Baying for Bengal

Shopping to shame: Indian Youth Congress national spokesperson Subodh Haritwal recently shared the details of a ‘pay-on-delivery (POD)’ online shopping order he made for a 14-cup tea kettle. The delivery address mentioned in the order was the prime minister’s house at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi. Haritwal shared the order details while retweeting a 2014 tweet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he says he “can go back and open a tea stall, but the nation cannot suffer any more”. When netizens grilled the Congressman about why he chose the ‘POD’ option, instead of a prepaid option, Haritwal replied that he thought the money would be deducted from the Rs15 lakh that was due to him, as per the prime minister’s 2014 poll promise | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

Punishment post: The most popular meme in Kerala on the counting day of the 2021 assembly elections showed a group of Mizos waiting anxiously for the ‘results’. Not without a reason, though. The BJP central leadership has been following the practice of sending its underachieving state presidents from Kerala to Mizoram as governors. With the party faring miserably in the assembly polls, the rumour is that the current BJP state president, K. Surendran, will have to pack his bag soon.

Label and libel: Actor Kangana Ranaut, who is a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been labelled “murkh aurat (silly woman)” by the BJP MLA from Gorakhpur, Radha Mohan Das Agrawal. This came after Ranaut held forth on the results of the West Bengal assembly elections and tweeted that “Bangladeshis and Rohingyas are the biggest strength of Mamata [Banerjee].” Agrawal termed her tweet “behudi (inane)”, and reminded her that the BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi, had congratulated Banerjee on her victory. For Ranaut, the “silly” label would bring back memories of when she spoke of a “silly ex”, triggering a showdown with actor Hrithik Roshan.

Unfading love: Stephen King once said that Lisey’s Story, about a woman still in love with her late husband and privy to his dark secrets, was the best book he had ever written. Perhaps part of its appeal is that much of it is autobiographical, with King drawing from his 50-year marriage to novelist Tabitha King. That is why he probably has a special attachment to the Apple TV+ adaptation of the book that is releasing on June 4, starring Julianne Moore as Lisey. It remains to be seen how this drama, which lies in that mystical terrain between the known and the unknown, is going to be translated onscreen. But considering it is being produced by J.J. Abrams, the man behind Lost (2004-2010) and Star Trek (2009), this journey into the otherworldly might just be worth embarking on | Getty Images

Daddy’s fan: The Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan may have lost in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, but he still rules over his daughter’s heart. “Always so proud of my appa,” Shruti Haasan posted on Instagram. “#Fighter. #Terminator.” BJP candidate Vanathi Srinivasan beat Haasan by a slim margin of 1,300 votes. The action in Haasan’s life might now be on screen; he will soon be seen in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram and S. Shankar’s Indian 2. It is ironic that in the reprisal of his role as Senapathy from Indian (1996), Haasan plays an ex-freedom fighter who works to expose corruption in India. Perhaps he can channel his inner politician to better the country onscreen, if not on the ground | PTI

Swinging it around: The comments/replies section on social media can be an intriguing place. From the informative to the inflammatory, one can find it all there. Australian cricketer Pat Cummins seems to have benefited from this. The fast bowler, currently in the IPL camp, tweeted on April 26 that he would donate $50,000 to the PM CARES fund towards Covid-19 relief in India. His followers lauded the gesture but pleaded with him to donate the money elsewhere, raising concerns about the transparency of the fund. Though Cummins did not directly respond to them, on May 3, he tweeted that he would instead allocate the money to UNICEF Australia’s India COVID-19 Crisis Appeal. Nobody knows what went on behind the scenes, but a celebrity that heeds the advice of his followers is as rare as they come | Getty Images