For someone who has taught subjects as theoretical as they can get viz. Indian Economy, Political Economy, and Economic Thought, Professor Shraddha Ratra has a confession to make - her true passion lies in the math and statistics of Economics! Arthniti met with Professor Ratra to glean a closer understanding of her work and personality. Professor Ratra left SSE towards the end of 2019 to pursue the next step in her professional journey and this interview was conducted few months before she left. Arthniti wishes her the very best for the future! For someone who has taught subjects as theoretical as they can get viz. Indian Economy, Political Economy, and Economic Thought, Professor Shraddha Ratra has a confession to make - her true passion lies in the math and statistics of Economics! Arthniti met with Shraddha Ma’am during a free lecture and over a quick chat, gleaned a closer understanding of what makes Professor Ratra tick. Source: Shraddha Ma'am! Ma’am fondly remembers her childhood days spent in Bareilly and especially misses the cold winters and the carefree evenings she would spend as a child playing with neighbourhood kids in the colony park. Ma’am remarks that she grew up in a very close-knit society where everyone knew everyone and cared about each other - and it’s that visceral human connection that she misses as well. While Ma’am did take Economics in her Junior College, her favourite subject was Accounts given the latter’s mathematical orientation. However, her Economics teacher (who was not much older than Ma’am) inculcated an abiding interest in the subject which led Professor Ratra to do her Bachelors in Economics at Delhi University, where she further benefited from great teachers who left a lasting impression on her. Ask her about her entry into academia and Ma’am mirthfully remarks that teaching had never been on the radar. Throughout college, she had been intent on a corporate job. Her interest then shifted to a government job but teaching was still nowhere on the horizon. By some turn of fate, however, Ma’am ended up as a Mathematics teacher at a school in her hometown. Her first students were a bunch of playful fifth graders and it was the experience of imparting knowledge to those young kids, that made Ma’am find her true calling. There was no looking back after that for Ma’am chose to answer the NET. And that’s how she landed at SSE. Pune for Ma’am was a city far away from home. Her time in Delhi meant that she knew how it was to live in a big city. But adjusting to the difference in culture be it in language or food was a daunting prospect. Like most of us, Ma’am worried whether she would acclimatize to the city and make friends. Fortunately, Ma’am tells us that the people she has met at SSE ensured that she did not feel homesick for too long. Professor Ratra admires her colleagues and quips that she has imbibed valuable lessons and keeps learning from the professors she works with. Ma’am specially mentions the staff on the 3rd floor who have supported her through thick and thin and who are her daily lunch partners. Ma’am joyfully remarks that whenever the Administrative staff are discussing something in Marathi and notice that Ma’am is not able to follow, they will immediately switch over to Hindi so that she too is included. It is this welcoming and cosmopolitan ethos of SSE that is closest to her heart. Turning to hobbies, Ma’am reminisces that she was very active in the designing club and would regularly volunteer for decorating the campus at the time of events. This involvement in extracurriculars has stuck with her on the other side of the pedagogical divide as Ma’am has been actively involved in handling Economist of the Year. According to Shraddha Ma’am, everyone should partake in organizing and managing such large scale events as it makes for a rewarding experience and there is much to be learnt. The part she enjoys the most, however? Framing questions for the Quiz round of EOTY! Ma’am also lets us know that she usually picks up one hobby, obsesses over it for some time and once she gets bored, moves on to another pursuit. There was a time when Ma’am was into watching movies and then another where she binged on anime! At present, it’s reading historical fiction. Ma’am eagerly tells us about her favourite series, ‘Storm and Silence’ written by Robert Thier (by the way, no non-fiction for Ma’am anyway has to read it for her job!) The conversation then delves into her academic interests. Ma’am is keenly interested in the historical context of economic theories. Schumpeter’s Theory of Creative Destruction, a topic that she teaches in Economic Thought, is a personal favourite. She has also developed a newfound interest in gender economics and likes reading up on research that pertains to the working, living, and health conditions of women. When asked about technology, one of her areas of specialization as a Dissertation mentor, Ma’am minces no words when she says that the AI Revolution will take away jobs and what will be left are those which require creativity. While technology makes things easier, Ma’am laments that it has made her lazier as well. We then ask Ma’am, the evergreen question that has been asked to all our interviewees so far. Which economic system does she prefer? “A mixed economy for sure”! Ma’am elucidates that the historical experience of India shows that the economy’s performance showed a marked difference when the mixed economy framework was adopted in the 90s. There are some sectors where the government is critical while others where private enterprise is best left alone. Ma’am avers that government should be dynamic and work collaboratively with industry. On a parting note, Ma’am gives us a heartfelt message dedicated to the student body of SSE. While success will eventually come, one should not go haywire in the drive to achieve that success. Ma’am asserts that true success is when one feels a deep and personal sense of contentment. There is no other way to quantify success. Being obsessed with money or the next promotion only takes away from the process of enjoying life. We thank Ma’am for her kind advice, for giving us her time, and for teaching us for these last three years. Be it Indian Eco or Political Economy, we all had a lot to take away from each lecture. We wish her all the success and best wishes for the next step in her professional journey. Thank you, Ma’am!

On 29th April 2020, Irrfan Khan, one of Bollywood's finest actors passed away. Swastik Routray pens an impassioned tribute to the great thespian. The first combination of alphabets I typed on MS-WORD was ‘Irrfan’. It immediately registered a red-underline. Besides infuriation, I pitied Microsoft (a productivity suite based on digit-fed algorithms) for its lack of awareness. Was I being silly? I don’t know. I don’t care. As much as I outrageously wished to publicly shame those who were uninformed of his legacy, I had to restrain myself. Chiefly because I longed to see him hold an ‘Uncle Oscar’ at least once in his entire career. Not least because the damned metal could do anything to further reward his talent, but its very presence would work wonders in warding off a third-world notion of India. His Oscar win could have fenced against a swarm of agenda-stricken filmmakers with self-righteous intentions of fetishizing the income-inequality in India. Sure, Irrfan Khan stays for posterity, but I don’t want him to be remembered by the tags that go “method actor”, “most intense actor”, “his performances are power-packed”. These are downright disrespectful. For whippersnappers to truly appreciate what he is, an insignificant part of his filmography is enough. Extremely insignificant. It’s a sequence from Wes Anderson’s classic ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ set in Jodhpur. Irrfan Khan is the father of a kid who has lost his life being careless in an upstream canal. Sir Irrfan is breathlessly convincing, both loud and subtle. His notes rise and fall as if pre-written. His movements are frenzied in denial. Unable to figure what is happening, he wails and weeps. The performance makes your blood curdle and leaves a lump in your throat. Sir Irrfan is an irreparable loss. His dialogues are hard lessons for life. The fact that is life was a lesson passes by me as a gust of agony. We are left to pick the pieces of our lives and wonder whether "...I have surrendered" meant surrendered to fighting. If yes, it's the cruelest yet wonderful lesson I have learned.

