The Week Gone By #2 – Some revelations, disappointments and nerve-biting moments

Keeladi excavations

The Keeladi excavation is the hottest topic in archaeology and historical discourse in India. It’s only 11 years since the excavation began but with each round of ‘digging’ more affirmative details emerge that point to something bigger. Yes, something of a proto-(or even proper) civilisation in a village named Keeladi on the banks of Vaigai river near Madurai. It is estimated to have existed during Sangam age, somewhere between Iron Age and the early historic period. The oldest artefact unearthed date back to 580 CE. Artefacts almost 2000-2500 years old have been found. For ease of understanding, the IVC spanned from 3200 BCE to 1500 BCE and the Vedic age thereafter from 1500 BCE to 500 BCE. The Tamil Brahmi script found at Keeladi is older than the Ashokan Brahmi script. It also helps to remember why these findings have created discomfort among a section of the intelligentsia and the common folk – urbanisation in ancient India is often viewed as a Northern phenomenon with the dominant narrative that the Northern Aryans civilised the Dravidian South. The excavations have only amplified the North-South divide. The controversy spiralled further with the ASI transferring the archaeologist that led the excavations — Mr. Ramakrishna — and delaying the release of the excavation report on grounds of insufficient corroborative evidence. The ASI released a draft version in mid-2025 but the final version will have to wait as it is still bound up in ongoing academic and political dispute. Without the political will of the TN government the excavations wouldn’t have been expedited so quickly. The Tamil Nadu Archaeology department (they have a specific ministry dedicated to this subject) has taken over the rest of the job and is digging in pursuit of more evidence. And the details that emerge with every ‘dig’ is extraordinary. On that note, I think Sowmiya Ashok’s recent book ‘The Dig’ makes for timely reading. I had the chance to recently attend a conversation between her and the wonderful historian Anirudh Kanisetti regarding the book.

Argentina teetering on the edge, VAR, and much more

I watched two Argentina matches the last week, the one against Egypt and another this morning – QFs against Switzerland – which they won, somehow. The match against Egypt deserve some space here. The post-match discourse was riddled with controversy regarding favourable refereeing towards Argentina (which still hasn’t ended), ‘rigged’ calls – including from public personalities such as Zohran Mamdani (when it comes to football he’s a total larper regardless of his political transparency and governance merits), and ‘Fifa’s favourite son’ (or ‘princess’!) memes’. Infantino’s publicly profuse love for Messi and his team isn’t helping either. Mamdani’s bleats regarding the game during a speech at a totally unrelated event gave further ammunition to internet conspiracy theorists. To my surprise, many level-headed people such as the coaches of Spain and France said the refereeing was spot on. Even Mo Salah came forward to make things clear that the coach and his flavours spouted opinions about the game being unfair in the heat of the unexpected and swift loss. The Egypt side folded in a matter of 13 minutes. Lionel Messi’s brilliance, like an old lion roused from his slumber, outshined the opponents and in a striking equaliser and an assist he made the match the one to remember for ages. . He had missed a penalty earlier on in the game and was set to shoulder the blame for the team’s loss (the whole lot of which performed abysmally for a large part of the game). It’s when Messi woke up that the whole team picked up on his energy and acted with the aggression and drive to win.

Several explanatory videos on the internet help us understand the refereeing decisions. The foul committed during the build-up of Egypt’s (stellar) second goal rendered it null – and technically it confirms to Fifa’s rule book. In fact, debates and controversies around refereeing are as old as the World Cup itself. With a whole nation behind a team rooting for them, the furore over any tiny decision not going their way is understandable. The claimed penalty for Salah for tripping inside Egypt’s penalty box is, as they say it in football-speak, bullocks. Lisandro Martinez does not touch Salah and recovers the ball deftly – Salah tripped over due to loss of balance and not because he was pushed down by the defender. I’ve been watching the clips in slow-motion on repeat the whole week.

But the damage has already been done by mindless social media warriors – who support rival teams and players. Now Argentina and Messi are being painted as Zionists, Israel-sympathisers and racists and it’s a full-fledged war between them and the Islamic world and the communists. Leftwing social media activism is a brain-dead affair with absolutely zero awareness of issues. Marx? Let alone Engels, they haven’t picked up even a book of Arundhati Roy to understand the predicament of lower classes, the bourgeois-proletariat dynamic and incipient revolutions in societies.

Against Switzerland, Argentina played with an almost unfathomable level of insouciance. Argentina are now rightly called Extra Time specialists. They played laggardly during the first sixty to seventy minutes only to pick up steam during the fag end of the match and go full throttle and sneak in two to three bangers to secure the game. Julian’s goal this time was astonishing – it might as well be voted the goal of the tournament. Messi wasn’t able to unleash his brilliance — partly because the team was not playing cohesively and he had to drop back to the centre to create chances. Messi’s right-footed(!) shot came close to sealing the game but it veered of the side bar.

On a lighter note, fuchsia-coloured boots are the trend this World Cup with all brands — from Nike, Adidas to New Balance — coming out with different versions of it. Some sources suggest that an analytics report that was read by all the said brands predicted the fuchsia would be colour of 2026 summer and so the brands followed suit.

Is football coming home?

