Our 2026 reader survey is open until 7 June – anonymous, roughly five minutes. Please take a moment.
Update – from the thread: More reading reccys. Furqan flagged Dr Naazir Mahmood’s The assassination that changed India, along with his own book review on Duniya Digital and a related op-ed, Stupidity or strategy, on the political economy of the subcontinent’s borrowed democratic forms. Kabir marked the passing of playback singer Suman Kalyanpur with two recordings: an unreleased Pakeeza song, introduced by Meena Kumari, and a Rafi duet. And from our own pages, the latest BRAHM newsletter: The Sky Above São Paulo.
Update, 1 June 2026 – links from the thread: The Peshawar Review has a new issue out, including Professor Harbans Mukhia’s reminiscences of Kirori Mal College (College Days) and Shan-e-Ahmed reading an Urdu transcreation of T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (Prufrock in Pakistan). On the Tata Sons listing question, Agni flagged a cluster of commentary: the Indian Express “to list or not to list” column, The New Indian Express on the boardroom fight, Soonawala on why an IPO may not appeal to investors, and Business Standard on the 12 June board meeting. Survey responses are at 18 and counting; please add yours if you haven’t.
Editor’s note, 1 June: This Survey thread will sit on the front page through the week, until Sunday the 7th June, while we are travelling Eastbound, so we have made it an Open Thread. What strikes us, watching the comment threads, is that for all the constant bickering, BP is a community, and a recognisably Desi one.
It has the hue of a Hindu joint family (to be of the Indian subcontinent is, almost by definition, to have Hindu ancestors; “Hindu” is simply what the Persians called the people beyond the Indus) that has built a wall down the middle of the house and still cannot get over each other. The wall is real. So is the fact that nobody moves out.
Original Post: Every few years BP runs a reader survey. Razib began the tradition in 2019, and the responses then told us things the comments alone never could.
Seven years on, with a substantially different commentariat, we are running the 2026 edition. The prompt to revive it came from Kabir, whose recent post on what BP is and is not raised exactly the kind of question a survey can help answer, and we are grateful for it.
Nineteen questions, anonymous, roughly five minutes. The core spine is demographic in Razib’s tradition: age, sex, country, mother tongue, ethnic background, religion, caste, education, political ideology, and views on Hindu and Pakistani nationalism. A few behavioural questions follow on how often you visit, how long you have been reading, how you first found BP, and which topics you would like to see more of, with optional fields at the end for handle, newsletter signup, and anything else you would like the editors to know.
Please take the time to fill in this survey. Thank you for your engagement.
please leave a comment if you have filled the survey..
we are not going to try and guess who is who but 3 people have filled so far.
Kabir sorry we didn’t make the final edit on your valid suggestion (views on Nationalism)..
I have filled out the survey
thanks very much. if the erm Commentariat could spare a while from slaughtering each other and full the survey that would be very helpful
Lol 😆
The new issue of The Peshawar Review is out.
BP readers might be interested in Professor Harbans Mukhia’s reminiscences of his time at Kirori Mal College.
https://thepeshawarreview.substack.com/p/college-days
Yes some really good articles in the Peshawar Review
We also have Shan-e-Ahmed reading my dad’s Urdu transcreation of T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
https://thepeshawarreview.substack.com/p/prufrock-in-pakistan
we would strongly recommend to members of the Commentariat to exercise the Precedent of disengagement since with K out of the fray; it seems to be a match-up between BB.RNJ vs. Q.EK
we aren’t interfering just yet but we do commend K in stepping out of toxic dynamics. it just feels very low-signal to be at each other all the time.
we have had 10 responses thus far; big whoop.
huge kudos to the Individual who when asked for their politicals views responsed:
Exteme Hindutva Pro Max + 5 nation theory – Bangladesh,Balochistan, Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, andPakistan
it may be different respondents for all we know however good banter never goes unappreciated here in BP..
we feel Humza may have filled the survey 🙂
I have but that was not me lol
ur in ur Jaskirat phase, abhi..
In a way, more dangerous.
This guy, whoever it is – please come and participate (if you are not already).
Rizwan..
Yes, he carries on the good work
I thought the ongoing issue of Tata Sons was intriguing yet complicated given the history of the Tatas in Indian industry. Ratan Tata was a titan and after his passing the void that was left is yet to be filled.
After Cyrus Mistry’s untimely death it just lead to more infighting. To quote formerly brown “clerks and butlers” ought not to run the show. Let’s see how this pans out given that Noel Tata hasn’t approved Chandrasekaran’s extension as chairman.
