Newspaper Summary - 061225

 The sources provide a comprehensive overview of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy decisions and communications on December 6, 2025, detailing the rationale for a rate cut, its stance on liquidity and credit growth, and its perspective on the depreciating rupee, all of which significantly impacted the financial markets.

RBI's Monetary Policy Decisions and Rationale

The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to cut the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.25%. This decision surprised some sections of the market, which had been expecting a pause.

The primary reason cited for the rate cut was a "rare Goldilocks period" where India's economic growth remained robust, and inflation was benign.

• Benign Inflation: The economy experienced rapid disinflation following the October policy. The average headline inflation (measured by the Consumer Price Index or CPI) for the first half of FY26 was below the lower tolerance threshold of 2%, averaging 1.7% in the three months through September and 0.3% in October. The MPC noted that the decline in inflation has become more generalized, with about 80% of the CPI basket recording sub-4% inflation prints in October 2025. For FY26, the RBI cut its CPI inflation projection by 60 bps, revising it to 2% from 2.6%. Looking ahead, the CPI inflation is projected at 3.9% in Q1 and 4% in Q2 of FY27, anchored around the 4% target.
• Robust Growth: The Indian economy posted a surprising six-quarter high growth rate of 8.2% in Q2 FY26. The MPC subsequently raised its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for FY26 to 7.3% from the previous 6.8%. Despite the upward revision, growth is expected to soften somewhat in the second half of FY26 due to external factors like US tariff-related headwinds and waning front-loaded government spending.

The RBI retained the "neutral" policy stance, indicating a flexible approach, although external member Ram Singh suggested changing it to "accommodative". The rate cut signals the RBI's pivot towards supporting growth.

Liquidity Management and Policy Transmission

To support the transmission of the rate cut into cheaper loans and inject durable liquidity, the RBI announced significant measures.

• Liquidity Infusion: The central bank plans to infuse a total of ₹1.45 trillion into the banking system. This includes Open Market Operations (OMO) purchases of Government Securities (G-Secs) worth ₹1 trillion and a three-year US dollar-rupee buy-sell swap of $5 billion (₹45,000 crore). The OMOs are scheduled in two tranches of ₹50,000 crore each on December 11 and December 18.
• Aiding Transmission: The liquidity measures are expected to ease financial conditions, aid monetary policy transmission, and lower borrowing costs, thereby supporting consumption and investment. Bankers foresee a boost in demand for retail credit, particularly home loans, autos, MSME credit, and working-capital financing.
• Transmission Assessment: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra noted that policy transmission is on track. The weighted average lending rate of banks has declined by 69 bps since February (excluding the latest cut). Malhotra clarified that an increase in the proportion of higher-interest loans, such as unsecured or gold loans, might raise the average interest rate but does not signify a slowdown in transmission for individual segments.

Stance on Rupee and Credit Growth

Exchange Rate (Rupee):

• Governor Malhotra reaffirmed that the RBI does not target any specific exchange-rate level or band and primarily relies on market forces to determine the rupee's value.
• The RBI's intervention is limited to curbing "abnormal or excessive volatility," which he described as "more of an art than science".
• The rupee had recently breached the 90-per-dollar mark, hitting an all-time low of 90.56 on Thursday. This depreciation (a 5% fall against the dollar so far in 2025) was attributed to sustained foreign capital outflows, limited RBI intervention, and a delay in the US-India trade deal.

Credit Growth:

• The RBI is not in favor of credit growth running ahead of economic fundamentals and is comfortable with the current pace, which is roughly in line with GDP growth.
• The Governor stated that credit growth has been around 1x the GDP growth rate for the last 10 years, noting that attempts at 2x growth (as seen before 2011-12) negatively impacted bank asset quality.
• Overall credit growth is approximately 10-11%. Growth in secured segments like gold loans and home loans is cited as robust, while unsecured lending growth has significantly moderated, giving the RBI confidence in steady asset quality trends.

Market Reaction

The central bank's decision and liquidity announcements enthused the markets.

• The Nifty 50 rose 0.6% to close at 26,186.45, and the Sensex closed up 447.05 points at 85,712.37.
• The yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond closed at 6.50%, down from the previous day's 6.531%.