Dr Ashlesha Swaminathan is one of the most recognizable faces on campus. You have most probably learnt about loss aversion from her or asked her to review your CV (and got brutally honest feedback) or benefitted from her priceless career counselling sessions. In a freewheeling chat with Arthniti, Ashlesha Ma’am explains her journey so far, her passion for behavioural and gender economics, and her love for Kahneman’s and Marquez’ works. Dr Ashlesha Swaminathan has been a member of the Symbiosis family for a long time. The college career counsellor and faculty of Behavioral Economics and International Financial Management, you can find her at her office in the Boy’s Hostel basement providing guidance and comfort to students worried about their futures. Recently Arthniti got the opportunity to interview with her and it went as follows. On being asked where she spent her childhood and what she misses the most about that time, Ma’am responds by saying that she moved from the United States to Pune when she was in her sixth grade and she especially misses the scant traffic and clean air that characterized Pune at the time. She reminisces about how she used to travel on a cycle from home to school but laments that she no longer feels safe doing so because of the excessive traffic. She further mentions that she did her MBA from the United Kingdom and jokes about how she prefers the UK to the US! Pictured here: Professor Ashlesha Swaminathan Source: Ashlesha Ma'am Teaching had never been on Professor Swaminathan’s radar originally. “I thought that I never had the patience for teaching!’ exclaims Ma’am. Ashlesha Ma’am worked as an investment banker for many years. On taking a break from corporate life, she took up a part-time job at a college as a corporate trainer and then became a full-time instructor for the same. It was around that time that she got an invitation from Dr Jyoti Chandiramani to deliver a lecture at SCLA on finance (Jyoti Ma’am taught Ashlesha Ma’am in college, that’s how they knew each other!). She subsequently started taking a course on Critical Thinking for Liberal Arts and as one thing led to another, she found herself transitioning to academia and teaching full-time. While Ashlesha Ma’am formally teaches Behavioral Econ, she’s equally passionate about gender and mentors students writing theses on gender-related issues and we were eager to know what had piqued her interest in those emerging fields. Ma’am explains that her stint in investment banking often involved advising companies on hedging strategies which, in turn, gave her an insight into what works with convincing people. It was these intricacies of human interaction, witnessed firsthand, that encouraged Ma’am to study Behavioral Economics. With regards to gender, Ma’am remarks - “Reading about behavioural economics took me to other fields of economics” and that “I’m not a person who tolerates injustice very well”. She says that she has faced discrimination, not just as a working woman but as a woman in India and thus it perturbs her to see other women facing the same. “No matter what your space is you always get the short end of the stick because of your gender and it’s very subtle, it’s never in your face. Where I was working, there were very few women. Therefore, we had no guidance as to what was right or wrong and there were no policies regarding the same either.” - Professor Ashlesha Swaminathan Ma’am teaches a course on gender, behavioural, and identity economics at Symbiosis Center for Liberal Arts (highly recommended from personal experience) and says that she hopes every year, with this course; she can create an ‘army of gender sensitized students’. On being asked if schools should make students aware of sensitive issues such as gender discrimination, Ashlesha Ma’am says “Yes absolutely! But they (schools) don’t want to even teach sex education and even when they do, it’s very taboo and it’s only the girls who are taught”. Ma’am adds “don’t tolerate it (discrimination and harassment), and if you see it, then don’t shut up”. When asked about her hobbies, Ma’am states that she loves to read. “I like the weird stuff!” Her personal favourites include Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight's Children’ and the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She especially enjoys books that flow with felicity in language as it’s the evocative vocabulary that conjures a beautiful picture of the story. Her other hobbies include painting with watercolours (Klimt and Matisse are some of her favourite artists). She channels her interest in art by taking lectures on art appreciation during her Critical Thinking class at SCLA. Ashlesha Ma’am adds that she did a lot of extracurriculars in college including getting a diploma in French. She even did eight years of Hindustani vocal training along with painting! We then asked Ma’am if there is anything specific she likes in the field of Behavioral Economics. “I love the whole thing so it’s hard to pick, but I do think that loss aversion as a concept explains a lot about human behaviour, not just economic behaviour but behaviour in general and my eyes opened after that”. On the topic of favourite economists, “I read everything by Kahneman and Thaler”. Professor Swaminathan adds that she is currently reading up on neuroscience and feels that ‘neuroeconomics’ is the next big thing after behavioural. Her favourite works in this sphere include David Eagleman’s ‘Incognito’ and ‘The Brain’ (Ashlesha Ma’am jovially remarks that instead of economists, she ends up reading the works of psychologists). Further, Ma’am animatedly explains to us the subliminal power of the human brain which can do a lot more than perceived. She narrates a story she read about how a blind man was able to cross a room of obstacles without bumping into them and how another blind man, with sensors on his tongue, could do rock climbing. “There is more to it than what meets the eyes!” We subsequently bring up the debate about books by economists for popular audiences. Do works such as Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s ‘Nudge’ dilute the formality of academic discourse? Ashlesha Ma’am does not feel so. “They are just trying to popularize the subject. Research in the field is good if you know where to look. These books are written to create interest and there is nothing wrong with that as it explains things to people in an easy way”. On a parting note, Professor Swaminathan professes that the best part about teaching at SSE is: - “As a faculty, I get creative freedom. I can teach my subjects the way I want. I even get a lot of space with the career counselling.” When asked if she had any message for the students of Symbiosis School of Economics, Ashlesha Ma’am quips “Don’t be stressed. This is just the beginning of your career. You have a long way to go. So just enjoy what you do and chill!” “Don’t be stressed. This is just the beginning of your career. You have a long way to go. So just enjoy what you do and chill!” - Professor Ashlesha Swaminathan We thank Ashlesha Ma’am for taking out time for this interview with Arthniti and for being the outspoken and confident person that she is who has inspired many of her students to be bold, forthright and speak up when faced with issues.

