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Cockroaches 1, Modi 0: India’s remarkable protests
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Modi's Panic: Nostrils, Mock Tutorials, and Capitulation
At 8:03 · chapter starts 7:55
Narendra Modi's handling of the protests was a study in miscalculation. He first tried ignoring the movement entirely, then announced policy changes that weren't on the protesters' list of demands, and finally resorted to an uncharacteristically candid late-night video in which he held the camera 'really uncomfortably close to his own nostrils' — a jarring departure from his usual stage-managed image. Gen Z responded with mock tutorials on lighting and camera technique, ensuring the apology became a source of ridicule rather than reconciliation. Kira Huju captures a deeper shift: under a decade of BJP rule, publicly criticising Modi had become something many Indians feared. Now his younger critics weren't just unafraid — they were cracking jokes. That shift, she argues, is potentially more fatally damaging for a strongman than any formal opposition. And though the BJP has just secured fresh state election victories and faces a fragmented opposition, Huju concludes that India woke up that week to a country that 'feels bolder and louder and younger.'