The RBI would likely focus on the ongoing rate cut transmission before deciding on further easing, stating that the bar for the next cut is quite high unless inflation surprises further to the downside.

The sources detail a major aviation crisis centered on widespread flight cancellations and regulatory fallout surrounding newly implemented pilot fatigue norms by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the context of early December 2025.

The Operational Meltdown and Passenger Hardship

The crisis stemmed from the difficulties faced by airlines, particularly IndiGo, in complying with the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

• Scale of Disruption: IndiGo, which handles nearly two-thirds of the country’s 3,785 daily flights, was forced to cancel over 1,000 flights on Friday, December 5, representing more than half of its scheduled daily services. Across the previous three days, nearly half of all domestic flights were cancelled.
• Passenger Chaos: The resulting mass cancellations stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers. Airports in major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Pune, reported chaotic scenes, with long queues and distressed passengers demanding updates.
• Financial Impact: Passengers faced soaring airfares, spiking 3 to 8 times the normal rates on major domestic sectors. Travelers scrambled for alternative routes, resorting to expensive flights (some shelling out up to ₹44,000) or undertaking long journeys via train or long-haul buses. The cancellation chaos led to a significant spike in last-minute reservations at hotels near airports, pushing occupancy up by roughly 10–12 percentage points.

IndiGo’s CEO stated that the FDTL relief was essential and predicted that cancellations would drop below 1,000 on Saturday, with full operational normalcy returning between December 10 and 15.

Regulatory Intervention and Non-Compliance

The core issue related to Phase II of the FDTL norms, which aimed to enhance flight safety by raising weekly rest periods (from 36 to 48 hours) and imposing limits on consecutive night operations.

• DGCA’s Exemption: The Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA granted a temporary, one-time exemption to IndiGo until February 10, 2026, from the provisions pertaining to night duty limits. This relaxation was given solely to facilitate operational stabilization and restore schedules quickly, with the DGCA insisting it did not amount to a dilution of safety requirements.
• IndiGo’s Failure: The widespread operational failure was directly attributed to IndiGo’s misjudgment and planning gaps. Despite having nearly two years to comply with the staged implementation of the new rules, IndiGo did not hire and train enough captains to meet the requirements of its winter schedule. Some aviation sources alleged the airline had gambled on the rule implementation being deferred beyond November 1.
• Official Inquiry and Monitoring: The Centre ordered a high-level inquiry into the meltdown to determine accountability and suggest preventive measures, with findings expected within 15 days. Furthermore, the DGCA mandated that IndiGo submit a fortnightly progress report detailing crew utilization and a 30-day roadmap for achieving full Phase-II FDTL compliance.

Industry Backlash and Monopoly Concerns

The DGCA's decision to grant a selective exemption to IndiGo drew fierce criticism from pilot bodies and aviation experts, framing the issue as a dangerous compromise of safety for commercial expediency.

• Compromised Safety: The Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPAI) strongly opposed the waiver, calling it a "selective and unsafe dispensation" that undermined scientifically established fatigue protections.
• Allegations of Corporate Greed: Pilot associations argued that IndiGo deliberately ran down the clock, failed to induct pilots despite ample opportunity, and subsequently manufactured an "artificial crisis" under the pretext of public inconvenience to pressure the regulator for commercial gain—a decision driven by "corporate greed". ALPAI demanded the immediate withdrawal of the dispensation and punitive action against the airline for operational mismanagement.
• Regulatory Weakness: Aviation experts felt the DGCA "simply buckled under pressure from this one carrier," setting a "dangerous precedent" and pushing the country's aviation standards backward, thus reflecting poorly on the regulator.
• Monopoly Highlighted: The flight disruptions led to concerns being raised in the Rajya Sabha regarding IndiGo's monopoly in the Indian aviation sector and the broader impact of this dominance on passengers.

The aviation crisis showcased a severe conflict between India's goal of enhancing aviation safety standards (as intended by the FDTL norms) and the immediate commercial and logistical pressures exerted by a dominant airline, forcing the government to prioritize short-term operational stability over recently implemented safety regulations.

The sources cover significant developments in Business Profiles & Entertainment on December 6, 2025, detailing a historic media industry acquisition, the creative practices of notable figures in film and visual art, and the profiles of influential business leaders.