The Write Economist is an academic writing contest which comes under the umbrella of 'Econvista', the annual fest of the Economics department at Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi. This year, Arthniti sent four entries to the contest, which have been compiled below. Merlin Jacob, Zaerius Namirian, Bharvi Dani, and Vikramsinh Patil participated in the event, each writing an evocative piece on the dangers of Big Tech monopolies. Read ahead to find out what they had to say! Merlin Jacob : Too Big To be Tamed? The dominance of the biggest multinational technology-based companies, popularly dubbed Big Tech, has constantly been a cause of concern to regulatory bodies. Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple have time and again been the focus of antitrust allegations due to their market size. The problem of market manipulation by monopoly firms only gets worse in the case of social media companies. In terms of the number of active users, Facebook alone has 2.4 billion monthly users. When accounting for Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger; Facebook’s outreach is simply enormous and unrivaled in most countries. The only other platform to surpass the 2 billion mark is Google-owned YouTube. China’s internet censorship calls for a ban on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and the likes causing Tencent-owned WeChat to enjoy the market share. With users heavily concentrated on these few platforms, regulators are often met with the challenge of addressing the consequences. The most common worry is the potential for these companies to stifle innovation in the economy. Social media startups with unique ideas that are capable of attracting significant user base instantly pose a threat to bigger companies, which then prompts the latter to either kill the competition by redirecting the market to newer and costly technology or simply acquiring the startup. Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube are the perfect examples of monopolists curbing competition in the market. With billions of users on a per month basis, Facebook and Google had and continue to have access to immense data on their users which needs to be protected. With data being the new oil, not only do these companies have advantage over any new firm that was to enter the market, once again raising concerns about fair competition; but also perplex lawmakers on how to ensure that privacy of users is not breached and taken advantage of. Social media platforms have recently transitioned from a mere communication platform to one where a substantial amount of information is dispersed, and with very few market players, transmission of biased and divisive information becomes all the more rampant. Big Tech companies also raise red flags with regard to tax collection. With these firms operating with intangible intellectual property in a borderless world furthermore allows them to undertake dubious tax practices. The size and power of these companies have stretched way beyond their home borders, that even identifying their consequences and implementing counter-strategies are no longer straightforward. Elizabeth Warren, a prominent advocate of fair competition opines that the confusion lies in the business model of these companies. Earlier, while monopolies were targeted for their size, restricted supply and high prices, social media giants are only deemed culprits for their market size. Companies like Facebook or Google have no products to sell, rather merely create a space for users to interact, that too, free of cost. This implies that existing antitrust laws require significant reconsiderations if they have to be applied to Big Tech (especially social media firms). Often proponents have suggested an easier fix to the problem—a break-up of these companies, taking them back to their pre-acquisition status. However, not only does this strategy fail to resolve the issue but also deeply disincentivizes companies that are forerunners of today’s technological innovation for their profit-making motive. As critics point out, Facebook and Google were once startups that had to make their way through fair competition and their present dominance is a result of innovation and development. Tech companies spend billions each year to invest in infrastructure and property building. When their products ultimately begin to outperform the others in the market, politicians and regulatory bodies cannot merely force them to use their property rights in a certain way. Rather, what would benefit economies in the long-run is a clear definition of what constitutes unacceptable behavior. Breach of privacy, discriminatory practices and killing off newer competitors should be watched out for and regulated but firms, whether big or small, cannot be stopped from using their resources to their own advantage. Tech firms should not be hindered in terms of innovation or making profits, but they need to be bridled when the needs of the economy start to take the back seat. Zareius Namirian: TechMonopolies, A Macabre Mess There is some truth, perhaps, in considering that there are only two forms of businesses in the world - businesses that are perfectly competitive and those that are monopolies. And when I ponder on the latter, a striking resemblance can be found between what a monopoly should do and what it actually does in the form of big sharks and social media giants. At first, Google, being termed as a monopoly is far from debatable. There are multiple other search engines such as Bing or DuckDuckGo. More the number of search engines, the closer Google is to being perfectly competitive. However, this is a very narrow explanation and after studying search engines more closely, I realized I was wrong about the same. Google or Facebook might not be a pure or a “good” monopoly in the sense of a 100% absence of any competitors but having such a high degree of imperfect competition in the market is still undesirable (Google has Bing as it’s competitors while Facebook practically has only Twitter). A company with a few considerably weaker competitors still has massively uneven influence, which is still challenging for a capitalist economy such as the USA. Based on different locations, Google has a market share of around 65 percent to 80 percent of the entire search engine market. This is huge and is one of the major reasons I call Google a monopoly. That's lower than the 90% market share of companies like Microsoft Windows which are termed as ideal examples of monopolies, even though, there exist far weaker competitors (Macintosh Computers). A counter-argument would be that Google doesn't manipulate prices because using the search engine is practically free. True, but in terms of pricing, search engine customers might not be Google's primary customers. Advertisers are. This is another crucial finding. Due to this, Google has been investigated under antitrust laws for changing the pricing strategies for advertisers. As per the definition of a monopoly (single seller), Jio cannot be termed as one. But as an economist, sticking to a rigid definition that a monopoly consists of only one seller, is only glorified in textbooks.The market power of Jio rose exponentially through its dirt cheap data and talktime plans. This forced the other competitors to merge (Vodafone and Idea). Jio entered the Telecom Market and did steps every monopoly tries to do: It undercut the market price by attractive discounts and essentially “free” data. In order to experience this, users switched to Jio or at least bought a sim. Customer acquisition and customer base increased. Taking advantage, the price level of mobile data and network rose. To take another example, Amazon issues, markets, trades, and distributes its own books, and it runs the entire system that publishers must use to advertise, sell, and deliver books. This means Amazon can pressure suppliers at every level of the market. Amazon’s power grows even larger when combined with the enormous volumes of data that it amasses. In other words, Amazon not only exercises huge amounts of monopoly power in the market but it is the market. One in which other businesses must compete. This power will allow businesses to amass wealth to a larger degree and harm the prospects of an already unequal society. Additionally, the huge influence of such tech monopolies hampers a consumer in the long run. However, the monopolies still remain profitable by offering