For those interested:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/to-list-or-not-to-list-tata-sons-that-is-our-question-10718321/
https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/2026/May/29/battle-of-fire-and-ice-at-the-heart-of-an-empire
https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/tata-sons-ipo-can-undermine-company-s-role-may-not-appeal-to-investors-former-vc-na-soonawala/ar-AA23Isud
http://www.business-standard.com/amp/companies/news/tata-sons-board-takes-close-look-at-new-age-businesses-next-meet-june-12-126052601741_1.html
Done
Kinda crazy that Western Indian isn’t a category considering how many bambaiya and gujju guys must be lurking in these forums.
apologies for the oversight, we have added the categories (East & West Indian) and also you have been sent an email re your particular request.
17responses thus far.. we will adapt the post above with links posted in the comments below
this is going to be a long week on BP lol
Suman Kalyanpur passed away a few days ago.
Here she is singing “Gir Gayi re More Mathe ki Bindiya” (an unreleased song from Pakeeza). Meena Kumari herself recites the introductory couplet.
I used to listen to this song as a kid. We had the CD “Pakeeza Rang Barang”. But I never really focused on who Suman Kalyanpur was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxdz4E_jgxI
And here’s a duet between Suman Kalyanpur and Muhammad Rafi
“Manmohan man me ho tumhi”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNewjRj0_qY
Interestingly enough- the Survey moratorium (its Sticky for the week) is cooling temperatures at BP..
Recently I made a comment on a thread, and then noticed it had disappeared, probably because the thread moderator deleted it. My comment was opinionated but definitely not abusive.
What is this website for anymore? Indian and Pakistani nationalists continuously talking past each other, occasionally gaslighting each other? Where nobody tries in good faith to engage with people who have different opinions from them? Where presenting facts that are “inconvenient” to one’s worldview are prohibited?
Which thread?
Authorial Autonomy is the essence of BP and so is Safety.
They are well-worn precedents. Why should an Admin override an Author unless in the most extreme of circumstances.
It’s a huge win that nationalists of different camps can co-exist in the BP system; that is actually one of the unique benefits.
This comment doesn’t also vibe with the fact our threads are VERY free-flowing.
This feels like rolling back Kabir’s influence on BP, but he has shown us the way and he is completely right on these two points (Authorial Autonomy and Online Safety).
Kabir also suggested this survey, which is now making us wonder how engaged is our readership, if we have only had 18 responses after 24 hours among an estimated 1,000 daily readers. That’s only 2% who have filled in the form.
It feels the Commentariat have filled in the survey but the vast silent readership are not for some reason..
I forwarded the survey to Furqan.
Let’s give people a few more days. You’ve made the post sticky for the rest of the week.
In one of my previous jobs, I had made a survey like this (it was an organization working with artists). I had to send out multiple reminders even to get the board members to fill the survey out. So getting responses is not as easy as one would think.
That survey was a bit more complicated since it had more qualitative questions and people actually had to write responses.
good to know thank you
Maybe you can send an email reminder in a couple days?
People are constantly talking past each other, XTM, with all due respect. Surely you can see that too?
Kabir says below (as he’s said elsewhere too) that he brooks no challenge to his opinions. At the same time, he tolerates no limits on his ability to opine. Others seem to be following that example too. So threads descend into an endless “tu-tu-mai-mai“. At the end of it, feelings are high and nobody changes their mind. What value do such threads produce then, despite them being “free flowing” (modulo opinions Kabir disapproves of, which get chucked by the wayside)?
And yes, I don’t care if Kabir disapproves of the term, but commentators (including him) are constantly gaslighting each other here.
This is a microcosm of the real-world subcontinental dynamics between India and Pakistan. But that is a highly dysfunctional dynamic. Are you really satisfied with just reflecting that on BP?
This is no excuse- if K has said something that is offensive and gratuitous, the Commentariat can email anything egregious in.
Also many have Authorship; they can easily refer to egregious comments in long form posts.
There can’t be any defaults to lazy solutions of rage baiting and triggers ..
If the complaint is specifically about me, any individual is free to completely disengage from me.
There are plenty of posts by other people that anyone can comment on.
There is honestly a lot of passive aggressive complaining going on.
You are misrepresenting what I said. People are free to disagree with me. They are not free to use an argumentative tone. I don’t tolerate disrespect. And I will stand by the fact that I found your use of the term “gaslighting” disrespectful.
In any case, I am only allowed to delete comments on my own posts. Surely, you can comment on other people’s posts?
You are also free to completely disengage from me. You just need to email XTM.