Major Entertainment Industry Acquisition

Netflix Acquires Warner Bros. Discovery: In a historic combination, Netflix Inc. agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.. This acquisition joins the world's dominant paid streaming service, Netflix, with one of Hollywood's oldest and most revered studios, Warner Bros..

• Deal Value and Terms: The total equity value of the deal is $72 billion, with an enterprise value estimated at about $82.7 billion. Warner Bros. shareholders will receive $27.75 per share in cash and Netflix stock.
• Asset Acquisition: With this purchase, Netflix becomes the owner of the HBO network and its extensive library of hit shows (like The Sopranos and The White Lotus), along with Warner Bros.' sprawling studios in Burbank and a vast film and TV archive that includes franchises like Harry Potter and Friends.
• Strategic Shift: This deal marks a dramatic strategic shift for Netflix, which had traditionally grown without owning a studio or large content library, relying instead on licensing and expanding its original content.
• Industry Context: The merger is taking place amidst a major contraction in the traditional TV business as viewers shift entirely to streaming. Warner Bros. cable TV networks division had reported a 23% decline in revenue in the most recent quarter. The combination is expected to create $2-3 billion in cost savings annually by the third year.

Business Leader Profiles

Neeraj Kanwar, Managing Director of Apollo Tyres: The sources feature an extensive profile of Neeraj Kanwar, the managing director of the ₹27,000-crore Apollo Tyres.

• Career and Early Learning: Kanwar, 54, joined the Gurugram-headquartered company in 1995, intentionally starting as a junior trainee named "Neeraj Singh" to understand the business from the ground up. His early postings involved working at transport hubs in Delhi, where he gained real feedback from dealers and truck operators.
• Growth and Expansion: Under his and his father's guidance, Apollo Tyres grew from a regional, truck-focused manufacturer with ₹1,300 crore in revenues in 1995 to a global entity operating in more than 180 countries. Key milestones include setting a $2-billion revenue goal by 2010 and acquiring Dutch premium tyre brand Vredestein in 2009, which provided access to the premium European market.
• Sport Sponsorship: Kanwar maintains a deep personal connection to sports, especially cricket. He views the ₹579-crore sponsorship deal to place the Apollo Tyres logo on the Indian cricket team jersey as a major marketing move offering "big visibility" in tier 2, 3, 4 markets and globally. The association with sports also includes a long-standing partnership with the English Premier League football club Manchester United.

Simone Tata, "Cosmetic Czarina of India": The passing of Simone Tata, Ratan Tata's stepmother, is highlighted, noting her significant business legacy.

• Legacy and Impact: Simone Tata is credited with guiding Lakmé's growth through its formative decades, transforming it into India's leading cosmetic brand. She joined Lakmé's board in 1961 and became chairperson in 1982. She is often referred to as the "Cosmetic Czarina of India" for popularizing cosmetics among Indian women.
• Founding Retail Chains: She was also instrumental in laying the foundation for fashion retail with the establishment of the Westside chain.

Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy

Film and Literature:

• Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein: The director's new film adaptation is discussed in the context of his broader filmography. Del Toro's work consistently features memorable screen monsters that are often more humanized than his human villains. His recurring themes include authoritarian or war-mongering empires as villains (like the Franco regime in Pan's Labyrinth) and a lifelong obsession with monsters as semantic vessels for society’s anxieties and imperfections.
• Good Fortune: This buddy comedy by Aziz Ansari is reviewed, focusing on its wholesome nature and critique of the gig economy. The film finds humor in the struggles of underpaid workers like delivery drivers. The review singles out Keanu Reeves’s performance as a "spectacularly incompetent angel" as the secret weapon, noting its sincere, bewildered earnestness reminiscent of his breakthrough role as Ted Logan.
• Literary Festival and Creative Economy: The Shillong Literary Festival is highlighted, illustrating how Meghalaya is reviving its economy through a focus on the "creative economy" including music, film, design, food, and notably, fruit wine production. The temporary legalization and promotion of local beverages like Mawphlang cherry wine and rice beer (Bitchi) demonstrate this concerted effort to turn local culture into a tourist attraction.