free products popular with users and customers. Not to forget, these monopolistic companies break the anti-trust laws and come under the breach of Data Privacy. In conclusion, with the rise of such perilous monopolistic tendencies, the existence of far-fetched consequences can be perceived. There has been a rise in the market influence and concentration of some businesses in industries, leading to an upsurge in prices. This lowers the standard of living as much as it lowers worker’s (real) wages. Monopolies, thus affect a country’s GDP. A research paper from the University of Chicago found that individual wages today would be $13,000 higher per year if the economy had the same levels of competition as it had 30 years ago. This was also noticed by notable economist Joseph Schumpeter and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz. They forewarned against such monopoly fatalism in the near future. This makes me conclude that the dominance of such corporate behemoths is not only a threat to privacy but also a fatal sword hanging over the economy. Vikramsinh Patil: Social Media Monopolies, From Heroes to Villains? The present climate of distrust and antagonism that surrounds Big Tech companies stands in sharp contrast to the idealism and positivity that heralded their induction to the modern cultural landscape. Facebook or Twitter provided a vision of utopia: say what you like without fear of retribution. They undoubtedly provided a sense of ‘cool’ to their users (this writer included, when he first joined Facebook in the eighth grade), a feeling of being a part of something new and liberating, and they sold the entrepreneurial dream to millions of young graduates struggling through university. Over the years, Facebook or YouTube grew into lumbering behemoths, profiting off large-scale ‘network effects’ which make it inconvenient to not be a part of those platforms. When all my friends consume videos on YouTube, why should I be left out? But today, these social media giants stand accused of undermining democracies, damaging mental health, and stifling innovation. Senator Elizabeth Warren proposes breaking up Big Tech companies as she believes that the market power that they have amassed over the years is too large for their own good. What changed the script? Monopolies dominate markets by gobbling up competitors. Facebook, for one acquired WhatsApp and Instagram. WhatsApp is known for generating heavy losses and was still considered a prized catch for Facebook simply because it offered an alternative to sharing content and keeping in touch with friends and family (and therefore, was a potential competitor). Monopolies are also known for pushing prices above competitive levels. However, Facebook and its constituents are free to access and use. It is this paradox that has stifled anti-trust litigation in the United States. The absence of a price is often associated with a public good. Instagram is free to download and me using the platform does not affect the consumption of its other users. Or, perhaps we have been looking at social media giants through the wrong lens. Certain commentators suggest that something like Facebook is really a monopsonist which pushes prices down. In this scenario, we are the suppliers of content and Facebook ‘compensates’ us by providing the use of this platform. Owing to the aforementioned network effects, Facebook ends up becoming the largest buyer of data and thereby dictates the terms of the exchange. Either way, the concentration of market power in the hands of few firms exerts a deadweight loss on society. A few clicks and YouTube throws the user into a rabbit hole of conspiracy theorists, ‘fear monger-ers’ and disturbing visuals. Twitter amplifies hate and abets the spread of fake news which breeds fear and distrust of the state. WhatsApp through the innocuous tool of forwards has caused lynchings and mob violence and Facebook, with its lax content moderation policies allows for the proliferation of targeted misinformation campaigns that have (allegedly) influenced the results of elections. The aggregation of users and their data has allowed social media companies to contribute to making our society more polarized and fearful. But perhaps their impact runs even deeper. The aggressive expansion plans followed by big tech companies stems from a Silicon Valley ideology of ‘go big or go home’. The leaders of these young companies are themselves young and embody a certain air of being anti-establishment. Rules for them are meant to be broken or simply do not exist. The success of these companies could engender a culture of disruptive behavior which disregards consumer welfare in the quest for profits and margins. Power in the corporate world also breeds cosy ties with the political establishment. Lobbying dollars spent by social media behemoths prevent laws from catching up with the pace of technical innovation. When social policy becomes infected by the interest of a few young billionaires, a democracy veers towards plutocracy and institutionalizes societal inequalities. To be fair, Zuckerberg may have never anticipated the influence that Facebook would have. For him, it was an interesting idea worth exploring. But today, as we collectively enter a future which will increasingly be dominated by tech and software, it is time to take cognizance of the effect of big tech monopolies and introduce regulations that ensure that markets and society are not compromised. Bharvi Dani: Monopoly at its Best! Social media has now become an integral part of our daily lives. This the era of the Internet. There has rarely been a day of our life which we spend without using it. Actually, let’s rephrase that: there has hardly been a single day in our lives where we have not spent some time using apps such as Google, Facebook, What's App, Amazon, and Instagram (Twitter for some). Have we ever thought of using any other messaging app rather than WhatsApp or a search engine other than Google? The obvious answer to this would be no. This is because there is a monopoly at work in the social media market. What defines a monopoly? A monopoly basically means that there is only one single seller of a particular good and the consumers have no choice but to buy the good from that seller. How does a monopoly come into action in this case? Here the product that is being sold is a messaging app or a search engine where no other competitor exists and the consumers have no choice but to install their app. How do these apps generate their revenue? All of these apps provide free service to the public. They mostly generate revenue through advertising. There are millions of ads posted on Google and Facebook every day which generate enough revenue for them in exchange for the free services that they offer. Monopolies exist not only in the social media market but also in the technology industry. Nowadays, we can hardly see a person who uses a cellphone or a phone which is not supported by android or iOS systems. From a businessman to a sweeper everyone now owns a smartphone. Amazon, often defined as The Everything Store, focuses on consumer benefits that are lower prices. This idea of providing everything at cheaper prices makes it a favorite among consumers. Amazon has now nearly entered every market and is making it very difficult for its competitors. What are the various consequences of this monopoly on the world? These tech giants lobby the government into economic reforms. This leads emerging entrepreneurs to either sell their products or adhere to their demands. There has been a lack of choice and a lack of freedom. This often leads to large mergers and acquisitions. There have often been questions raised on the privacy of the consumers. The private chats of consumers are not encrypted. There have been various questions raised on the transparency of these apps. Manipulation of data has been an event that occurs frequently. Governments across the world have been trying to break monopolies into smaller companies. There have been various laws formed in different countries to tax these monopolies. These monopolies have also been the platform for movements like #MeToo which have raised a positive effect amongst the masses. At this point in time, we just can’t disrupt these monopolies; we have to live with them whether we like it or not. We can just control them to an extent. Governments are still trying to control them but all of this will eventually take time.

