what is it that you desire?

everyone needs to hear about the situation in india right now. the youth of this nation are going through hell and back to protect the foundations that our country was built on in the first place, while the adults who are supposed to actually be in charge try to silence our voices.

NEET, which is an exam taken by millions of students per year and is the ONLY gateway for medical admissions across the country, had its papers leaked. so many took their lives because this exam meant everything for their future. and NTA, the agency who conducts this exam, was not held accountable.

there was national backlash. cockroach janta party (initially a satirical political party formed by abhijeet dipke in retaliation to the remarks of the chief justice of india calling the youth "cockroaches" and "parasites of society") started protests at jantar mantar, demanding the resignation of the union education minister, dharmendra pradhan. the movement also asked for ten million inr (~100,000 usd) in compensation for the families of students who died by suicide and wanted NTA be held accountable.

sonam wangchuk, a climate activist and education reformer, also went on a hunger strike at jantar mantar to protest against this corruption in india's higher education system. his fast began on june 28, demanding the resignation of the union education minister. his fast lasted for 20 days until delhi police FORCIBLY removed him and admitted him to safdarjung hospital on july 18.

because of this, cockroach janta party announced "chalo sansad," a march to the parliament beginning on june 20th, 9:00 am ist. but the police seems to be responding with water cannons, mobile jammers, and baton charge. all of this, because of a peaceful protest led by people no older than 30.

“hey don’t use eugenics language to describe a thing you don’t like”

After having a great experience in the IWTV writers’ room and the difficult experience of serving as a WGA Strike Captain, I’d hoped the executives would bring me back to the writers’ room in 2024. Sadly, they let most of the room go and communicated that decision in a less-than-compassionate way.

Every TV writer gets fired. There are obvious reasons for this, such as being a poor writer or a poor collaborator. But writers are most often fired for reasons that have nothing to do with their performance. The network cuts a show’s budget and can no longer afford them. A new showrunner takes over and wants writers who tell stories as they do. The profession’s very nature makes getting fired as much a part of the job as getting hired.

One trend I found that is different about getting fired as a TV writer is how we find out we’ve been let go. I’ve had friends who’ve been working in the writers’ room and learned that their show has been canceled from a story in the press. In this scenario, you have a community to lament with. It’s upsetting, but at least you can go out as a team. Grab drinks, reminisce about breaking that bear of a story, and mourn the stories you’d yet to tell.

A less considerate way to be fired is to be ghosted by your executives. This technically isn’t being fired. Writers have contracts on a show, and those contracts usually end at the conclusion of a season. If you’ve done great work and the show gets picked up, the hope is that you’ll be offered a new contract to continue making it a success. But in entertainment - like much of the rest of modern life - some see compassion as an inconvenience.

There’s a scene in the movie Moneyball where Brad Pitt’s character teaches Jonah Hill how to cut a player. Pitt tells Hill he doesn’t get close to the players because he has to be able to “...cut ‘em, trade ‘em, send them down.” Pitt reminds Hill that the people he’s firing are professionals. To be direct, tell them the facts, but actually tell them because it shows them respect. It’s a scene familiar in sports, depicting athletes as emotionally tough as they are physically.