Visual and Interdisciplinary Arts:

• M.F. Husain Museum: The world’s first institution dedicated to modernist artist M.F. Husain, Lawh Wa Qalam: M.F. Husain Museum, opened in Doha. The museum, inspired by Husain's own sketch, celebrates his artistic trajectory and multidisciplinary practice, tracing his work from the 1950s until his death. The museum showcases his films (like Gaja Gamini) and features recurring motifs like his hallmark horse.
• Serendipity Arts Festival (Goa): Preparing for its 10th edition, Serendipity is emphasized as a leader in promoting interdisciplinarity in contemporary South Asian art. The festival blurs boundaries by showcasing arts in non-traditional venues (like riverside parks and disused medical colleges) and integrating diverse disciplines such as culinary arts (treating chefs' work as artistic exploration), dance, theatre, craft, and technology. The success of this approach signals that interdisciplinary engagement is becoming a mindset rather than just a curatorial choice in India’s arts ecosystem.

The sources for December 6, 2025, highlight significant actions taken by regulatory bodies—primarily the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)—and ongoing legal challenges concerning tax avoidance, underscoring the dynamic landscape of Corporate and Financial Regulation.

Financial Regulation and Policy (RBI)

The RBI's actions focused heavily on liquidity, credit risk management, and regulatory compliance for financial intermediaries.

Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Banks:

• Lending to Directors and Relatives: The RBI issued new guidelines covering loans and advances extended by banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to their directors, senior management, and their relatives. The regulations mandate that banks and NBFCs must maintain transparency and adhere to strict rules when granting loans to these related parties. This measure aims to curb potential conflicts of interest and unauthorized benefits.
• Regulatory Conversion (Fino Payments Bank): The RBI granted in-principle approval for the conversion of Fino Payments Bank into a Small Finance Bank (SFB). This move makes Fino the first payments bank to achieve this conversion. The decision aligns with RBI guidelines for ‘on tap’ licensing of SFBs, especially for payments banks that have completed five years of operation and are resident-controlled. This conversion addresses the viability challenges faced by payments banks due to restrictions on lending and deposit limits (above ₹2 lakh per customer).
• Credit Growth Monitoring: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra stated that the central bank is not in favor of credit growth running ahead of economic fundamentals and is comfortable with the current pace, which is roughly in line with GDP growth. The Governor referenced pre-2011-12 periods where "very high credit growth rates" negatively impacted bank asset quality, indicating a preference for sustained, measured growth. Deputy Governor Swaminathan J. noted that overall credit growth (10-11%) is largely driven by secured segments like gold loans and home loans, while unsecured loan growth has significantly moderated, giving the RBI confidence in steady asset quality trends.

Securities Market Regulation (SEBI)

SEBI took major action against unregistered advisory services and also proposed changes to options trading limits.

Crackdown on Unregistered Investment Advice:

• Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy (ASTA): SEBI issued an interim order barring Avadhut Sathe and his academy (ASTA) from dealing in securities for allegedly operating as an unregistered investment adviser and research analyst under the guise of stock market education.
• Disgorgement Order: SEBI ordered the disgorgement of ₹546.16 crore in unlawful gains obtained by Sathe and ASTA. This marks SEBI’s largest clampdown on a "finfluencer" to date.
• Evidence of Violations: SEBI's investigation found that ASTA collected over ₹601.4 crore in fees since July 2015. Evidence revealed that Sathe provided stock-specific advice, including buy-and-sell cues, stop-loss points, and guidance on intraday movements during paid sessions, disguising live trade advisory as "chart study". The academy misleadingly showcased students achieving large profits; for instance, claiming a homemaker earned ₹1 crore in 2.5 years when she had actually earned only ₹4.17 lakh. The outcome of participants tracked by SEBI showed collective losses of ₹1.93 crore among the analyzed traders. ASTA denied these charges, arguing it operates solely as a training institution and that its activities were purely for educational clarity.

Market Integrity and Position Limits:

• Options Trading Limits: SEBI proposed shifting the method for calculating trading member (TM) position limits for index options from the current notional-value method to a delta-based Future Equivalent (FutEq) measure.
• Rationale: This change aims to align TM limits with client-level limits, which already use the delta-adjusted metric, to create consistency in risk controls. The new measure offers a more realistic representation of risk and prevents concentration risk in thinly traded contracts by using a uniform metric for aggregating positions. SEBI proposed capping TM limits at 15% of market-wide FutEq open interest, along with an absolute slab system ranging from ₹2,000 crore to ₹12,000 crore.

