Reeta Raman

“Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” comedy legend Chris Rock quipped onstage at the 94th Academy Awards last month. What happened next was a chain of events that will go down in the history of pop culture as Will Smith strode up on stage and slapped Rock across the face in front of a stunned audience. Smith later said he was defending his wife’s honour. Both Smith and Rock were criticised following the incident, and Smith received a 10-year Oscars ban for the slap. Since the

It was mid-May 2021—a balmy afternoon. Much of the world was in some form of Covid-19-induced lockdown. In Sydney, it was no different. Australian native Vanessa* was getting restless with the physical isolation. Cooped up at home 24/7, her mind was racing—she had always wanted to learn Mandarin, maybe now was the right time? Like most millennials, the 29-year-old administrator found an app called Tandem that connects and matches strangers worldwide to chat with fellow users and practice whatev

It’s mid-afternoon in the sweltering heat, and Hasshim Ahmad is trying to repair an old extension cord. In his hand is a massive roll of transparent adhesive tape. He fumbles for a while with the tape, then reaches behind him awkwardly—seated because his feet look like swollen balloons—to grab a pair of black scissors. He’s a fixer. At 86, he’s spent over half his life in the modest three-room unit along Queen’s Road. The pink and white block he lives in is nondescript, blending seamlessly with