http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/tushar-apte/ Tushar Apte prodded around the corporate world for 2 years after graduating from Sydney University, with a regular paycheck but little satisfaction. Following the Australian rite of passage that is the European Backpacking Tour, he returned enlightened and tired, with no paycheck but great satisfaction. Currently living and working in Los Angeles, he hibernates most of the year and surfaces occasionally to write for online publications. He puts all his flaws down to being an only child, but is wondering if people are catching on. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/coming-to-a-venue-near-you-performing-live-while-dead/ I loved gangsta rap. Of course I did. I was a middle-class kid in an ethnically diverse public high school in Sydney’s inner west, in the 1990s. That’s many ticks in some record-company’s market research survey. Warning: explicit language. The music doesn’t resonate with me the way it once did, but when I hear the blasting horn intro of the Joe-Cocker sampled California Love, the wannabe ‘G’ inside resurfaces and I want to pour one out for my homiez, and wish I could see Tupac or Biggie in concert. By ‘Pac’s death in ‘96 hip-hop was well into its golden age. It was at a turning point where the genre was going mainstream, but hadn’t yet mutated into mindless pop-rap. It was a time where there was no possible universe where Snoop Dogg would collaborate with Katy Perry. And when that happened, all hip-hop heads ever talked about was how Pac and his deceased contemporary, Notorious B.I.G., would never have teamed up with these ‘sell-outs’. But Tupac’s posthumous performance as a hologram at Coachella showed us this scenario was definitely possible, whether Pac 1.0 (the flesh and blood one) wanted it to be or not. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tushar Apte) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/coming-to-a-venue-near-you-performing-live-while-dead/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/coming-to-a-venue-near-you-performing-live-while-dead/#item8272 Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:50:18 +0000 Tushar Apte | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-brother-is-watching-and-hes-making-you-stupid/ The growth of the internet as an information and communications tool has always been tied intimately with the promise of connecting people beyond geographical and ideological boundaries, of expanding our knowledge through unprecedented access to multiple viewpoints. This ideal is still embraced by some, notably in discussions of the “Twitter Revolutions”, but in a practical sense it’s as relevant as a physical Encyclopedia. For most of us day-to-day internet use is fast moving away from providing individuals real choice, and ironically this is due to the “personalisation” of the web experience. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tushar Apte) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-brother-is-watching-and-hes-making-you-stupid/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-brother-is-watching-and-hes-making-you-stupid/#item5332 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 19:40:09 +0000 Tushar Apte | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-death-of-the-traditional-classroom-begins-here/ Being a product of the 90s schooling era, neither I nor any of the kids I went to school with have experienced a world without computers. Sure, we had the standard childhood pursuits of bike riding, swimming, generally getting in trouble, and those strange birthday parties where your whole primary school class is invited, including kids you don’t even know. But similarly ingrained in our early memories are playing Tetris, Space Invaders, Formula One, Brick, and so on. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tushar Apte) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-death-of-the-traditional-classroom-begins-here/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-death-of-the-traditional-classroom-begins-here/#item4684 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:25:50 +0000 Tushar Apte | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/missing-the-strait-jacket/ Wake up. Snooze, sleep. Repeat 3 times (may vary). Get out of bed. Wash (optional). Breakfast (optional). Coffee (necessary). Take ironed shirt from night before, tuck into pants. Place belt around said pants. Get tie fitting right, add shoes, hair and makeup (optional). Wallet, keys, iPhone/Blackberry/mp3 player and out the door. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tushar Apte) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/missing-the-strait-jacket/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/missing-the-strait-jacket/#item4308 Fri, 22 Oct 2010 02:30:17 +0000 Tushar Apte | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/minority-reports-tv-news-fails-on-ethnic-diversity/ If alien life tuned into Australian news and TV broadcasts, they may wonder why immigration is an issue for any Australian political leader. They would certainly wonder where all these immigrants are, such is the gap in Australian television between the nation we live in day by day and the Australia broadcast on our allegedly diverse TV channels. TV news audiences are steadily falling and audiences are moving towards online news providers. Against this trend it seems our news networks’ idea of competition (regarding selection of news presenters) is to retreat into a view of Australia as it was circa 1980. Amongst the 25 National News anchors across the 5 major networks, SBS accounts for 4 out of 6 prominent multicultural presenters, the others being ABC’s Jeremy Fernandez and Juanita Philips. The three commercial free-to-air networks – Seven, Nine and Ten – account for almost 70% of the national news viewers, according to Throng Media. While there are a few reporters (including Nine’s Tracy Vo) on the front line, most living in major cities would largely agree that the face of Australian news doesn’t map the diversity we encounter at our offices, cafés and restaurants, parks and cultural events. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tushar Apte) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/minority-reports-tv-news-fails-on-ethnic-diversity/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/minority-reports-tv-news-fails-on-ethnic-diversity/#item3985 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:40:19 +0000 Tushar Apte | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/graduation-speeches-arts-graduates/ The memory should be vivid for many Arts graduates. Sitting in the graduation ceremony, the words of an otherwise inspiring commencement address waft overhead as the mind focuses uncontrollably on an uncertain future. Seated in uncomfortable lecture theatre seats (you won’t miss those, you think) you wait for a certificate cementing your “qualifications”, in the broadest sense of the word. The guest speaker waxes lyrical about personal journeys, eventually tying their tale into the “unique” position bestowed upon graduates of this (insert institution name) university, and of a duty we inherit to uphold and develop explorations into society and culture. The speaker resolves that in doing so we become model citizens, helping our fellow man realise the importance of life beyond economic measures of success and happiness. As an early-20s undergraduate with student debt, little corporate experience (pretty sure I walked into an office reception once) working a part-time bar job and only ‘soft skills’ to my name, I was certainly looking forward to economic measures of happiness. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tushar Apte) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/graduation-speeches-arts-graduates/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/graduation-speeches-arts-graduates/#item3295 Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:45:30 +0000 Tushar Apte | Author bios | The Punch