In Trump-time

There were two approaches to those like Chetla that had passed through India, Antara was advised.

They had befriended officials during their 25 years of stay in the US, they'd have a distorted notion of who you were, because the US officials were products of the Reagan-Kriesky meeting of 1983, they had never followed up on any investigation against Pakistan, they were never sure how Hollywood would react.

Either you'd have to delve deep into why Chetla took an interest in books you had read or TV shows you had watched (information out of context, merely to ridicule), or you considered her as someone who had wandered into India and wandered away as well.

The above was supposed to help Antara's stance on Ukraine, a topic on which Antara had never asked for advice or assistance.

The lease family had wandered through Ukraine, its past was of no consequence, its future in India was what the lease family was about. "It would help you if you visited Kolkata again, because Chetla's past was also of no consequence, it was as an American strategist-socialite that we were familiar with her."

ii. It was not correct to show disregard for airline tragedies but what kind of officials planned their intelligence projects around people's lives? Was Antara supposed to have felt insulted at the recent Airbus recall for modifications? Her spouse admired Airbus, and then the recall? 

Airbus's wingspan (one of the highest) made its climb-rate efficient, it increased weight but also drag, then why had Antara been told early on, "With that (historical) baggage, no one else...etc." Did Airbus want to discuss the drag?

Given the sheer number of notifications Antara received from Middle East aviation publications, it seemed Saudi or UAE officials made such decisions. They'd probably say they were imposed upon by the Obamas.

The Obamas had been particularly active with the high schools of Kolkata and their alumni. It was probably a phenomenon that was missed, why Donald Trump's political career took everyone by surprise. After several rounds of meetings, discussions etc between the Obamas and Kolkata schools, it was decided that the "Ukraine situation was not quite clear, what role Ukraine would play in the lease till the Agency altogether shut down its daily ops".

The Agency complied, that was 2017. The Agency complied knowing how Kolkata and its Tagores had felt about the United States having a foreign intelligence agency. Such easy victories within the US would make the world violent and anxiety-prone.

iii. The intended readership of the blogs was now becoming clear. Certain officials in the Middle East had advised Kolkata-based media companies that "Antara was not as savvy a journalist as the Times Group ones, she was lagging at HT." Antara argued for a decade about the HT working situation. When it didn't yield any results, the blogs were allowed, they were supposed to find out if the Middle East officials received negative feedback from Antara's parents, so accurate that it didn't allow her a chance to improve her personality, to grow.

We were moving into complicated matters now. Accurate information meant ability to influence wars, maybe in the early 1990s. A decade later, by 2002-03, Indian tycoons in Mumbai started discussing the benefits of philanthropy. A certain kind of financial system was bound to emerge, first FDI, then SOFR.

For example, almost everyone (except Antara) knew of Indian royals based in Wales, those who attacked Austria or held back the Austrian narrative from Antara. The steelworks of Asansol-Burnpur kept in touch with the steelworks of Wales, that's how Indian royal gossip was exchanged. Antara's parents knew that when she grew up and wrote about her hometown, she'd mention the steelworks, it would activate the Wales-based Indian royals against her.

Did Antara's parents consider who'd defend Antara from the Wales-based Indian royals? 

The Middle East officials would be providing the answer next time they sent Netanyahu for a visit to Washington DC, already five times this year.

iv. To Netanyahu, Washington DC would reply, "Antara had three starting points for researching the Nazi Holocaust. She could start with the 1790 lease, which was meant to test the early settlers, who was anti-Semitic and who wasn't."

At "early settlers" and "anti-Semitic", Netanyahu would hastily depart, it was unlikely he'd be back anytime soon.

We were not being deliberately provocative. Till you had understood the Nazi Holocaust, you would have to hold back the pride in early migration to Palestine or even being born there. It was disturbing if Israeli politicians discussed Israel-Palestine as a futuristic hub without realising what it meant for the Jews.

In the last century, no one else from the lease family faced and survived the challenges Antara had faced. At least the lease family always had relatives. 

Antara had been alone since 2014.

December 3, 2025.