There has been a spate of Hollywood reboots which replace the previous film's male-dominated cast with female leads. Are such films a legitimate and powerful way to further the feminist cause? Or are such films mere lip service and an attempt to profiteer from the movement? Purva Gadage gives her two cents on the issue. On September 2017, Paramount pictures announced a reboot for the vintage Terminator series, but with an all-female cast. Following with the intention of woman empowerment, classics and vintage films are being revived with all-female casts replacing men in pivotal roles. This decision is neither revolutionary nor unsurprising as many studios have been following this particular trend, given the rise of the new social justice wave in recent times. This tide can be accredited as a byproduct of the Fourth Wave Feminist movement, which has kept all industries including Hollywood, on their toes. By replacing the typical male hero with a woman, there is a goal of subverting conventional male audience spaces by encouraging women to become fans and to endorse the narrative that “women can do anything that men can do”. Additionally, there is an intention to force male audiences to accept women in different roles than the typical “sidekick” and “love interest”. By providing representation to women in conventional male spaces, these reboots can be validly interpreted as historical revisionism, or in this case, pop-cultural revisionism, for female audiences. Although these reboots are being made with highly noble and egalitarian agendas, they have been very problematic and have not helped the feminist movement at all. The criterion for a feminist film isn’t and cannot simply be a female lead or an all-female cast. Many of these films are masquerading as feminist films due to the current market value of feminism and represent the film industry’s cynical profiteering of contemporary feminist ideals. The main reason these reboots fail to be feminist is the manner in which they are made. While studios invest in these so-called inclusive films, they don’t actually entrust a female staff, that is, female directors and writers to tell these stories. By retaining men in key powerful positions, the film just serves as lip service to the feminist cause. Breaking this paradigm is what made the 2017 film Wonder Woman so revolutionary. It had a female lead and a female director retelling the classic from a fresh perspective, with well-written characters, and a cohesive storyline. It wasn’t made with a man’s perceived idea of what a feminist film should be like. Although the film was not perfect, it was still a good move in the right direction and was well vindicated in the Box Office. It, therefore, helped pave the way for increased women’s participation in powerful behind the scenes positions. A second argument on why these reboots are not feminist is the baggage in their storyline - there is usually, a subtle responsibility on these films to fix and neutralize the sexism of the previous films. There is an expectation to repeat everything that the men did, but backward, with integrity. Since the motive of the film is to look “progressive” and “feminist”, storylines are modified for the same, which often leads to a compromise on the logic and the action of the plot. This more often than not leads to bad movies, bad earnings, and contributes to a bad narrative surrounding women-led film projects. A recent example could be taken from the popular Ocean series which was revived in 2018 with an all-female cast. But in comparison to its predecessor Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s 8 has a weaker plot with poorly written characters. While Ocean’s Eleven attempts to bamboozle Terry Benedict, a casino magnate, Ocean’s 8 sets its plot around Claude Becker, a hubristic art dealer who duped Debbie out of an art fraud scheme and a relationship. The underlying difference between the two, however, is that while Benedict served as a formidable rival, Becker was simply a pantomime villain. Although Becker’s downfall served the essence of female empowerment, it in no way served the plot. But it would be unfair to hold Hollywood to a higher standard and assume it isn’t a capitalist industry. Historically, Hollywood has always stuck to reboots and doesn’t have a reason to divert from this practice. Most Hollywood films usually have a basis (successful novels, comics, video games, etc.) Reboots are just another source to develop a new film. Since the audience is familiar with the base material, they’re likely to be paying more attention, making any subsequent remake a much safer gamble over a new script. It also makes fiscal sense for studios to invest in female reboots. In a study conducted by CAA (Creative Artists Agency) it was found that on average, female-led films make more money than male-led films on every budget level. But with logic and facts on their side, female reboots still somehow fail to procure their expected momentum. Designating the audience sexist and that they will never accept female-led films is a weak argument. This is evident with box office hits such as Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect, and even cult classics such as Legally Blonde and Miss Congeniality. All of these films have strong female leads in original scripts. Reboots are made with the expectation of bettering the previous version of the film. But by replacing the cast with a female cast and a forced compromise on the story’s integrity, it becomes a dictation of what you want the audience to like, not what the audience actually wants. Since very few female-led films are made, these films are subject to more scrutiny than male - led films with greater pressure to somehow be a feel-good film with the right politics. But a feminist film need not compromise on good storytelling to capture the essence of the feminist struggle. Alternatively, these films also do not have to serve as a symbolic corrective to Hollywood’s mistreatment of women and should be allowed to fashion their own journey independent of “woke politics” and undoing a historical wrong. Reviving old films and rebranding them with an all-female cast is just a patronizing offering towards the feminist movement. Removing men from films contributes nothing towards achieving a sincere representation of women. This is especially the case when all strings are pulled by male executives in male-dominated studios. All of which tells us that if we want to further advance the cause of equality, we need good art representative of women. We need new scripts with bold female characters, and we need more women influencing film behind the camera.