Investment Trust and Corporate Actions:

• InvIT Approval: SEBI granted in-principle approval for the registration of ‘Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust’ (RIIT), an Infrastructure Investment Trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
• Merger Observation: FMCG firm Dabur received a "no adverse observations" letter from the BSE regarding its scheme of amalgamation of Sesa Care, allowing it to proceed to the next regulatory step.

Corporate Tax Regulation and Legal Challenges

A major tax avoidance case involving a large conglomerate reached the Delhi High Court.

• Vedanta Tax Dispute (GAAR): Vedanta Ltd. moved the Delhi High Court to challenge the Income Tax department’s claim that the company gained an undue tax advantage of approximately ₹1,308 crore by misusing the India–Mauritius tax treaty.
• GAAR Panel Ruling: The tax department's General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) approving panel had ruled that Vedanta's structure, involving its promoter entity Vedanta Holdings Mauritius II Ltd (VHML), was an "impermissible avoidance arrangement" designed primarily for tax savings. The department alleged that VHML lacked commercial substance and was engineered to secure a concessional 5% dividend withholding tax rate under the DTAA, instead of the applicable 10–15%.
• Court Action: The High Court restrained the tax department from taking coercive action or issuing an assessment order until the next hearing on December 18. Vedanta maintains that VHML was created as a financing vehicle to support a delisting plan, not for tax avoidance.

Corporate Fraud and Asset Attachment

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took action against entities linked to the Reliance Anil Ambani Group.

• ED Attachment: The ED provisionally attached assets valued at ₹1,120 crore belonging to companies of the Reliance Anil Ambani Group in connection with alleged financial irregularities linked to Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), and the Yes Bank fraud case.
• Cumulative Action: This action raises the cumulative value of assets attached in related investigations to over ₹10,117 crore. The ED alleges that circuitous fund routing allowed these firms to access public money that was not permissible under securities regulations, specifically noting Yes Bank’s troubled investments in RHFL and RCFL debt instruments.

These events collectively demonstrate that while the RBI is actively setting a policy tone to manage macroeconomic stability and lending quality, SEBI is aggressively targeting illegal financial advisory practices and updating market risk parameters, and other enforcement agencies are addressing historical corporate financial misconduct and tax evasion.

The sources provide rich coverage of Art, Culture & Social Trends on December 6, 2025, emphasizing the surging importance of interdisciplinarity in the arts, the impact of film and creative figures, shifting social rituals among younger generations, and the economic benefits of leveraging local culture.

Interdisciplinarity and the Evolving Arts Landscape

A significant theme across the sources is the growing trend of interdisciplinarity in contemporary arts, particularly in South Asia, moving away from rigid, colonial-era silos.

• Key Festivals and Venues: The Serendipity Arts Festival in Panaji, Goa, is highlighted as a leader in promoting interdisciplinarity, actively encouraging artists to relate their work across different genres.
  • The festival deliberately blurs boundaries by hosting events in non-traditional venues like a riverside park, a promenade, a barge converted into a gallery, a heritage home hosting theatrical dining, and a disused medical college.
  • Serendipity notably introduced a "culinary arts" segment about a decade ago, leading chefs to "think and work like artists," exploring the meaning and politics of ingredients and techniques, which is credited with boosting India's restaurant boom.
  • Curatorial practices involve blending dance, text, original sound, and ceramics (e.g., Lives of Clay) or merging folk traditions like kavad katha with classical forms like Mohiniyattam (e.g., Kahaniyon ka Manthan), prompting audiences to question rigid genres.
  • The festival signals that interdisciplinary engagement is becoming a "mindset" rather than merely a curatorial choice.
• Contemporary Artistic Practice: Interdisciplinarity is now central to contemporary practice in South Asia. Examples include:
  • Rajyashri Goody blending food, caste histories, ceramics, and performance to create narratives of resistance.
  • Afrah Shafiq integrating literature, gaming, digital interfaces, and gendered archives.
  • Serendipity’s upcoming 10th edition features projects like Clay Play, celebrating percussion instruments made from clay, and a theatre piece, Handle with Care, that uses a sealed box and audience participation instead of performers and crew.
• Kochi-Muziris Biennale: The upcoming sixth edition focuses on the theme ‘For the Time Being’, exploring the body as a "vessel of memory and lived histories". It will include projects addressing social issues, such as a play about caste identity (Bob Marley from Kodihalli) and exhibitions examining Palestinian migration and movement, connecting histories across geographies. Curators aim to build "friendship economies," fostering collaboration and mutual nourishment among practitioners.

