The joy of watching Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

June 15, 2026 Bombay Badshah 23 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

After the twin pleasures of the Indian cricket team’s campaign in the T20 World Cup in February and early March and Dhurandhar: the Revenge in late March, the thing that has given me a lot of joy throughout the months of April and May is watching Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s batting in the IPL.

As I write this, he has been selected for the Ireland and England tours in late June-July, becoming the youngest Indian to get an international callup ever, surpassing the great Sachin Tendulkar. He also won the IPL MVP award along with the Emerging Player Award (usually people win them years apart, not in the same year) along with a variety of other awards. This follows the U-19 World Cup in February where he was Man of the Match in the final as well as Man of the Tournament.

And it is not just me, but the entire cricketing world which has been set aflutter by his exploits. His extremely fast pace of play (even compared to some of the fastest players in the world) plus his insane shot making and bat swing have made him a fan favourite already.

Continue reading The joy of watching Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

The invisibility of caste in Pakistan

May 30, 2026 Bombay Badshah 8 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

I’ll do a larger post sometime later (maybe tomorrow) but a quick rebuttal of some points raised by Kabir in his latest post regarding caste.

Kabir mentioned this about privilege.

All the Pakistanis on BP are privileged given that we are all English-speaking and all of us have foreign citizenship (I assume).

All the Indians on BP are also privileged in that they are able to converse in English.

Notice the difference. The Pakistanis had to go abroad to live/study. The Indians didn’t. I don’t know about most Indians here (maybe they would like to enlighten) but I have spent my entire life in India. I have only gone abroad on vacation. There is no Pakistani equivalent here.

And that is telling.

India is better than Pakistan on all socioeconomic metrics. And I can link charts, data etc here but real world examples like this are more telling.

Sujatha Gidla, a Dalit was able to get education in some of India’s best educational institutions and make it to the United States where she could write a book in English. Unlike in Pakistan, one need not be a descendant of “doctors and lawyers” to be able to go down that path.

Again, I am not denying the existence of discrimination against Dalits (or for that matter Muslims) in India.

But the fact that Dalits (and Muslims) have dissenting voices as well as a visible presence in India speaks for India’s relative egalitarianism vis a vis Pakistan.

In fact, I would say caste is even more pervasive in Pakistan than India due to the complete denial by the privileged castes (as we can see here) and the complete invisibility of it. Kabir has multiple times spoken of his Iranian ancestry as well as EK of his Kashmiri Brahmin ancestry so they are very much “Ashrafs” speaking about “Ajlafs” and “Arzals”.

Poetry by Iqbal is fine and dandy but that doesn’t change the reality on the ground.

All those Muslims exist on the Indian side too where they receive affirmative action (as they should). What is called as “biradiri” is basically “caste”.

Kabir did make this comment about “proper Muslims”.

Proper Muslims (Arabs) don’t have caste.

First of all, it is good to see the acceptance by Pakistanis that they are not “proper Muslims”.

Secondly, since they are not “proper Muslims” but “Hindu Muslims” maybe time for them to examine their faults?

Caste & British Pakistani Grooming Gangs

May 25, 2026 Bombay Badshah 28 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

Admin Note: this thread was permitted and indeed encouraged. We hold that every community benefits from examining its own shibboleths. Members of the Saffroniate are accordingly asked to state their caste identity, and the privilege attendant on it, before participating in discussions about their Achilles heel. Intellectual honesty requires such disclosure to precede the argument.

Pakistan and North India

Pakistan is more “North Indian” than India. India has a much greater chunk of North India, both by area and population but it has a much bigger non North Indian population which changes the overall nature of India. Pakistan doesn’t so it remains steadfastly North Indian – in culture, language, food etc.

One of the side-effects of this is that Pakistan views India through the North Indian lens.

And while Pakistan is diverse in its own right, Indian diversity is orders of magnitude higher – in terms of race, language, culture, religion etc. India is a continent as a country. You could call it a “subcontinent”. Continue reading Caste & British Pakistani Grooming Gangs

Dhurandhar, Netflix and the India-Pakistan Asymmetry

May 22, 2026 Bombay Badshah 25 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

Netflix’s analytics for last week are out, including Pakistan. Dhurandhar: The Revenge is at the top of the Pakistan charts. The OG Dhurandhar is at 7th, completing 16 weeks in the top 10.

Even the main Netflix handle (not Netflix India, but the one based in the US) has been openly promoting the release.

Continue reading Dhurandhar, Netflix and the India-Pakistan Asymmetry

Bangladesh whitewash Pakistan again

May 21, 2026 Bombay Badshah 28 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

Bangladesh completed a whitewash over Pakistan yesterday in the test series they were playing at home, winning it 2-0. This follows the 2-0 whitewash they achieved in the test series before this, in Pakistan two years ago (in Rawalpindi, of all places). Bangladesh have also won the last ODI and T20I series between the two sides.

During my vanvaas, apart from enjoying the IPL (on which I will do a post later, maybe after the final) I also watched a decent chunk of the test series. Test cricket has its own flavour of joy, distinct from the more immediate rush of T20 cricket. Its slower and more meandering pace means you can actually put it on the background while tending to other stuff.

Some thoughts about the series.

Bangladesh has overtaken Pakistan

Bangladesh has been doing economically well over the past few decades and now surpasses Pakistan in most, if not all socioeconomic indicators – higher GDP, higher GDP per capita, higher HDI, lower poverty rate, higher life expectancy, better access to electricity etc.

Diverging HDI between Bangladesh and Pakistan

Diverging GDP pci between Bangladesh and Pakistan

Continue reading Bangladesh whitewash Pakistan again

Return of the King

May 20, 2026 Bombay Badshah 5 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

The king returns from his vanvaas, refreshed and with a mind filled with clarity.