After the smash-buckling success of the first edition, SSE's youngest club SmallTalk returns with the second installment of its flagship event which was marked by the presence of musician Andrew Sabu and performer Sushant Divgikar. Here's what happened. The much-anticipated event, Off The Clock' 2019 hosted by SmallTalk concluded successfully on the 14th of October 2019. SmallTalk with the speakers, Sushant Divgikar and Andrew Sabu. Credits: PicClick After a week of hype leading up to the event, hundreds of students from SSE and elsewhere were eagerly lined up outside the Ambedkar Hall, each hoping to secure a seat at the event so they could catch the two immensely popular guest speakers - Andrew Sabu and Sushant Divgikar. The event started with a performance by Dhruv Uthra and Mayank Saini, from the band Zemira, with a lilting original piece. The band's performance got the crowd energized and ready for the first guest speaker of the afternoon. Zemira received rousing applause from the crowd. Credits: PicClick Rising independent artist, Andrew Sabu, spoke about his journey as an indie artist, going gig by gig and eventually founding his label named LVNG. He talked about his mission to improve the indie scene in India by using LVNG as a platform to help up and coming indie artists. After talking about his journey, Sabu treated the audience to a few songs from his eponymous debut EP. Andrew Sabu mid-performance. Credits: PicClick To follow up after Sabus' talk was a series of performances from the music club of SSE, Raaga. Their soulful melodies lit up the room and impressed many. Raaga regulars Aneeta George and Ayush Abraham mid-performance. Credits: PicClick Their performance gave way to the flamboyant Sushant Divgikar who spoke about his journey as a model as well as his reckoning with his sexuality in a humorous and engaging talk which the crowd thoroughly enjoyed. The audience was also treated to a beautiful collaboration between Abhigyan from Raaga and Sushant at the end of the latter's talk. Sushant Divgikar and Andrew Sabu addressing the audience's questions. Credits: PicClick All in all, the second edition of Off The Clock II was a huge success. Pranav Munot, the head of the club, finished with his comments on the event as well as a vote of thanks to concluding the evening.

Arthniti held its very first guest lecture on January 13, 2020 which was graced by the presence of noted journalist Parth MN. Mr. Parth eloquently expressed his views on the rural economy and how honest journalism can make a difference. Pia Barve writes on what happened at the event. On the 13th of January, 2020, Arthniti hosted its first-ever guest lecture. Mr. Parth M.N, a former special correspondent with the Los Angeles Times and a Ramnath Goenka Excellence awardee, succeeded in leaving the audience spellbound with his subtle observations made over the course of his career in journalism. Mr. Parth predominantly writes on politics, agrarian issues, and rural development. He has extensively traveled across the Marathwada region on a People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) Fellowship to document the prevalent agrarian crisis and his articles have appeared in reputed publications such as The Wire, Mumbai Mirror, First Post, The Quint, and Los Angeles Times to name a few. Mr. Parth MN addressing the audience. Credits: Yash Venugopal Mr. Parth began the talk by stating certain hard-hitting facts. The hurdle in bringing rural news to the headlines stems from the dominance of stories that originate from the National Capital. He explained that 60% of the news that reaches us comes from Delhi and that the Tier 2 and Tier 3 regions are ill-represented. The mainstream news features stories that concern a majority of the viewership/ readership and hence leave out the minority, despite their realities being worthy of attention. The dearth of reporters in covering farmers’ issues aggravates the severity of the agricultural crisis by effectively reducing the outward flow of information from rural areas. Sir, further emphasized that this scarcity of truth-diggers has led to a very superficial coverage of farmer issues and has made the urban class blindly believe the distorted rural news that reaches them. The on-going agricultural crisis was discussed as a major cause for the influx of labor into the informal sector along with the water crisis and poor implementation of schemes such as MGNREGA. In the case of the latter, less than 10% of the beneficiaries have been awarded what was promised to them. This reality has induced rural to urban migration. The flourishing ‘Labour Chowks’ in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh are a testament to this fact. Mr. Parth elucidated that this migration is not underpinned by some fantasy of living in a big city but borne out of compulsion - to escape the harsh economic reality of the village. The talk was followed by an intense question-answer round which brought out certain well-formulated perspectives and made the audience put on their thinking caps! Questions were asked on varied issues such as the water crisis, dropouts in schools among kids who belong to farmer families, the underrepresentation of women and agricultural labor in the farmer suicide data, the logic of farm waivers, the evils of middlemen, and more. The effects of climate change, the lack of research initiatives in understanding climate change, the need to revise cropping patterns, and the innovation in irrigation methods were also actively discussed. Mr. Parth carefully warned that even though he supports the practice of awarding a Minimum Support Price (MSP) to cultivators of certain crop varieties, this must be undertaken along with effective procurement practices. (From L-R: Ira Deulgaonkar, Swastik Routray, Parth MN, Vikramsinh Patil, Uday Wadehra, and Omkar Arora.) Towards the end, Sir implored the audience to be wary of fake news. There must be an attempt to verify every piece of information that we encounter to do away with the instability and mistrust that is engendered by falsification. The session ended on a positive note that the aim of effective journalism should be to provide a voice to the voiceless and to make the issues of the voiceless feature in dining room conversations!

Srishti Singh pens a stirring piece on how media representation of the LGBTQ+ community, while important and emancipatory, can unwittingly promote damaging stereotypes. She vouches for normalization and concludes that an individual's personality is much more than their sexuality. It is a well-noted fact that over the past two decades the LGBTQA+ community has gone through a revolution. The world has never been more accepting of them with 28 countries legalizing same-sex marriage and 120 countries decriminalizing homosexuality as of June 2019. Members have found acceptance in the media through representation on various platforms including film, television, and music. While this has been praised by many and cited as one of the reasons for the widespread acceptance of the community, it has also inadvertently harmed the community in several ways Media representation is a powerful tool. How a particular community is portrayed by the media has a huge impact on the general public’s opinion of them; which is why one of the biggest criticisms against media platforms has been their frequent misrepresentation of the queer community. It has been observed that the portrayal of queer characters has usually been stereotypical and demeaning. The lesbian character is almost always portrayed as masculine with short hair and the gay men as flamboyant and feminine. These are strong stereotypes associated with the community. Persistently portraying queer characters in this manner can cause more harm than good for there are feminine lesbians and masculine men who are made to feel excluded because of these very stereotypes. The lesbian characters that are feminine are usually extremely sexualized to titillate the male gaze, mirroring the felt experience of the lesbian community who claim to be sexualized in real life as well. Another criticism regarding the portrayal of queer characters on TV shows and films is that their purpose on the show revolves solely around their sexual orientation. The character either serves no purpose to the plot and is only there for the sake of attracting queer audiences, or the character’s presence in the plot is only because of their sexuality. These characters are strongly defined by their sexuality and the audience is reminded of the same every time the character is on the screen. This can be viewed negatively as it conveys the message to the viewers that the only significant thing about queer people is that they are queer - which is not true. People are more than their sexual and gender identities and the media should focus more on normalizing these characters rather than defining them by their sexuality. The music industry also faces similar issues. A lot of big names in the music industry, both belonging to the community and otherwise, have made music catering to the community. One of the biggest names in this genre is Hayley Kiyoko, an American singer who rose to fame after releasing a song titled ‘girls like girls’, whose music video has crossed over 100 million views on YouTube making her a well-known name in the LGBT community. Kiyoko’s music, however, is only about her loving girls, she does not make music on any other subject, and considering that her audience is primarily young lesbians and queer girls, this sends a wrong message by once again making your sexuality your defining factor. We have several other big queer artists such as Troye Sivan, Lauren Jauregui, Halsey. Lady Gaga and Brendon Urie have made music about their love for the same sex but have also made music on many other different subjects. Hayley Kiyoko has built a career solely out of her sexual orientation and this conveys a wrong message about the importance of one’s sexuality. There is no denying that there are examples of healthy representation as well that have had a positive impact on the community. In fact, media representation in general has been an important factor for promoting wider acceptance of the LGBT community by giving them a voice and a spotlight. Having celebrities and big media platforms convey the message of ‘love is love’ is very powerful and does create an impact. But it is just as important for these platforms to ensure that the representation they showcase is realistic. It is important to normalize queer identities and to convey the message that an individual’s identity is not restricted to their sexuality and that we are equal regardless of who we feel attracted to. Normalization is the key to acceptance and a brighter and more inclusive future.

