<h2>Pecks and Pincers</h2>
<p>A fisherman catches crabs at low tide off the seashore at Dadar.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Why Amitav Ghosh uses AI</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/Amitav-Ghosh_e.jpg" alt="Amitav Ghosh. Pic/Shadab Khan" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Amitav Ghosh. Pic/Shadab Khan</em></strong></p>
<p>The city&rsquo;s literature fans had a treat this week, as Padma Shri and Jnanpith Awardee novelist Amitav Ghosh was in town for the launch of his latest work, Wild Fictions (HarperCollins, Rs 799), which is a collection of his essays on a variety of subjects. In conversation with journalist and author Raghu Karnad, Ghosh regaled the eager audience at the Royal Opera House with tales of his travels through Egypt and Indonesia, as well as discussions about xenophilia (appreciation for foreign cultures), global politics, climate and even the humble baniyan! The big shocker of the evening, though, was the award-winning author admitting that he uses AI to answer emails. &ldquo;And here I thought we were having such a great email exchange last week,&rdquo; Karnad responded. &ldquo;I use AI all the time now. I find it incredibly helpful; it answers letters so well,&rdquo; xplained Ghosh, &ldquo;But it still can&rsquo;t get my name right.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>The best kind of news!</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/Namrata-Tata_e.jpg" alt="(From left) Namrata Tata, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, House of Cheer; Raj Nayak, Founder and Managing Director, House of Cheer Networks; and mid-day Managing Director Vikas Joshi with the Happiest Places To Work award. PIC/SATEJ SHINDE" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>(From left) Namrata Tata, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, House of Cheer; Raj Nayak, Founder and Managing Director, House of Cheer Networks; and mid-day Managing Director Vikas Joshi with the Happiest Places To Work award. PIC/SATEJ SHINDE</em></strong></p>
<p>We&rsquo;ve known it for a while, of course, but now it&rsquo;s official! Your friendly neighbourhood paper, mid-day, has been certified as one of the &ldquo;Happiest Places to Work&rdquo;. The recognition comes after an anonymous Employee Happiness Survey was conducted across the organisation by House of Cheer, a platform that measures organisational happiness, to track employee satisfaction across myriad aspects, including workplace camaraderie, career growth and appreciation from superiors and peers. &ldquo;This certification reflects not just our commitment to our team&rsquo;s happiness, but also the quality and impact we are able to create together when we work with a positive attitude,&rdquo; says mid-day Managing Director Vikas Joshi. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about fostering a workplace where every individual feels valued, celebrated, and deeply connected to a shared purpose,&rdquo; says Shree Agarwal, HR Head.</p>
<h2>Men and the memories</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/KN-Prabhu_e.jpg" alt="KN Prabhu. Pic/Mid-day archives " width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>KN Prabhu. Pic/Mid-day archives</em></strong>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The journalists who covered the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy are back. To say that their 50-day Test tour was one hell of a rollercoaster ride would be a fair assumption. A tour of Australia affords one plenty of opportunities to meet former greats, but this diarist is told that not many of those stalwarts make to the grounds. It was not so when KN Prabhu, the doyen of Indian cricket writers toured with the Indian team in the 1960s and 1970s. Our in-house cricket nut stumbled upon an article that Prabhu wrote for Sportsweek&rsquo;s World of Cricket on the &ldquo;rewards of touring abroad.&rdquo; Prabhu revealed how he met Sir Don Bradman and Harold Larwood, the two players who were the centre of attraction in the 1932-33 Bodyline series. The famous writer also grabbed the chance to visit Larwood at his Sydney home with Larwood&rsquo;s fellow England pace terror Frank Tyson for company. Larwood was a generous man. Before he bid goodbye to his guests, Larwood pulled out a signed photograph of himself and gifted it to Prabhu. Tours&hellip; they can be so rewarding!</p>
<h2>Inspiring places, inspired people</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/Karan-Shetty_e.jpg" alt="Sucheta Chakraborty and Karan Shetty" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Sucheta Chakraborty and Karan Shetty</em></strong></p>
<p>Writer and film journalist Sucheta Chakraborty and ad-film director Karan Shetty are out with a new free-to-watch program, the People In Places Show, which throws light on the intersectionality between places and the people it inspires. In the first episode, Chakraborty speaks to Kannada film actor, writer, and director Raj B Shetty. Directed and shot by Kalveer Biradar, the episode takes place in Mangaluru, a city that has inspired Raj Shetty&rsquo;s work. &ldquo;We are speaking about his film, Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, which is a gangster film set in Mangaluru. Usually, we see gangster narratives in fast-paced cities like Mumbai, Delhi, or New York,&rdquo; says Chakraborty. While the initial idea for the show is drawn from films, Chakraborty says that they plan to speak to artistes of all kinds about how their works have been inspired by the places they are in. &ldquo;We wanted to get out of the four walls. We wanted them to take place in the world that has inspired the artiste,&rdquo; she says. For now, Shetty and Chakraborty are working on developing the next episodes. The show is free to watch on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Simply search for @peopleinplacesshow.</p>
<h2>Mo-mentous back story</h2>
<p><img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/Mo-Farah_e.jpg" alt="Mo Farah&rsquo;s story goes beyond medals" width="1280" height="720" /><br /><strong><em>Mo Farah&rsquo;s story goes beyond medals</em></strong></p>
<p>Even as the Mumbai marathon is being run today, one of the most fascinating aspects in the 20th edition of the race event is the story of its ambassador &mdash; Mo Farah, the most celebrated distance athletes of all time. Yet, his back story may spur all to read up more beyond his accomplishments. Several accounts say about this Somali-British former long-distance runner that he was born Hussein Abdi Kahin in present-day Somaliland. His father died in the Isaaq genocide when he was four, and he then became separated from his mother. At the age of nine he was illegally trafficked to the United Kingdom via Djibouti, when he was given the name Mohammed Farah and was forced to work as a domestic servant. He obtained British citizenship in July 2000 under the name Mohamed Farah. Beyond the medals is a sobering story that should make you think of violence, genocide and the darkness that is human trafficking.</p><p>
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