I do agree with you that there are some very toxic dynamics on this blog. Hence, why I’ve chosen to completely disengage with certain people.
but yes Online Safety Precedent means that any Commentator is protected from another.
we spend a lot of time, effort and energy to reason out Precedents. Of course Precedents can be overruled but we prefer academic treatments where we can be corrected.
After all more than 90% of the engaged readership has post graduate education; it is an exceptionally literate readership.
the surveys are upticking
It was a very good call to institute the Online Safety Precedent.
Rather then constantly being triggered by each other and rage baiting, it is better to just disengage.
The downside of this is that it can lead to a stifling of discourse but we’ll see how it goes.
not especially – it’s just that the survey has been taxing this week and we have been busy
I deleted your comment.
I don’t take kindly to accusations of “gaslighting”. I find that personally offensive. This was an accusation you made in your deleted comment.
I have made the red lines for my threads clear repeatedly. No one is allowed to use an argumentative tone towards me and no one is allowed to make anti-Pakistan remarks.
If you can stay within those lines, you’re welcome to comment. If not, the comment will be deleted.
“What is this website for anymore”– The survey provides you with an opportunity to influence future content on BP.
The Disciple is a great movie.
I actually had a “filmbro” era when I used to watch all these indie movies in empty theatres in Gurgaon and Juhu.
Maybe will do a post someday about the “Hindie” era of the late 2000s-early 2010s.
Other movies in that vein are Newton, Soni, Meel Patthar.
Jugnuma has got good reviews. Need to catch it some day.
Newton is a fantastic film!!
15 year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finishes the IPL as MVP, emerging player, highest run scorer and a bunch of other awards.
This a few months after playing the greatest U-19 knock in history in the WC final. He was also Man of the Tournament in the same WC.
He has captured the entire cricketing world’s attention and will probably debut next month.
RCB won again making it back to back. Kohli after 16 years of heartbreak is finally getting his just rewards. He was MoM in the final, joining Bumrah in winning MoM in an IPL final and a T20WC final (which Bumrah did in March this year). There was a Kashmiri Muslim Rasikh Salam Dar in RCB’s team who played a good third wheel to Bhuvi-Hazlewood.
Cricinfo released their list of 25 greatest cricketers of the 21st century. There was a big ceremony with the who’s who of the cricketing world attending. India got 7 players in it.
how old is VS btw? 15 or 17?
Officially 15. Even if he is faking, can’t be more than 16-17 considering all the baby fat.
I don’t think he is though. There are videos from around 2020 when he is a kid.
It’s fine I was just curious .. but doesn’t detract from the talent regardless.. the critical scale of Indian Superpowerdom is first manifesting in the cricketing space..
Yes.
Next 15 years will be transformative as people finally get out of survival mode.
India will keep growing post that but won’t be the seminal shift the next decade and half brings.
Rcb won and people are dancing in all other places other than Bangalore like Hyderabad, Lahore!!!, vizag etc. Why?
Cause of Kohli.
Kohli, Rohit and Dhoni ensure plenty of fans for their franchises.
Like Jordan made people Bulls fans and Curry Warriors fans.
I expect a lot of RR supporters to spring up now.
Good examples – it’s an interesting analogy .. the Premier League and how it impacts the talents of the host nation..
we have decided to make the threads unsticky but we will append the top insert reminding readers to fill in the survey in every post and ask every Author to do the same till 7th June
I have to say I am enjoying the newer calmer BP. The “ceasefire” is working wonders.
I have one concrete suggestion–just something I was toying with. Perhaps we could institute a BP Book Club? I don’t think it is too difficult to read a book together once a month or once every two months.
We could pick books with a South Asian theme, either non-fiction (such as SD’s book) or fiction. The fiction could be classics such as Midnight’s Children or newer South Asian literature in English (e.g. Mohammad Hanif’s Rebel English Academy).
My own preference would be something not so political since I don’t really want to incentivize Indians and Pakistanis yelling at each other.
We could have meetings on Zoom or Google Meet.
Just a suggestion. I’m happy to elaborate further if there is sufficient uptake.
That’s a very good suggestion tbh .. you can lead and select that if you like..
beyond the ceasefire it speaks to twin pillars of Authorial Autonomy and Online Safety..
the Precedents have allow BP ways to stay such a broad yet engaging (and at times provocative space)..
also we could do it on Zoom and upload it to Youtube as a BrownCast.
Great. I’ll definitely think further about a book club if there’s critical mass.
Off the top of my head, I could propose History (of the “WD” variety) and fiction (Mohammad Hanif’s A Case of Exploding Mangoes as well as the new book).
We could even read Manto’s short stories.
Lots of possibilities.
doesn’t really need mass because to do a podcast or zoom out of it is content.
