Week 22/2026
25th May – 1st June 2026
This week also went by juggling between two offices. :)
I took an ‘Introduction to Children’s Literature and Storytelling for Early Years Children’ session with Planet Discovery School - CEE teachers. Went to the TIDE office after that and worked till evening. The TIDE office is energizing for me.
I took two days off from the office to just chill, but as always I did some work — a few small tasks for TIDE.
I read about Kiran Jonnalagadda & Zainab Bawa. I had read about his work in Techie Tuesdays many years ago, and recently rediscovered him — and this time, his partner Zainab’s work as well. It is inspiring. Apart from HasGeek, their work for ‘SaveInternet’ / net neutrality is very important.
Net neutrality is in the buzz again because of Airtel’s new priority postpaid plan.
Saturday, I went to the TIDE office again and had a morning call with Bansi about the magazine. It is in the final stage of printing. Now we need to think about distribution. I am planning to conduct workshops and share magazine copies in different schools and learning centers. We also had a discussion about the next issue and the overall sustainability of this initiative. We need to do more reflection and decision-making.
Saturday was a hectic day — lots of partnership meetings at TIDE. I am excited to see how it turns out.
Saturday evening I went to a local computer repair shop for a screen replacement of my ThinkPad X1 Carbon. It has been in the same condition since the day I had the accident. I mostly used the office ThinkPad or used the Carbon with an external monitor. I didn’t get the screen to replace.Shopekeeper ordered one but it is not exact same. Now he is finding it from BLR, Mumbai market, local market. let’s hope he gets it.
sunday I spent time with Nidhi. Evening we went to friend’s home for dinner.
Monday was my last day at the office. I did lots of work, submitted my laptop, said goodbye to my team and ate pizza & ice cream. It was a nice stint. I learned a lot about pilot design for research, curriculum design, and facilitation with children aged 3 to 6 years. This stint also helped me financially. My team gave me support during my home conflicts. I am grateful for everything.
From tomorrow, I will be full-time with TIDE — with full focus and a singular vision. Now I can focus my energy in one place instead of dividing it into side projects. Whatever I wanted to do at Khojbeen Mandali, I can do at TIDE. I have trust, freedom, and support. Touchwood… let’s hope for the best.
I booked tickets for IndiaFOSS 2026. Honestly, I have read a lot about HasGeek events, DebConf, Wikimania, and many other meetups and open source community events but never got the chance to attend one. I organized a Wikipedia meetup with students of the school I was working at many years ago (I think around 2015) and invited Wikipedian and Debian developer Kartik Mistry. It was fun. I draw inspiration for open education and open knowledge from FOSS, and I wanted to meet like-minded people — so after reading Thejesh’s post, I booked a ticket. It is happening in September… it feels far away. I can’t quite imagine what I will be doing in September, so I can’t plan for it right now. But I am very, very excited to attend.
IndiaFOSS 2026 is happening on September 26th and 27th at NIMHANS, Bengaluru. It is a Free and Open Source Software festival organized by the FOSS United community. It may sound more technical than it actually is. In practice, it is a festival of public-interest cultural, knowledge, technical, and community work in India. The community around it is open to many forms of participation and collaboration.
Next week will be very hectic — two workshops and travel. But I am okay with it. I need to eat healthy food, drink more water, take deep breaths, and keep myself calm. All is well… dhire dhire re mana, dhire sab kuch hoy…
Info : Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must treat all internet traffic equally - regardless of its source, destination, content, type, or who is paying. This means an ISP cannot:
- Speed up or prioritize certain websites/services
- Slow down (throttle) competitors or disfavored content
- Block access to specific websites or apps
- Charge extra for accessing certain platforms (like Netflix, WhatsApp, etc.)
In simple terms: whether you’re loading Google or a small local startup’s website, the ISP must deliver both at the same speed without discrimination.
Save The Internet Campaign
SaveTheInternet.in was a landmark Indian digital rights movement launched in 2015, primarily in response to Airtel’s and Facebook’s moves that threatened net neutrality.
Key highlights:
- Triggered by Airtel Zero (a zero-rating platform) and Facebook’s Free Basics, which would have allowed select apps to be accessed free of data charges - giving them an unfair advantage
- Led by a coalition of activists, startups, journalists, and citizens
- Generated over 1 million emails to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) - the largest public consultation response in Indian regulatory history
- Result: TRAI in 2016 ruled in favor of net neutrality, banning discriminatory data pricing
- In 2018, India enshrined net neutrality into law through updated telecom licensing conditions - one of the strongest net neutrality frameworks in the world
How Airtel’s Priority Postpaid Plan Breaks Net Neutrality
Airtel’s Priority Postpaid plans have raised serious net neutrality concerns in several ways:
1. Zero-Rating / Free Data for Partner Apps
Airtel offers free or unmetered access to select apps (like Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, etc.) bundled with certain postpaid plans. This means:
- Data used on partner apps doesn’t count against your limit
- Data used on competing apps (say, a local streaming service) does count
- This distorts competition - users are nudged toward Airtel’s preferred platforms
2. Preferential Treatment of Traffic
By giving certain services preferential billing treatment, Airtel is effectively creating “fast lanes” for some content and “paid barriers” for others - the exact definition of a net neutrality violation.
3. Content Bundling as Discrimination
Bundling specific OTT platforms exclusively with premium plans means smaller or newer streaming services cannot compete on equal footing, since Airtel has effectively subsidized its partners at the expense of the open internet.
4. Violates TRAI’s 2016 Ruling
TRAI’s framework prohibits differential pricing based on content - but zero-rating partner services while charging for others arguably does exactly that, even if wrapped in a “bundle” format.
Bottom line: Net neutrality ensures the internet is a level playing field. The Save The Internet campaign successfully defended it in India in 2015–16. However, Airtel’s Priority plans use bundling and zero-rating loopholes to effectively give preferential treatment to partner services - undermining the spirit of net neutrality even if they technically try to stay within legal gray areas. TRAI and digital rights groups continue to monitor such practices.