Reasons I decided to install and uninstall the nationalist Koo... nothing ideological

The “nationalist” Koo fever appears to have caught up with some Union ministers, BJP politicians, some right-wing actors, media and professionals. I too decided to try it out by downloading what is tom-tommed as a Twitter alternative on my mobile phone, thinking, perhaps it would give a little insight into right-wing news stories, which interest me.

Immediately after downloading Koo, I found that I am being invited to “follow” Union ministers, BJP politicians, a few actors and topcops who have become famous for their closeness to powers that be. But that was expected. I decided not to follow any of them, as I knew what they would be saying. So, I looked up if any news media or journalists are there, whom I could follow.
Yes, a few news media were there. I decided to follow Republic TV. I also clicked on the “follow” button for News 18 and CNBC TV-18. There were three or four others in Koo’s “offer” list – frankly I couldn’t recognise any of them, hence decided not to follow them. Then I looked at the journalists’ list – the only worth, and known, person following Koo seemed to be Ashutosh, who was formerly with Aam Aadmi Party. I couldn’t identify others.
I decided to look at the list of those who have joined Koo. Among well-known actors, as of today, the only top one I could identify was Anupam Kher (even Kangana Ranavat wasn’t there). As for others, they may be great, but I couldn’t recognise them, call it my poor Bollywood general knowledge.
Among ministers and politicians, the names appeared were only of BJP persons – Union minister Piyush Goyal, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, loud mouthed Sambit Patra, Amit Malaviya (the BJP IT cell man whose fake tweets are by now a legend), and Shejad Poonwalla (who calls himself proud Indian Muslim by faith, Hindu by culture, Indian by ideology). Others “worth mentioning” are Poonam Mahajan, SG Suryah, Giriraj Singh…
I installed Koo on my Samsung mobile phone, which was released in June 2017 – not a good one from today’s standards, but for my use it is good enough. I installed Koo app by “offering” my mobile number (I had to, unlike Twitter, where either phone number or email id is enough). I one-time password was immediately recognised and I was on Koo.
While I was browsing through Koo, I found a few major issues, all of them technical: One, that my mobile got heated up for unknown reasons; Koo crashed thrice, and though I was not “pushed out” of the app, when I tried to get out, I just couldn’t – I had to “close all” option to get out!
So, what is the moral of the story? Technically, nothing wrong in installing Koo, provided you have a phone that permits it, it doesn’t get hot (no double meaning here!), the app doesn’t crash, and you can easily move out of the app without using the “close all” function. I am not such a big nationalist, hence I was not much concerned about whether the app had a Chinese investor.
Nor am I much concerned with its “insecure” factors, about which some experts have reportedly drawn attention to. So, install it, if you want to follow and see what not-so-top ranking politicians, or an avowedly extreme right-wing media (Republic TV) have to say.
Two hours after installing the app, I decided to uninstall it. Reason? As I said, my mobile would unusually heat up. The app would crash. It stopped heating up after I uninstalled it. Nor – as I have said – am I such a big nationalist that I should promote the app just because it supposedly an Indian startup. Capitalists, American or Indian, talk of being “nationalist” because that suits their economic interests. I wouldn’t mind using an app, whether Indian or foreign, even Chinese, if it works well and serves my purpose.
The developers of the app say they are “proud” Indians; maybe, but that surely doesn’t impress me. Let them first ensure that top Indians, ranging from Prashan Bhushan, a known Modi critic, to top Modi supporting academics supporting Modi (Arvind Panagariya or Sujit Bhalla, who are on Twitter), join in to provide some facade of objectivity; lest it would be seen as a right-wing (extreme?) app.
Post-script: I would have liked to continue with controversial Koo – dubbed nationalist – had the developers allowed me to do at least on my computer, as Twitter does… But they don’t seem to have be allowing that. So, let’s hope for the best, and good luck and sorry to Koo developers!

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog