| Greetings from India! You're reading Meanwhile, Back Home, our daily newsletter specially curated for our overseas readers. While you were asleep, it was a whirlwind of a day here in India. We've got the top highlights lined up for you.
Dear reader, In the heartland of Punjab, where marriage often doubles as a ticket abroad, seven families believed they had found the perfect match in Harpreet Kaur, aka Harry, a Canada-based woman. However, what seemed to be a golden opportunity proved to be a costly con. From video calls to framed photo engagements, Harry’s mother, Sukhdarshan Kaur, masterminded the scam, duping grooms of over ₹1.6 crore with a promise of a life overseas. While Sukhdarshan is now behind bars, Harry remains in Canada. Left behind are broken dreams, sold farmland, fake ceremonies, and the hopeful men who never imagined their bride would stay a photo forever.
💡Spotlight The United States has designated The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the group behind April’s deadly Pahalgam attack, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). India has hailed the decision as a strong signal of zero tolerance for terror. Here’s why this matters: 📌 Pahalgam horror: The April 22 attack in Jammu and Kashmir killed 26 civilians, marking the worst civilian massacre in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. TRF publicly claimed responsibility, twice. 📌 Consequences: As an FTO and SDGT, TRF is now banned under US law. Aiding or financing it is a federal crime. It cuts the group off from any global financial system tied to the US. 📌 India-US cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called the move a “strong affirmation” of bilateral cooperation. The MEA said the step reflects the importance of dismantling terror infrastructure through international collaboration. 📌 Pressure on Pak: TRF has long been viewed as a front for Pakistan-based LeT. With this designation, the US openly acknowledges TRF’s role and proxy links, aligning with India’s years-long effort to expose and isolate such groups diplomatically.
☕ Spill the Expresso Fool Volume Vir Das is back, suit pressed, wit intact, and voice (barely) recovered. In Fool Volume, his sixth Netflix special, Das blends introspection with absurdity, tossing out jokes about duck sex, Kangana Ranaut, and India’s obsession with power. Filmed across three continents, the show is equal parts polished and panicked, a reflection of a comedian in transition. He riffs on cancel culture, middle-class delusions, and even name-drops Shah Rukh Khan. But while Das hits moments of poignancy, Fool Volume feels more like a throat-clearing than a comeback. The jokes land (mostly) but the fire is flickering.
🚨 Must Read Bollywood’s Bengali woman stereotype From Rocky Aur Rani to Aap Jaisa Koi, Bollywood continues to reduce Bengali women to clichéd figures: sensual, intellectual, privileged, and wrapped in wispy saris, writes my colleague Rinku Ghosh. These characters, often from elite upper-caste families, erase the real, diverse stories of Bengali women who fought societal norms — from Rokeya Sakhawat to Matangini Hazra. The industry’s portrayal sidelines working-class pioneers and reinforces narrow ideals of liberation. Bengali women have long been at the forefront of education, activism, and change, and are not just decoration for progressive plots. It is time for cinema to reflect their reality, not its own aesthetic fantasies.
📚Book Nook Literary treasure unearthed Over 80 years after it was written, F Scott Fitzgerald’s long-lost Pat Hobby story, Double Time, has finally seen the light of day. Hidden in Princeton’s archives, the tale of a washed-up Hollywood screenwriter juggling two studio gigs and a bottle of gin was published in The New Yorker. It’s grim, funny, and laced with Fitzgerald’s signature irony. Pat Hobby, once dismissed as a literary afterthought, now feels oddly timeless in 2025. A survivor, like his creator. Have a good day, Cheers, Aishwarya Khosla
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