Mapping conflict and its ‘flawed' characters
Because of his 'late' entry into journalism, Roy was advised by some editors to credential upward by getting a 'very expensive stamped paper' from the Columbia Journalism School, which he does, earning not just a degree but also a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. But piecing together this narrative of Roy's adult life is somewhat hard to do because the references are stochastic and intersect with the vignettes in oblique ways. So, yes, it is a 'bit like a memoir'.What is most impressive about the book, however, is that it is a primal scream, expressed in written words, against a world in which we are asked to live between right and wrong, and with both, and given no sense of what we are supposed to do with the anger we feel as a result of this. Anger against, among other things, state brutality (India, Bangladesh, the US's Global War on Terror); higher education (Columbia advisers obsessed with newsworthiness); journalists (who don't give credit to those who do the legwork, who glorify the 'untouched beauty of the forest' in which people die because of the lack of infrastructure, the German press nonchalantly buying stories from journalists from the Global South and running them with bylines of German journalists); the moral absolutists who have no regard for human rights, autonomy or dignity (religious fundamentalists of all stripes, Dalits, the Rohingya Salvation Army, Maoists, Kashmiri militants, the Tamil Tigers); and the power brokers, con artists, conspiracy theorists and 'middlemen' who profit from a global violence-industrial complex.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends
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Mint
14 hours ago
- Mint
Is Dubai chocolate the next Pumpkin Spice?
At Crumbl's Utah headquarters, employees are working on a new dessert with a chocolate and pistachio flavor that has set the internet on fire. Enter the Dubai Chocolate Brownie, the cookie maker's attempt to cash in on a trend that has sent food companies racing to catch up. The new offering, with ingredients that have proven to be expensive and sometimes difficult to source, will hit stores in the coming months, Crumbl said. The confection known as Dubai chocolate, legendary across the internet and a recent hit with many Americans, typically involves a shell of rich chocolate filled with pistachio cream and a shredded dough known as kataifi. Like many other recent food fads, it took off after an influencer promoted it on TikTok. Unlike others, it has triggered supply-chain squeezes, shaken up German courts and caused a run on U.K. grocery stores, forcing them to impose purchasing limits. It has also spurred some of the biggest food companies in America to consider whether the Dubai chocolate flavor might endure as a future classic, like a pumpkin spice or salted caramel. The internet's acceleration of flavor trends is forcing brands to become more nimble and adventurous. Grocery stores and restaurants say they're focused on 'social listening"—corporate-speak for keeping a close eye on Instagram. The art, Crumbl's co-founder Sawyer Hemsley says, is distinguishing a true underlying shift in consumer taste from a short-lived trend. 'It's undeniable that the internet has accelerated the pace at which flavor profiles emerge, spread and evolve," Hemsley says. 'We've seen firsthand how what might've once taken years to catch on, can now reach global audiences in a matter of weeks." The global markets for pumpkin spice and matcha, a flavor from the finely ground powder of green tea, are now each valued north of $1 billion, and both flavors exploded thanks to the web. But these were slow burns. Pumpkin spice goes back to the 1930s, when spice maker McCormick released its pumpkin-spice pie mix. The release of 2003's Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte accelerated its popularity. Matcha has climbed steadily in the U.S. since a surge in interest around 2015. And not every trend that succeeds on the internet makes it in the long run. A whipped drink made with instant coffee that became an early TikTok star during the pandemic has faded into distant internet memory. Businesses have been laser-focused on gauging what flavors will last. They look for immediate consumer interest, but prolonged demand is important, too. If customers tend to return for more, it's a sign that the fad could be something more. Dubai chocolate goes back to 2021 at Fix Dessert Chocolatier in its namesake city, when the shop's co-founder Sarah Hamouda designed a chocolate bar to satisfy a pregnancy craving. She called it the 'Can't Get Knafeh of It" bar, after a popular Middle Eastern dessert made with kataifi. Somewhere along the way, the world started calling it Dubai chocolate. 'It's funny," Hamouda says. 'We never came up with this nickname ourselves." Two years later, United Arab Emirates influencer Maria Vehera posted a video of herself eating one of the gooey bars on TikTok, garnering millions of views and triggering candy shops around the world to start marketing their own versions. Dubai chocolate has since been going strong, with companies all over the world marketing the flavor in a variety of products including cheesecakes, syrups, coffees, milkshakes and bars of all shapes and sizes. Competitors range from large companies to teams of entrepreneurs like those at Dubai Choclava, a New York startup selling what its founders call 'the Ferrari of Dubai chocolate," made with high-end organic ingredients. Hamouda says she doesn't mind Dubai chocolate-inspired products but does object to bars made to look exactly like hers, with the same packaging. 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?" she says. 