Best of the Week | Journalism is my favourite genre

Dear reader,

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my major life decision: changing my barber.

It elicited a lot of responses, more so than usual. To me, that was surprising. After more than a year and a half of writing this Best of the Week every alternate week, I've realised that there's a cadence to this newsletter. But last weekend broke that mould.

One of the more interesting responses came from a friend. She mentioned that my way of writing was termed “creative non-fiction” and that it is a popular category of writing. She even sent a few links to other creative non-fiction stories, highlighting how anyone can use real-life examples as inspiration and add some creative chops to make a fascinating narrative.

Now, I won't gloat that I'm a creative non-fiction writer just yet. But given that the aforementioned friend has a degree from Oxford, I wouldn't deny these allegations either.

For a fortnight now, I've discovered a fascinating section of literature that has eluded me so far. I've been reading and learning. I've been consumed.

The bottom line is, I enjoy writing this newsletter — even if it's termed as creative non-fiction. I hope you enjoy it too! While the open rates and the replies are good indications, I'd love to hear if you want us to stick to the summary bits. So if you have any opinions either way, please reply to this email — it'll help us refine and improve the newsletter.

Here are some of the best stories from our newsroom from the week gone by — strictly non-fiction, of course:

✂️ The new government is set to present its next Union Budget next week. If you're a little confused, the Budget presented a few months ago was small — meant to keep the government machinery chugging until the election results were announced. The next Budget, also presented by Nirmala Sitharaman, is much-anticipated: some reports state that income tax rate cuts might be coming. This is expected to boost the economy. But with only 0.4% of the country paying 86% of the taxes, will this really stimulate any growth? Vivek Kaul answers this crucial question in a narrative format the way only he can.

🏘️ Real estate is booming across the National Capital Region (NCR). If you live in the area, you might have at least thought about putting down a deposit in some corner of Gurgaon, Delhi, or Noida to own your own roof. But as Madhurima Nandy writes, more than 400,000 flats across qualify as “stressed”. This means that they are under construction, but delayed. NCR has about half of these stressed flats. While real estate stock prices have only boomed, the on-ground reality is different. It's a sad state of affairs, especially for those who are paying hefty EMIs and haven't yet even seen what their flat affords them.

🇺🇸 US Presidents have had a long history of being targets of assassinations — Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, to name a few. This week, former president Donald Trump joined this illustrious list after being shot at by a 20-year-old. Trump survived, but the shooter did not, thanks to the Secret Service. The attack could intensify political divisions and influence the upcoming US presidential election. Former Mint writer and associate professor Elizabeth Roche brings you the implications of the shot heard around the world.

📊 TCS investors might want to stop reading: the company's CEO said that hard times are just starting. Tata Consultancy Services shares are up 7% since they announced their Q1 results last week, but global conflicts and confusion about interest rate cuts might prove to be dampers moving forward. Demand for the IT company's services has remained muted: if you leave out a contract from state-owned BSNL, TCS's numbers look much worse. Varun Sood got the chance to sit down with K. Krithivasan and have an in-depth and honest interview about the state of TCS, the IT sector at large, and the impact of AI on jobs in the IT sector.

🍟 How much processed food do you consume? It isn't easy to ascertain — nearly every packeted item might contain some additive. From beloved namkeen snacks to instant noodles, everything has some preservatives. Shuja Asrar and Niti Kiran from Mint's Plain Facts team take a deep dive into a government survey that outlines India's eating habits. While urban India has started to become more health conscious — think of the different varieties of Maggi — rural India loves snacking on biscuits. The rise of junk food in the Indian diet has also worried experts, but that doesn't stop Indians from thronging to fast food joints.

📈 Financial influencers, or finfluencers, generally dole out advice to anyone willing to pay for their services. However, most of these finfluencers are unregulated. According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, they need to be qualified to advise you on your investments. But what about those who are competent? Mint Money's Sashind Ningthoukhongjam and Pratishtha Bagai write about registered mutual fund distributors who are also doubling up as finfluencers. Sebi feels that registered entities should distance themselves from unregistered creators offering tall claims. Sashind explores this grey area by speaking to some industry experts on the matter.

👎 Byju's received a huge setback this week after being sued by the Board of Cricket for Control in India (yes, BCCI, controlled by Jay Shah). BCCI sued Byju's for non-payment of dues, after Byju's had committed to becoming the principle sponsor for the Indian cricket team. This payment default has enormous consequences for Byju's: Byju Raveendran and his team lose control of his eponymous company. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) ordered a new management to take over the struggling company. In addition to explaining the crisis, Mansi Verma also writes about the broader implications of this watershed moment for India's edtech industry. More like Bye-ju's, am I right?

👔 The Karnataka state government created a vast furore this week when it announced and quickly withdrew a plan to impose a hiring quote for private companies. While such mandates existed for government jobs, this was the first for corporate jobs. Devina Sengupta explains the rationale behind the original decision, how it would affect various sectors, and the future implications of such a move.

💍 It was tough to escape the loud and brash Ambani wedding. This extravaganza seems to be dragging on longer than a partnership between Laxman and Dravid. But beyond the abundance of it all, lies a significant trend: weddings need to be more than lavish (not that this one wasn't). Couples now want their weddings to be “extra” in a customised, bespoke manner. Pooja Singh from the Mint Lounge team writes an excellent story around this trend, and how couples in India might not want big weddings anymore — they want their special day to be unique.

🇮🇳 In addition to these stories, we also published a pre-budget special, named India Rising. If you are a Mint Premium subscriber, you can access the entire collection of stories here. If you're not, you can try to reply to this email asking for it. I will try to send you a PDF of these stories. 

That's all for this week. I hope you all have a pleasant weekend!

If you have any thoughts, ideas, or feedback, please feel free to write to me (shashwat.mohanty@htdigital.in) or reply to this mail. We are a constantly evolving news product, so any input is much appreciated!

Best,

Shashwat Mohanty

Assistant Editor

Subscriber Experience Team