Hafta letters: Nagaland killings, crypto rants, Munawar Faruqui controversy

Hi Team, thought I'd add a recommendation to the upcoming discussion on the AFSPA murders in Nagaland. This piece by EastMojo captures the state attitude towards the northeast quite well.

Thanks as always for your amazing work.

Mohammad Salman

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Hafta 356: Great chat again, so thanks to the team. The only part which was disappointing was the section on crypto. Understood that the panel was not familiar with the subject, however, if this was the case why put it in the podcast at all? There was just one rant, (which is fair too) but there was no counter-opinion. Also that rant was, well, not very factual either. Yes, a lot is speculative, but what isn't in such nascent stages? Any investment needs to be considered keeping in mind the risks involved. Yes, it’s super volatile, but the investor knows that (hopefully).

Plus, crypto does have several real world uses. Are most of them useless? Yes. Are ALL of them useless? Absolutely not. Would have preferred a more informed debate or at least remove it from the title of the podcast cause otherwise we expect more.

Keep up the fantastic work and love everything you guys do. More power to you!

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Hello,

I am an avid listener of Awful and Awesome, Hafta, and Charcha podcasts. Similar to other subscribers, I have observed the declining quality of Hafta in the recent weeks. Except Ep 352, most episodes have been painful and confusing to listen to. I know you have received similar feedback from other subscribers so not getting into details. Perhaps a quick fix would be to rotate the Hafta panelists with Charcha’s until long-term fixes are put in place? Additionally, Raman sir is never given the same time to speak as other panelists are and is often interrupted. Perhaps the moderator should keep a note of this as well.

Big fan of Rajyasree and Raman sir! Keep up the good work and all my good wishes to you.

Tapish

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Hi everyone,

Just regarding comments on Munawar and Kamra.

To begin with, I attended both their shows that have been cancelled now. For one, Kamra's recent show was minus any political commentary so no mention of Modi or the BJP. It was purely non-political (?), observational and such. He mentioned something about giving it to bhakts who said he can't do comedy without Modi's name and things. There was subtle political commentary but nothing in the words themselves.

Underneath, while comedy is subjective, Munawar's was funny and insightful and was a full-house show in Bangalore. He has come a long way from where he started. This was the same script that has gotten banned now. About hosting someone, if you wanted to show to the powers that be, that this bullying of artists isn't okay, then it would be a better statement to host Munawar Faruqui considering the kind of hounding he's been under: his arrest for jokes he didn't crack, the relentless pursuit to silence him and show to his ilk that their comedy was okay as long as they stuck to a script (read Zakir). Hosting Munawar would be ballsy.

Of the three, Kunal is the funniest. Vir, while I compare him to Seinfeld for the kind of jokes he does and he really is brave, is less funny. And Munawar along with being funny is charming too. He really gets onto their nerves. And makes it okay to laugh at everything.

Thanks and regards,

Dheeraj