, the new media would be different and allow anyone with anything to say a free voice. Slowly, but surely, politicians of all hues and interest groups started to highjack the social media for their own narrow ends. Yes, now and then, we did have the Jasmine Revolution and Black Lives Matter campaigns enabled by and through social media. But one also saw extremist organisations and groups deluge the platforms with hate and personal attacks. Ultimately, social media, and in particular Twitter is a media platform and it is us, the people, who give it character and subst...

 AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is on a roll. With the success in Punjab, well deserved at that, behind him, Kejriwal is truly expressing national ambitions. In conversation with Sanket Upadhyay on NDTV Townhall on 16th September 2022, Kejriwal made it very clear that AAP wants to win the next general election on its own. His aversion to coalition or even working with other opposition parties was amply articulated. Negotiating some tough questions, Kejriwal showed his true self. He not only looks like the politicians he despices but is increasingly talking their language. With couple of successes in Delhi behind, Kejriwal ably glossed over some sharp criticism of his style of functioning and the ability of AAP to rely only on providing a few, but important, services as the basis for national alternative. There is a need for an alternative at the national level. Two party system is important for a functional democracy. No true opposition at the centre has been a bane for democratic fun...