Focus on Film, Literature, and Visual Arts

Film and Creative Figures:

• Guillermo del Toro: The director's work, including his new adaptation of Frankenstein, is characterized by memorable screen monsters that are often more humanized than his human villains. His filmography consistently critiques authoritarian or war-mongering empires and uses monsters as semantic vessels for societal anxieties, insecurities, and taboos. Del Toro views monsters as "the patron saints of imperfection," reflecting his Catholic upbringing and struggle to reconcile with dogma.
• Good Fortune: This buddy comedy, available on streaming platforms, is noted for its wholesome nature and critique of the gig economy, focusing on the struggles of underpaid delivery drivers and contractors. The film's "secret weapon" is Keanu Reeves’s portrayal of a "spectacularly incompetent angel," characterized by sincere, bewildered earnestness, reminiscent of his breakthrough role as Ted Logan in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
• Literary Figures: The Shillong Literary Festival provided an opportunity for writers to engage with the theme of the "creative economy". Booker winner Banu Mushtaq described standing in Shillong as "walking into a page that has been quietly waiting for me".

Visual Arts and Museums:

• M.F. Husain Museum: The world’s first institution dedicated to modernist artist M.F. Husain, Lawh Wa Qalam: M.F. Husain Museum (The Canvas and the Pen), opened in Doha. The museum, conceptually derived from Husain's own sketch, spans 3,000 sq. m and traces his multidisciplinary trajectory from the 1950s, showcasing artworks, sketches, films (Gaja Gamini is one mentioned), and recurring motifs like his hallmark horse.

The Creative Economy and Local Culture

Meghalaya is presented as a prime example of a state actively reviving its economy post-Covid by focusing on the "creative economy," encompassing literature, music, film, design, and food.

• Fruit Wine and Beverages: This initiative includes promoting and temporarily legalizing local products, such as Mawphlang cherry wine and Garo Hills rice beer (Bitchi), turning them into tourist attractions. Local bars now offer cocktails infused with Meghalaya ingredients like black sesame, pinewood bitters, and Khasi mandarin.
• Supporting Local Talent: The Chief Minister's Meghalaya Grassroots Music Program (CMMGMP) funds young aspiring musicians for small gigs, and the state also funds local filmmakers and launched its own OTT platform, Hello Meghalaya, encouraging the telling of "stories of my people for the world".

Social Trends: Solitude and Relational Rituals

The sources explore evolving social trends, particularly related to comfort with solitude and maintaining personal connections.

• Discomfort with Solitude: Psychologists note an alarming pattern where younger generations are increasingly uncomfortable with being alone, finding devices more soothing than their own minds. Digital over-stimulation has conditioned brains to expect constant input, intensifying loneliness when viewing social media stories of friends having fun.
• The Power of Rituals: Intentional solitude is suggested as "a medicine" in a world addicted to stimulation. Meanwhile, "relational rituals" are highlighted as crucial practices—both in-person and long-distance—that strengthen bonds, symbolize care, and sustain relationships during physical gaps.
  • Examples include annual autumn meet-ups between friends, the twenty-year tradition of swapping earrings (acting as a "relational reserve"), meeting every two weeks at the same bar, and sharing "masala-movie" sessions.
  • These rituals allow friends and families to affirm love and presence ("I see you, I value you, I’m here for you") and help to overcome the necessity of constant communication or geographic distance.

This period is marked by artists and institutions challenging traditional boundaries while, simultaneously, individuals seek intentional ways to navigate digital oversaturation and maintain meaningful human connections through deliberate social rituals.