'But copycats can't re-create the element of nostalgia that's intentionally baked into every layer of every Fix dessert bar." This year, Dubai chocolate has entered the mainstream: large food brands like Crumbl, Trader Joe's, Aldi, Lidl, Shake Shack and Dunkin' Donuts are announcing spinoffs, betting on the pistachio-chocolate-pastry combo as a flavor profile of the future. Chocolate and pistachio has been a mainstay of fine dining for years, Shake Shack executive chef John Karangis says—but never a commercial smash. At Crumbl, executives thought of pistachio as a weak flavor associated with disappointing sales. Shake Shack's limited-run Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake in April ran out of stock in hours across the country, and Lidl's U.S. launch of its Dubai-style chocolate bar in June sold out within a day in some stores. For makers, Dubai chocolate has brought with it supply-chain and financial nightmares. Kataifi dough has been hard for some companies to procure. Chocolate is a difficult bet for food companies these days, as weather conditions in West Africa have sent cocoa prices soaring to as much as $10,000 a metric ton this year after hovering below $3,000 a metric ton for years. Demand for pistachios, and their prices, are rising worldwide, according to the Administrative Committee for Pistachios in California. Shake Shack and Crumbl both say they have devoted significant resources to tracking down ingredients. A hiccup for the flavor came this month as the Food and Drug Administration announced a recall of a pistachio and cacao spread sold in World Market stores across the U.S., due to salmonella contamination. In Germany, the candy hit legal turbulence as a candy importer sued grocery chain Aldi Süd, contending that Dubai chocolate must actually come from Dubai. German courts have handed down conflicting verdicts; in June, a court in Cologne ruled against Aldi. Across the U.S., more than a dozen businesses have filed trademark applications for their Dubai chocolate products in recent months. Companies are still trying to understand why the flavor gained so much traction, and what that means for the future. Some people suggest consumers are interested in desserts with a savory element. Others think customers are pleasantly surprised by the crispy texture. At Shake Shack, director of global culinary and product development Jim Frisch suspects that Americans are interested in the idea of Dubai itself. 'You have this exotic place that is known for its grandeur," he says. 'Our guests are very adventurous…they want that global experience of trying new things." Whether or not Dubai chocolate endures to become a classic flavor, the pace of change isn't likely to let up. Lidl recently rolled out what it is betting is the next Dubai chocolate, even though its first Dubai-style chocolate bar only hit shelves in the U.S. last month. 'Angel Hair Chocolate," filled with Turkish cotton candy, raspberry chocolate and creamy pistachio, arrived at Lidl stores in the U.S. on July 18.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Vandals set fire to a mouse statue that's a TV star and mascot for a German broadcaster
BERLIN — Vandals set fire to a mouse statue that's a TV star and mascot for children's programming at German broadcaster WDR, the television station said Saturday. Vandals set fire to a mouse statue that's a TV star and mascot for a German broadcaster The cartoon mouse, known only as 'Die Maus,' is the eponymous star of 'Die Sendung mit der Maus' since it first aired in West Germany in 1971. Each short episode features other languages and educational segments. The statue — featuring the character's famous orange body with brown ears, arms and legs — greets families and children outside a media building in Cologne, Germany. A receptionist for WDR saw several young people standing around the statue in Cologne on a camera feed overnight Friday into Saturday. She then noticed flames and called the fire department, WDR said. The fire blackened parts of the mouse's face and arm, images show. The station said a police complaint had been filed against an unidentified person. Matthias Körnich, head of children's programming for WDR, said it's not just a figurine that was damaged. 'A piece of childhood, a symbol of joy and togetherness has been attacked,' he said. 'The mouse belongs to Cologne.' The mouse statue isn't the first German TV character to be attacked. In 2009, the statue of a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot was stolen from his traditional place outside the town hall in Erfurt, where German children's public television channel KiKA is based. Bernd, a cult classic in Germany, was held hostage for nearly two weeks before being discovered unharmed in an abandoned barracks. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Indian man's mom gifts vessel to store dessert, Dutch mother-in-law makes dessert in it: 'When two cultures meet'
An Indian man living in the Netherlands has delighted social media users with a heartwarming and humorous cultural crossover moment featuring his Dutch mother-in-law and an Indian kitchen item. The now-viral video was shared on Instagram by user Prabhu Visha, and has already garnered over a million views. A Dutch woman used an Indian steel bowl to make dessert.(Instagram/prabhuvisha) (Also read: Dutch princess attends graduation ceremony but doesn't receive diploma because…) In the clip, Visha's Dutch mother-in-law is seen holding a traditional Indian steel vessel that was gifted to him by his Indian mother. The video then shows the finished pudding, neatly set inside the container and taking on its exact shape. The dessert mirrors the form of the Indian-style bowl, creating a sweet and subtle fusion of two cultures. Watch the clip here: A blend of family traditions The video is overlaid with a witty text that reads, "When your Indian mom gives a vessel to store dessert but your Dutch mom makes dessert in it". The caption further highlights the cross-cultural warmth, stating simply: 'When two cultures meet.' Internet embrace the cultural harmony Instagram users flooded the comment section with admiration and amusement. One user wrote, 'This is the cutest thing I've seen today. That pudding looks exactly like the bowls from our childhood!' Another remarked, 'She didn't just use it to store dessert, she upgraded it. Respect.' A third added, 'This reminds me of how my German wife uses my mum's masala boxes for baking ingredients. Globalisation at its sweetest.' Several viewers also appreciated the simplicity of the moment. 'So wholesome. It's the little things like this that show how beautifully cultures can blend,' one person commented. Another noted, 'The vessel has officially gone international now. An Indian steel dabba in a Dutch kitchen!' One user summed it up perfectly: 'A wonderful example of cultural appreciation at home.'