Omkar Arora, our Sports Editor, pens an incisive overview of the bitter rivalry between Mohun Bagan AC and East Bengal FC - a rivalry that is deeply intertwined with the socio-cultural dynamic of Bengal Mohun Bagan Athletic Club established in 1889, 30-time winners of the Calcutta Football League, 16-time winners of the Durand Cup, 14-time winners of the Rovers Cup, 22-time winners of the IFA Shield, 4 top-flight titles, 14-time winners of the Federation Cup, and twice winners of the Indian Super Cup, widely considered as the national club of India. East Bengal Football Club 1920 established, 39-time winners of the Calcutta Football League, 16-time winners of the Durand Cup, 10-time winners of the Rovers Cup, 29-time winners of the IFA Shield, thrice winners of the National League, 8-time winners of the Federation Cup, 3-time Champions of the Indian Super Cup and ASEAN Club Championship winner in 2003, considered as the immigrants club. The Boro Match which takes place between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal is described as one of the most legendary football rivalries, ranking alongside the Superclasico between River Plate and Boca Juniors, the Derby Della Capitale between Roma and Lazio, the Derby Della Madonnina between the Milan clubs, Manchester United vs Liverpool and the El Classico. But the rivalry closest in resemblance to the Calcutta derby is the Old Firm derby between Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers. Celtic being the club of the immigrants, predominantly Catholic, supported by the Irish who came to Glasgow during the years of the Irish Potato Famine and Rangers supported by the Scots, Unionists and staunchly Protestant. Both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal symbolize particular demography be it the prawn eating Ghotis or the Ilish eating Bangalas Mohun Bagan, the older of the two clubs is also the oldest football club in India. While it was successful in local competitions, its big success came in the 1911 IFA Shield when the barefooted Mohun Bagan players beat the East Yorkshire Regiment 2-1 in the final to become the first Indian club to win the IFA Shield. This was considered a landmark moment not just in the history of Indian football but also in the independence struggle as the natives had finally beaten the masters at their own game. East Bengal meanwhile was formed as a result of a dispute between officials of the Jorbagan Football Club when Jorbagan refused to field a player from the East Bengal region. Miffed, the Vice-President of Jorbagan, Suresh Chandra Chaudhuri, started his club with a few others and named it after their region, East Bengal. The first-ever clash between the two iconic clubs happened on 8 Aug 1921 in the Cooch Behar Cup which ended in a goalless draw. Mohun Bagan won the replayed semifinal on 10 Aug 1921 by defeating East Bengal 3-0. The first-ever league meeting happened on 28 May 1925 in the Calcutta Football League at the Mohun Bagan Ground where East Bengal won 1-0. Ever since the great rivals have faced each other 321 times in the past with East Bengal enjoying a healthy lead with 121 wins and Mohun Bagan trailing at 90 while 110 matches ended in a stalemate. The signing policy of the Calcutta clubs symbolized their similarity between the Old Firm clubs. Sectarianism in Glasgow led to Rangers and Celtic signing only Protestant or Catholic footballers, Celtic began their move away from this unofficial policy by bringing on Jock Stein, a Protestant, as their manager in 1965. Rangers did not move away from this policy until the early 1990s when manager Graeme Souness signed Mo Johnston, a Catholic and an ex Celtic player, thereby putting an end to the sectarian transfer policy of the Old Firm clubs. Mohun Bagan followed the transfer policy of Rangers and made it a point to not sign foreigners until the 1990s when they signed Nigerian forward Chima Okorie. East Bengal on the other hand supposedly contracted the first foreign footballer in India, another Nigerian by the name David Williams in the late 1970s. Such transfer policies intended to provide the clubs and the fans an identity, the identity of being a Unionist Rangers fan, an Irish Celtic fan, a nationalist Mohun Bagan fan, or the refugee from East Bengal. The Sobuj Maroon Brigade (Green and Maroon Brigade) of Mohun Bagan draws its ranks from the Ghotis, the people who are natives of present-day West Bengal whereas East Bengal and its Lal Holud Brigade comprises of the Bangalas from present-day Bangladesh. This resulted in derogatory terms lota and macha being used by both sets of fans for each other. Lota being used to symbolize that the refugees from East Bengal did not carry more than a lota with them when they migrated from the East and macha used to mock the Mohun Bagan fans that used to sit on logs of wood and chat amongst themselves. The ugliest part of the Calcutta derby undoubtedly is the hooliganism associated with it. Usually, the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan fans are seated in separate galleries so that any kind of fan riots are prevented. However, on 16th August 1980, a day now observed as Football Lovers Day, both sets of fans were made to sit together in the stands. In the absence of segregation and inadequate police protection in the stands, the riots spread like wildfire and people started running towards exits to save themselves. Young fans jumped off the high stands onto concrete floors to save themselves while many tried to flee through the narrow gates, which led many to fall down. It caused an inevitable stampede that took the lives of 16 football fans. East Bengal Ultras, a supporters group of East Bengal fans recently became the first Indian club to have an ultras group associated with it. East Bengal Ultras made their first appearance in an away game in 2013 at Bengaluru. Ever since then they have made use of tifo's and smoke to intimidate opponents in both home and away games. Mohun Bagan though is the intellectuals club and the club carries itself in an air of superiority. Mohun Bagan fans consider themselves well-read, suave, and more informed than the average East Bengal fan. The Marxist Ideologue and the longest-serving Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu was