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Tanay Sukumar

Satirist-turned-journalist

Tanay Sukumar is a satirist-turned-journalist, and a Teach For India alumnus. Earlier, he founded and edited an international award winning satirical website. He writes on http://tanaysukumar.in.
That Reserved Seat You 'Lost' May Never Have Been

That Reserved Seat You 'Lost' May Never Have Been Yours

Recently, a viral Facebook post described how a general category student had written a Quora answer about a reserved category student who worked less, scored even lower, yet could get what the first guy could not, because of reservation. The post had nearly 10,000 likes. This flawed logic has often been used to criticize reservations. There is definitely a lot to criticize in the reservation policy and the related politics, but moaning over the seat that couldn't be yours is misguided. Here's a simple calculation...
03/06/2016 7:56 AM IST
The Trap Of Ordinariness Is Killing Our

The Trap Of Ordinariness Is Killing Our Imagination

I often meet young writing enthusiasts who do not write, singers who do not sing, and music and sports lovers who do little about their passion. When I myself started writing seven years ago, I found it disturbing that most of us are comfortable being perpetual "consumers" and rarely try to "create" something.
25/05/2016 8:17 AM IST
Our Engineering Entrance Exams Are Doing A Serious Disservice To

Our Engineering Entrance Exams Are Doing A Serious Disservice To Students

The hype around engineering gives us aspirants who might have done wonders in other fields, but the <em>exam system</em> in its current format gives us aspirants who can become great engineers, except that they end up in the wrong stream. It does not make sense for a student to submit one application for the whole umbrella of engineering courses, when software engineering is as different from chemical engineering, as political science is from English literature.
06/05/2016 8:27 AM IST
Here's When A Democracy DOESN'T Need

Here's When A Democracy DOESN'T Need Debate

When you create a discourse around a crime like corruption, the citizen class gets united against the political class. But when you create a discourse around ideologies, like the one taking place currently, citizens are forced to take sides without critical thought.
25/04/2016 8:21 AM IST