ET calls it England’s most fulfilling self-parody. In fact their mini section on this cri de guerre needs quoting in full – here’s a snapshot:

The Economist studied the geographical and cultural aspect of this claim recently. Well, turns out, even though England invented the game and codified its rules, the ‘home’ or the ‘centre’ of football has now shifted South, somewhere between France and Spain. TheRestIsFootball can’t stop hallucinating about England finally clinching the trophy that have been eluding them for years. The self-aggrandisement is evident — why do they want to claim they are the ‘home’ of football? It sounds as if they are staking claim to a property that’s been sold to a septuagenarian from another continent and has passed down three generations.

A recent editorial piece highlighted an interesting fact. The WC’s unpredictability – routine Cinderella stories of unknown sides that make it to the top (not this time though – with just the four top rankers making through to the SFs) – and inefficiency in terms of how disproportionately teams spend to get them prize, is also what makes the whole tournament exciting.

Studies don’t conclusively prove that football is linked to lower levels of loneliness. But the act of watching a game with a group of people, or attending a match in person can create a collectivist shared feeling. In fact even discussing a game in a private group or reddit forum can create similar experiences that significantly reduce loneliness. Simon Kuper attests to this in his book World Cup Fever. Studies also point out that less suicidal deaths are recorded during the WC period than average.

Footballers’ most recent gripe is about hydration breaks. Many consider it a ploy to run more advertisements and rake in money. But the counter-argument is that broadcasting sports matching is becoming an expensive affair. An editorial I read recently argues that advertisements needn’t obstruct the flow of the game and can be carefully placed and timed during the match screening in a way that does not disrupt the overall experience.

I read somewhere that in the late 20th century, to be born Dutch was to have football ingrained in you. I wonder whether the same can be said of the Dutch today.

So far, this World Cup tournament has been one for the GKs – except for Pickford, of course.

The spectre of AI

AI slop is saturating our social media feeds, articles, short stories. The latest controversy about one of Granta’s short story prize winners having used AI in their work is alarming. But also one might wonder if we’re being too probing about any trace of AI in written works. For instance, it’s not that any use of em dash can be definitively attributed to the work of ChatGPT. It is a legitimate punctuation mark used by writers for centuries. We must keep using em dashes, as and when we wish, and not resort to replacing them with commas, semicolons, and the like, which barely convey the same meaning as our long-hyphen princes.

I read that people are now using AI to argue their legal cases and defend themselves in courts. AI, to its merit, is so loyal that it comes up with fabricated cases in the person’s defence. Anything to win the case, it seems!

Bits and bobs

1. Even short burst of exercise – called VILPAs – can be as effective as week-long regular cardio-strength alternating workouts, to lead a healthy life. VILPAs include activities like running to catch the bus, rushing to the grocery store, doing laundry and the like. Is that too one of the reasons women live longer than men – especially in states like Kerala where women do a bigger share of household work and run errands? In terms of intensity, VILPAs are comparable to HIITs.
2. The Trump-Meloni clash at the NATO Ankara summit last week was stuff of popcorn. Trump said he was attending it out of respect for Erdogan. And Trump reportedly is unhappy with Europe for not spending enough on defence, sticking upto him in the Iran war, plus the Greenland conquest is still on his mind.
3. I didn’t know Padmanabha Singh, the titular Maharaja of Jaipur, could sketch (!).
4. Recently, the Hollywood Reporter came under fire for platforming Pratik Shah, who’s been accused of sexual misconduct by several women.
5. I still can’t figure out what the Communist Party’s strategy after the Kerala assembly election debacle. They seem to be pandering to the (obnoxiously pretentious) CJP which is now using Sonam Wangchuk’s indefinite fast as a political trump card and an opportunity for moral signalling vis-a-vis the Congress Party. God save the youth of the country!
6. Taylor Swift and Travis Scott recently tied the knot, in what was an extravagant wedding at Maddison Square Garden. Many dubbed it a ‘marketing blitzing’ and a show of ‘vanity’. Someone said that Swifties just practice ‘loser politics’ and I couldn’t agree more. This, despite the fact that she got on the wrong side of Donald Trump. Sometimes being anti-Trump and progressive/liberal does not mean the same.
7. Lately I’ve become skeptical of Zohran Mamdani and his politics. I can feel it, just can’t prove it because his governance track record is too good at the moment. Here’s to my hunches coming true.
8. Last May, we had the first US-China Presidential summit in nine years. A lot has changed in this time span . Now Beijing increasingly argues on its own terms. And the US is willing to keep things mellow for the sake of peace, trade and global competition – especially in the case of AI, semiconductors, renewables, space, etc.
9. To my delight I discovered that Parari Muhsin and Mahsar Hamsa have the same interests as me – as far as their Instagram followings are concerned!
10. I just cannot bring myself to keep watching Shayk Rasoul’s absurd takes again. His criticism of the Argentina-Egypt game was the final nail in the coffin. Imam is a big Ronaldo fan too. It’s a no from me. His ultra-conservative slant needs no mentioning either.
11. It’s been approximately 33 months since the Gaza war began and The Economist still can’t fathom why Israel is being isolated on the world stage.
12. Bharadwaj Rangan does ask some pesky unempathetic questions to his guests.
13. My favourite pleasure read this week was the NYT article on the man who hoarded over 10,000 books in his house and had to vacate as the landlord and building authorities deemed the books a fire hazard.
14. Disheartening fact: Looks like the World Bank has ditched its climate targets. Well, Trump was no fan of them in the first place. It was only a matter of time before the Bretton Woods institution folded.

Adios!