Let Me Explain

Lyricist Vairamuthu has been chosen for the Jnanpith Award, India’s most prestigious literary honour. But the announcement has triggered intense debate. Several women accused Vairamuthu of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement, allegations he has denied.  While many political leaders and film stars have congratulated him, critics say honouring someone facing such accusations sends a tr...

Two key constitutional offices in India are facing political scrutiny.  Opposition parties moved a motion to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, accusing him of partisan conduct, citing suspensions of over 120 MPs and limiting debates. The motion was defeated, but the controversy continues.  Meanwhile, opposition leaders are preparing a move against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kum...

The Narendra Modi government has paused the weekly TRP rankings for television news channels for four weeks, citing concerns that coverage of the Iran–US–Israel conflict has become too sensational. But what exactly are TRPs? How do television ratings work in India? And why do these numbers matter so much to news channels? In this episode of Let Me Explain , Pooja Prasanna breaks down the business...

In December 2007, 17-year-old Ayesha Meera was found murdered in a hostel bathroom near Vijayawada. The brutal crime shocked Andhra Pradesh. Police arrested Pidathala Satyam Babu, who was later convicted and sentenced to life. But years later, the Andhra Pradesh High Court criticised the investigation, acquitted him, and ordered a reinvestigation. The case was handed to the CBI in 2018. Investigat...

Someone had to watch The Kerala Story 2. We did. From ominous background scores during namaz scenes to “rate cards” straight out of old conspiracy forwards, The Kerala Story 2 doubles down on fear, spectacle and panic.  Three states. Three women. One sweeping thesis about love, conversion, progressive parenting and who the “real” villains are.  In this special episode of #LetMeExplain, @...

A beef-feeding scene in the trailer of The Kerala Story 2 has triggered outrage. Once again, Kerala has been pushed to the centre of a national culture war. But this episode is not about a single trailer moment. We examine the ecosystem behind The Kerala Story films. This includes public statements by an RSS-linked cultural organisation that says it supported the ideation of such movies as part of...

A Telugu YouTube channel recently accused Muslim vendors of selling “poisoned” food at a tribal festival in Telangana, without medical evidence, official complaints, or verification from authorities. Instead of investigation, the videos relied on confrontation, repeated use of conspiracy phrases like “food jihad,” and public shaming of small traders. But this is not just about one festival or one...

Four years ago, the death of 17-year-old Lavanya in Thanjavur was turned into a forced conversion controversy by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and others. But the Central Bureau of Investigation has now concluded that there is no evidence she was pressured to convert. Multiple videos recorded at her hospital bed show she spoke about abuse and academic stress not conversion. Only one later video menti...

The Epstein files – millions of pages of documents, emails, and records – detail how Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, operated and how power protected him for years. The Epstein files also offer a look into how he stayed connected to powerful people long after his crimes were known. In this episode of Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna explains why Indian names appear in these documents and...

For months, claims that animal fat was used in Tirupati laddus dominated headlines, political debates, and primetime TV, triggering outrage across the country. One year later, the SIT chargesheet and government lab reports tell a very different story. Two premier institutions, ICAR National Dairy Research Institute and NDDB CALF, found no animal fat in the ghee samples tested. No lard. No beef tal...

In Kerala’s Malappuram district, an ancient gathering from the past is being revived, but in a very different form. Mamankam, a gathering in Kerala that once centred on power, trade and multiple communities is now being projected as a “Kerala’s Kumbh Mela.” Mamankam was not a Hindu pilgrimage. It was a secular, political and ritual assembly where kingship was contested and Muslims were part of its...

Two journalists were arrested after a prime-time broadcast on NTV sparked a political storm in Telangana. The story had no documents, no named sources, and no evidence. In this episode of Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna breaks down what really happened behind the NTV controversy, why allegations of business and political rivalries entered the newsroom, and what this episode reveals about media owne...

A.R. Rahman is one of India’s most celebrated and globally recognised artists. And yet this week, he found himself having to publicly reaffirm his love for his own country. In a BBC interview, Rahman cautiously used the word “communal” while speaking about why his work in Hindi cinema has reduced in recent years. He did not make an accusation or draw a conclusion. But the reaction to that single w...