Before my self-imposed exile X.T.M said something which I have pondered upon during my time away.

Pakistan has anyway lost to India alas; thus the Pakistanis have to constantly deprecate India and everything she stands for.

I don’t need to be getting into mud fights in the comments sections writing essays.

The victor doesn’t need to proclaim his victory. The defeated know.

And as the winner, I possess an asymmetric array of “tools” to do my “Dhurandharing”. Far more civil and high-signal and in a way, more wounding.

Of course, that does not mean I won’t participate in the comments, but it will be in a more “support” role. There are many Dhurandhars here with some springing up in my absence so I need not play as active a role.

I have also changed my profile picture to reflect that change. While my earlier picture was from when Hamza was actively involved in street fights, my current one is from the later part of the movie where he takes a bit of a back seat to co-ordinate other guys. Of course just like in the movie, I won’t hesitate to personally participate if necessary.

India-Pakistan pop culture and future trends

May 7, 2026 Bombay Badshah 12 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

Admin Note: this is a shameless plug but rather related to Humza Shah’s post.

Just some general thoughts about India-Pakistan pop culture and future trends.

There were some comments in the recent discussions that caught my eye. One was about Pakistanis no longer using memes from recent Indian movies as well as another about Indian soaps being cheesy and badly made. Both are opinions I broadly agree with but there is a certain element that is being missed in such discussions.

Maybe due to the age of the commenters or maybe due to Pakistan not having equivalents, one thing was completely skipped: the rise of Indian streaming.

Due to rising incomes and internet penetration/quality, there has been a deluge of streaming platforms and shows all across India. These include American platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime as well as dozens of local Indian platforms – JioHotstar, Zee5, SonyLiv etc. Quality of these shows vary, as with everything but freed from the restrictions of TV censorship laws, these shows on an average do tend to be more transgressive and experimental, tackling topics/themes which would simply not find a place in normal cable TV. Also because these are usually seasons of a few episodes rather than a “daily” soap, they tend to be technically of a higher quality. The discerning urban/elite Indian demographic with access to American/global pop culture are the primary audience of these shows.

In a way, memes from these shows are now far more commonplace than memes from movies. And I have seen Pakistanis use these memes along with the memes from older 00s movies (mostly Akshay Khanna comedies). Tbf, even Indians don’t particularly use memes from modern movies. The Pakistani internet does seem to be influenced by the larger Indian internet, adopting trends wholesale (I even saw a Babar Azam edit with music from the second Dhurandhar movie).

Continue reading India-Pakistan pop culture and future trends

You cannot be a leftist if you support fundamentally illiberal positions

May 5, 2026 Bombay Badshah No Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

There is a lot of recurring debate in the comments repeatedly about who is a leftist, especially pertaining to subcontinental politics.

Rather than aim this post at a specific country or an individual, I would like to give some general thoughts regarding this.

Firstly, what is a leftist? This is the Wikipedia definition.

Left-wing politics or leftism is the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole

So you can say that democracy is a very leftist idea as it achieves a semblance of “social equality”. No matter how rich or poor you are, no matter your gender/race/caste/creed, you get one vote which counts the same as everyone else’s.

Similarly equal rights for all is also a very leftist idea as it aims for “social equality”. Of course, in real life it is not so clear cut because certain groups do have advantages over other groups due to historical reasons. But having equal rights “on paper” is at least a start towards leftist utopia. If you don’t have that at all, then equality is a non starter.

Continue reading You cannot be a leftist if you support fundamentally illiberal positions

Open Thread – Assembly Elections 2026

May 3, 2026 Bombay Badshah 36 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah

Results for Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam are more or less a given. West Bengal is the big one.

Opened it a day in advance for discussions.

India is the successor state of British India – it got independence, Bangladesh and Pakistan were formed

May 1, 2026 Bombay Badshah 32 Comments filed under Bombay Badshah, Precedent

Admin Note: we have brought this picture to the top of BB’s excellent post, which is a Precedent Post, because it deeply move us. Haifa has huge spiritual and sacral significance for us. The Spectacular Shrine of the Báb, the Divine Forerunner of the Bahá’í Faith (and the Symbolic Return of the 12th Imam), overlooks the City.

Modi at Haifa, Israel paying tribute to the Indian soldiers who died during the Battle of Haifa

Bharat Mata Ki Ja and the Holy Land join together to shine light on the World. Hurrah.. Both Israel & India house extensive Bahá’í buildings, apparently the most visited Monument in New Delhi is the Lotus Temple. Nowhere else in the Muslim world does the Bahá’í Faith have Sites of Worship (Pakistan has been very good to Bahá’ís but terrible to the Ahmadis).

Apologies for the Hijacking but back to the Badshah of Balochistan, our very own Humza.

In my previous post about India being the successor state to the Mughal Empire, I mentioned how India was also the successor state to hundreds of other polities which existed across many millennia. British India is one such polity which I will discuss today.

Note: As before, when I use India below I mean the current day Republic of India, not the region of “India” which also encompasses some territories of the modern day states of Bangladesh and Pakistan

The Inheritance

Unlike the previous post, I won’t give as detailed a picture because in the modern age the definition of “successor state” is very well defined.

Some examples of succession in the modern period are the Russian Federation taking over from the USSR in 1991 and the French Fifth Republic taking over from the French Fourth Republic in 1958. Both of them got their predecessor’s UN seats as well as the permanent Security Council spot.

The United Nations

Since we are talking of the United Nations, let us begin with that.

India is a founding member of the United Nations, signing the UN Charter on June 26, 1945, and formally joining on October 30, 1945.

Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar led the Indian delegation and signed the United Nations Charter on June 26, 1945, in San Francisco, United States

Continue reading India is the successor state of British India – it got independence, Bangladesh and Pakistan were formed