I meant that a book club needs more than one or two people 🙂
The Peshawar Review is currently looking for submissions for the July issue as well as for future issues.
Here’s a general idea of the types of things we are looking for:
Talking about books we like and have enjoyed.
Showcasing new prose, poetry, and translations.
Re-introducing forgotten classics.
Specifically of relevance to the BP audience we have been trying to find someone to write about the impact that Dr. Ambedkar’s Pakistan or the Partition of India or Maulana Azad’s India Wins Freedom had on them.
For more details, see our “About” page:
https://thepeshawarreview.substack.com/about
We’ll keep those in mind ..
From Furqan’s SubStack:
“Shakespeare in Hindko”
https://freakthoughts.substack.com/p/shakespeare-in-hindko
This was an interesting (if rather long) essay:
“The Death of Urdu in America”
By Samarqand
https://sukhan.substack.com/p/the-death-of-urdu-in-america
The writer seems to be an Indian-American Muslim (of Hyderabadi extraction)
This was also an interesting essay:
“How My Dead Great-Grandfather Led Me to Islam’s Rarest Manuscript”
By Samarqand
https://sukhan.substack.com/p/how-my-dead-great-grandfather-led
He’s clearly of Hyderabadi extraction and he still seems deeply upset about the Indians taking over Hyderabad. He mentions in his first paragraph that “Haiderabad had never been subjected to rule by non-Muslims until 1948”
“about the Indians taking over Hyderabad”
Kabir let’s be a little more judicious in language peut-etre
Replace Hyderabad with almost any other subcontinental territory and Indians with Muslims and you’ll have the Crescentiate frothing at the mouth about Hindu revanchism. Takes two tango and as has been the case historically, the provocation almost always come from one side.
Polite request Kabir to reconsider this post. The detente should be maintained. I am personally a free speech absolutist but clearly that is not conducive to productive discussions here.
the Author btw is a PhDing at Harvard..
btw there is no detente; for instance if what Kabir has written is offensive (the Indians is provocative); we would edit that if we got an email in..
the Commentariat need to tread the fine line between Protocol and Precedent
He didn’t say “Hindus” he said Indians.
Anyway, it is a reality that a substantial section of Hyderabadi Muslims are still upset that Hyderabad fell to non-Muslims.
That wasn’t even the main point of the essay and I’m not necessarily endorsing it.
it doesn’t pass the sniff test for us but it could be just us
It’s his point of view.
You can’t argue with someone’s lived experience.
I wonder though, does BP need to protect the vanity of national identities on top of religious ones? I remember, more than a decade ago, a commenter objected to the term “brahminism”, and saw it as libelous. At some point we need to dismantle and put together ideas as part of critique, even if that is the constitutional republic itself, otherwise the precedents will just accrete to being “model UN”.
Let them seethe.
Sticks and stones and all that.
At the end of the day Hyderabad is Indian territory.
They did give great biryani though..
Good Biryani is a good thing. Everyone should have it.
That’s his POV not mine.
It’s his family’s lived experience. Who are we to judge it?
we wrote to him..
I put my location as Lahore/Karachi in the dating apps out of curiosity. They are banned there.
As @flydie says, the countries are truly diverging.
VPN?
No. In dating apps you can just change the location.
This is another interesting piece from Substack:
“A House Divided: The Ulema of the Indian Subcontinent and the Question of Partition”
By Hamza Khan
https://tigerofmodernity.substack.com/p/a-house-divided-the-ulema-of-the
The author says he is an ethnic Kashmiri who grew up in New Jersey.
I just learned about this new book coming out this month from Stanford University Press. It’s titled “Lahore After Modernism: Architecture and Its Histories in Pakistan” by Chris Moffat.
https://www.sup.org/books/asian-studies/lahore-after-modernism
The author is Senior Lecturer in History at Queen Mary University of London. He is author of India’s Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh.
RIP Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis enabled us to visualize the Iranian revolution through her eyes.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/04/style/marjane-satrapi-persepolis-author-dies-intl
Oh no! That’s tragic.
I loved “Persepolis”
“The Lasting Power of Tyeb Mehta’s Art”
By Noor Anand Chawla
https://daily.jstor.org/the-lasting-power-of-tyeb-mehtas-art
This was kind of expected. Annamalai is a very charismatic leader, so its just very short-sighted of the BJP to not have gone along with his vision in TN. I think he has the potential to become the country’s first Tamilian PM, a chance denied to K. Kamaraj. Incidently, IG felt threatened by him at the time.
https://theprint.in/politics/former-tn-chief-annamalai-quits-bjp-to-start-new-movement-cites-disagreement-with-party-leadership-2/2951449/