For over a century, the RSS has operated not just as an ideological movement, but as a vast organisational network embedded in everyday life. From schools, hostels, labour unions, media houses, charities, and cultural forums, its reach extends into education, work, and communities. A six-year research project led by Dr. Felix Pal from the University of Western Australia mapped over 2,500 organisat...

The Supreme Court says prolonged detention violates liberty. Yet Umar Khalid has spent five years in prison without a trial. Another Supreme Court bench recently denied him bail.  In September 2020, Umar Khalid was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for an alleged conspiracy behind the Delhi riots. Five years later, the trial has still not begun. There is no convic...

After Congress leader Praveen Chakravarthy’s tweet, one economic comparison has gone viral: that Tamil Nadu’s total debt is now higher than Uttar Pradesh’s. The claim is being used to suggest a simple story: fiscal failure in one state, discipline in the other. But is that really how numbers are read? In this episode of Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna puts the debt figures in context. Because debt,...

In 2024–25, the BJP received over ₹6,000 crore in political donations - that’s about 85% of all donations.  Much of this money came from large corporate donors, many operating in sectors heavily dependent on government contracts, approvals, subsidies, or regulation. This includes major business groups such as L&T, Tata Group, Megha Engineering (MEIL), and Mahindra Group. Many donors were...

MGNREGA allowed rural workers to ask the government for work and be paid if work was not provided. That basic promise shaped how the programme worked on the ground. Now, the Union government plans to replace MGNREGA with a new law called VB G RAM G, 2025. The new framework changes how jobs are approved, funded, and delivered. In this special episode of Let Me Explain , Pooja Prasanna walks through...

The 2017 actor assault verdict has split Kerala. While six men were convicted for abducting and sexually assaulting an actor, Dileep, the alleged mastermind was acquitted of conspiracy charges.  Protests followed, and the survivor issued a public statement saying justice felt incomplete. In this episode of Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna breaks down what the court accepted, what it rejected, a...

The unrest in Thiruparankundram during this year’s Karthigai Deepam festival did not emerge overnight. What unfolded on December 3 and 4 was the result of coordinated mobilisation, a controversial court order, and the reopening of a long-sensitive dispute on a shared sacred hill. TNM’s reporter was on the ground documenting how activists from BJP, RSS, Hindu Munnani and other right-wing groups mob...

Why has the BJP struggled to translate its long presence in Kerala into political power? In this episode of Let Me Explain , Pooja Prasanna looks at the Sangh Parivar’s decades-long organisational work in the state, the slow rise in BJP’s vote share, and why electoral success has remained limited. From Kerala’s lived secularism and dense social geography to literacy, political culture, and strong...

Nearly half of India’s women factory workers are employed in one state: Tamil Nadu. In this week’s Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna travels to factory floors in the state to understand how women came to power Tamil Nadu’s industrial economy. From electronics and garments to auto components, women form the backbone of manufacturing. This success is shaped by decades of industrial policy, welfare sche...

Did the RSS hire US lobbyists? Official disclosures in the US list the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a client of one of America’s biggest lobbying firms. But the RSS denies any involvement. In this episode of Let Me Explain, Pooja Prasanna breaks down the filings, the controversy, the firms involved, and what this means for India’s democracy and for India–US relations. For suggestions and feedbac...

What happens when a government designs welfare with women at the centre? In Karnataka, the five guarantee schemes — Shakti, Gruha Lakshmi, Gruha Jyoti, Anna Bhagya and Yuva Nidhi — have reshaped how women move, work, spend and decide. Two major studies now give us the clearest picture of what changed on the ground. A 151% rise in women’s bus travel. Better spending on food and healthcare. Reduced...

India has just won its first-ever ICC Women’s World Cup — a victory decades in the making. From travelling in unreserved train coaches to lifting the trophy before packed stands, this is a story of grit, resilience, and history rewritten. But behind the celebrations lies another story, of unequal pay, limited matches, and a cricketing system that still treats women as an afterthought. In this week...