Best of BS Opinion: Telecom wins, EV retrofits, and truth in bureaucracy

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Have you ever noticed that wearing a mask is not just about keeping the cough from getting out or in. It’s about that quiet middle space where you’re aware of the air around you, the invisible things you could pass on, and the equally invisible ones you could pick up. You adjust it before entering a crowded lift, you lower it briefly to breathe alone. Life, in its many pockets, is often just this, knowing when to guard and when to let the world in. Let’s dive in. 

In mobility, our first editorial says India’s EV strategy, especially for millions of ICE two-wheelers and three-wheelers, could also use a retrofit mask. Bengaluru-based SUN Mobility’s plan to convert old petrol scooters into EVs at about Rs 30,000 is exactly that — a filter on emissions without tossing away what works. With over 200 million two-wheelers on the road, this could be a big step if a national retrofit policy removes the patchy state-level approvals clogging the air.  That balance is playing out in telecom, where Bharti Airtel has finally crossed an average revenue per user of Rs 250, two years after touching the Rs 200 mark, notes our second editorial. It’s a leap over rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, yet still a fraction of what US, European or Chinese carriers make. The challenge now is to lift earnings without shutting people out with higher tariffs, a mask that lets in the air of affordability while filtering for innovation and quality. 

Meanwhile, the corporate world’s mask moment, as Ajit Balakrishnan notes, is about deciding which layers are essential. Middle management, long seen as the filtering fabric of companies, is thinning as AI and organisational restructuring make hierarchies flatter. Business schools now need to train leaders who can operate without the comfort of procedural masks — decisive, adaptable, and ready to breathe the open air of unpredictable markets. 

In cinema, Aamir Khan has tried a mask-off experiment, bypassing the OTT and theatrical bottleneck with a Rs 100 pay-per-view on YouTube for Sitaare Zameen Par. It’s a way to breathe new life into Indian films globally while shielding against the constraints of limited screens, writes Vanita Kohli-Khandekar. 

And finally, A K Bhattacharya reviews Subhash Chandra Garg’s No, Minister, a memoir that strips away the polite mask of bureaucracy, revealing both the grit and grudges of policy-making. A reminder that taking the mask off sometimes changes the air entirely. 

Stay tuned!