a hardcore fan of Mohun Bagan, so was former Speaker of the Lok Sabha Somnath Chatterjee. Since 2014, with the advent of the Indian Super League, a new entrant ATK (formerly Atletico de Kolkata), has tried capturing the Calcutta football audience. In the past, Mohammedan Sporting Club a smaller club compared to Mohun Bagan and East Bengal was the third club of Calcutta. But with ATK bringing in marquee players such as Luis Garcia and Robbie Keane, and also winning the new Indian Super League twice, ATK has been partially successful. Starting with an initial average attendance of 45,000 per game in the first season of ISL, ATK's average attendance is now around 17,000 per game. In August 2020, East Bengal FC will complete 100 years of existence. As part of the centennial celebrations, fans across the world hoisted the club flag at iconic venues across the world such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Tower Bridge in London, and the Shaheed Minar in Bangladesh. Mohun Bagan completed 130 years of existence in August 2019 and was inducted into the Club of Pioneers, a network of the oldest existing football clubs in each country. The Ghoti-Bangala rivalry went a step further this year with the Ilish(Hilsa)-Chingri(Prawn) Festival being held in London. The theme of the festival was the rivalry between the two football giants of Calcutta in a bid to educate the next generation kids about Bengali heritage. Back home both Calcutta Clubs have struggled in the recent past with only one I-League title between the clubs ever since they revamped National League started. Clubs from other parts of the country with bigger finances and better coaches have been more successful. The ISL which has provided the much-needed glamour to Indian football has not been too good for the two giants, instead, it has brought confusion regarding the future of Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, and other I-League clubs who have a history attached to them. The All India Football Football Federation(AIFF), in a bid to end the confusion surrounding the dual league structure of the ISL and I-League has promised to come together with the Asian Football Confederation(AFC) on 14th October 2019 and present a roadmap for Indian Football. What it holds for the two giants of Indian football and for Indian football in itself remains to be seen.

Ethnic Day is unarguably one of the most highly anticipated events of the year. Read on to know how SSE celebrated its Ethnic Day this year. The Big Fat Indian Wedding: Raj weds Simran (DDLJ anyone?) Credits: PicClick The Ethnic Day of Symbiosis School of Economics was held on the 25th of September 2019. The theme for this year was ‘The Big Fat Indian Wedding’ and, indeed, the event kicked off like any quintessential Bollywood nuptial would do — with a grand Dhol band whipping out classic tunes that got the student body of SSE dancing in no time. The pinks and blues of the ghagras and the gold and oranges of the kurtas swirled into a resplendent mix on the steps of the Vishwabhavan and the air rang with laughter and claps. Dholaks whipping out classic tunes. Credits: PicClick It was soon time to enter the auditorium and to commence with the main function. The event kicked off with the inaugural lighting of the lamp by the Director, Dr. Jyoti Chandiramani; the Deputy Director, Dr. Debdulal Thakur; and Program In-Charge, Dr. Deepa Gupta along with other faculty and staff members. Dr. Jyoti then addressed the gathering and concluded with a call for the festivities to begin. Jyoti Ma'am, seen here, lighting the lamp. From L-R: Debdulal Sir, Jyoti Ma'am, Avani Darne (MSc General Secretary), Para Rajeshwari (MSc President) Credits: PicClick The BSc. and the MSc choirs enthralled the audience with their respective performances. The diverse cultural heritage of India was exuberantly depicted through the numerous pieces performed by the students. Special mention should be made of the BSc Raaga Third Years who gave an electro-pop tinged rendition of the famous AR Rahman composition “Jiya Jale”. The captivating performance was then followed by the BSc. Theatre Club, Streetlights, delivering a skit titled ‘Siyappa’. The MSc. students were not far behind in entertaining the audience either. MSc. Epilogue delivered a strong piece showcasing the various stages of a girl's life as she leaves her family behind to enter a new one after marriage. BSc Raaga Third Years enthralling the audience with their rendition of 'Jiya Jale'. Credits: PicClick To entertain the audience further, the hosts engaged them in a shayari battle, pitching the ‘ladkawalas’ against the ‘ladkiwalas’. If this wasn’t enough, BSc Epilogue performed lyrical poetry to set the tone for the wedding of ‘Raj and Simran’. MSc Streetlights followed with a humorous skit around Desi Wedding Stories which was highly appreciated by the audience. The event also witnessed fresh stand up comedians from BSc Streetlights dishing out one-liners and leaving the audience in splits. The event reached its final leg with the Inter-Batch Dance competition, indisputably the most anticipated event as every batch looks forward to winning. Highly competitive but undeniably campy and fun, students see this as more of a celebration and cheer throughout the performances (one need only look at the rows at the back, the aisles near the stage, and the seats on top to see a bevy of students dancing to their heart's content). The judges of the competition, Professor Krishna Kanta Roy and Professor Shilpi Singh addressed the gathering following all performances and felicitated the winners of the competition. BSc Third Years (woohoo!) bagged the first prize while the BSc. First Years placed second. The event further saw a Best Dressed Competition towards its closing. The BSc First Years won the Best Dressed for both male and female categories. The event concluded with the BSc. President Riten Dhawan and General Secretary Nikhil Punwani of the Student Council congratulating the achievers and delivering the Vote of Thanks. Ethnic Day was an enriching and entertaining experience for all present. Editor's Note: For those wishing to relive their Ethnic Day memories, a bit more viscerally, you can always check out the Ethnic Day story on our Instagram page!