SOME SPORTING VENUES are also known for their signature food. Strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, for example. The US Open has trademarked its signature cocktail—the Honey Deuce. The cocktail has Grey Goose vodka, a splash of lemonade, raspberry liqueur and three honeydew melon balls on a skewer. Price: $23 (Rs2,010)
Last year, CNN reported that Honey Deuce sales alone could cover the combined championship purse for both the male and female singles winners. The drink was expected to make $10 million for the US Open in 2024; Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner took home $3.6 million each. So, yes, the Honey Deuce was a good return on investment, I say.
I got thinking about all this when I read Senior Subeditor Karthik Ravindranath’s article on how the Italian football club Como 1907’s owners—Indonesian tobacco billionaires Robert and Michael Hartono—are combining fashion and tourism to boost the club’s revenues. The home ground at Lake Como comes with its natural advantages. Another offering is La Comasca, which is apparently the world’s only silk-filtered beer. The filtering makes the beer smoother and lightens the “perception of bitterness,” the club says. Price? Three times that of a mass-market lager, Karthik presumes.
The cover this week is also about something unique to certain places. THE WEEK’s former Lifestyle Editor, Namrata Zakaria, visited five villages across India whose fabrics have dressed celebs. For example, Hollywood actor Zendaya sported a pre-pleated sari from Bargachia and Bandpur villages in West Bengal, New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani wore an indigo jacket made of fabric from Gondal in Gujarat, and so on. Namrata’s passion for traditional Indian fabrics shines through in the article.
Until fast fashion came in, local fabrics and craftsmanship were seen in every home. While reading Namrata’s article, my mind wandered to my father’s Kolhapuris, his preferred footwear for most of his life. I used to wear them, too, until recently. The grandchildren, too, would receive kid-sized Kolhapuris from my parents. My mother loved her silk saris. I feel that her collection was skewed to the south, as she was born in Andhra Pradesh and grew up mainly in Tamil Nadu.
India is putting its signature on products beyond the handcrafted, writes Senior Assistant Editor K. Sunil Thomas. As an example, he highlighted how the Bengaluru startup Sarvam AI helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi translate Mann ki Baat into regional languages in his voice. Indian deep tech is moving on from a supporting role to a more central one, he says.
Chief Subeditor Anirudha Karindalam writes about the prime minister’s successful visit to the Maldives. He interviewed former presidents Mohamed Nasheed and Mohamed Waheed, both of whom stressed the need for warm ties with India.
Closer to home, Senior Special Correspondent Kanu Sarda highlights the lack of diversity and representation in appointments to the Supreme Court. Six High Courts do not have any judges elevated to the Supreme Court as of June 2025. It is an argument that needs to be considered carefully, without upending the seniority framework in Indian judiciary.
Though all my grandchildren are well past the age for cartoons, I was recently briefed about an animated character called Doc McStuffins from Disney Junior. She is a little black girl who fixes toys, with help from her four toy friends.
Ok, now why is THE WEEK’s staff telling me about Doc McStuffins? Recently, on social media, a mother from overseas shared that her toddler jumped into a doctor’s arms during a hospital visit. The mother told the doctor, “She thinks you are Doc McStuffins!” The doctor was black, and in a lab coat—just like Doc McStuffins.
That is why representation is essential in a diverse country like ours, dear reader. Representation in showbiz, in media, in politics, in judiciary, in medicine, in every people-facing segment and some more.