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=Akash Banerjee=

Akash Banerjee is a political satirist based out of New Delhi, India. He is originally from the town of Lucknow located in the Uttar Pradesh of India.

Early Life and Education
As a child Banerjee has mentioned how important his childhood dream of traveling and photographing the world has impacted him. . Growing up in Lucknow, Banerjee attended La Martiniere Lucknow, from ages five until 18. Following his graduation from La Martiniere Boys’ College in 1998, Banerjee went on to further his studies. He went on to study at the Hindu College located at the University of Delhi in New Delhi India. Banerjee went on to pursue a Bachelor's degree in history, graduating in 2002. After his graduation, Banerjee continued his studies by attending St Stephen's College in New Delhi, where he earned a Masters degree in history.

Personal Information
Akash Banerjee received his first job shortly after graduating from the Hindu School. Starting in 2002, Banerjee worked as a radio jockey for Radio Mirchi, which at the time was an emerging radio station in India. Today this is a rather large job for what will later become India’s number one hit Hindi music radio station reaching 32 cities across the country. During his time at Radio Mirchi, he also hosted a popular late night radio show by the name of, Dil Chachta Hai. It was there where people could first see his love for FM radio. Banerjee worked at Radio Mirchi until 2004. Shortly after working with Radio Mirchi, he quickly went on to work with Times Now as an anchor and a correspondent. During his three year stint at Times Now, Banerjee served as a very popular figure for the program. Banerjee then went on to work for India Today as a Senior Special Correspondent. His job required a great deal of on the scene reporting, among various other forms of journalistic reporting. He worked there up until 2012. After which, he began working at Radio Mirchi once again. This time serving as vice president of the company. During his time as vice president, he implemented various different techniques to ignite the appeal of FM radio. However, Banerjee ultimately ended up leaving Radio Mirchi once again. He currently spends most of his time as the chief instigator, host, and a satirist of #WhySoSerious, a political satire show which streams across all social media platforms. He also serves as the chief instigator and head chatter box at NAB Global.

Akash Banerjee’s Tales from Shining and Sinking India
Tales from Shining and Sinking India is a book that was written by Akash Banerjee. It was published in December 2012. The book’s 12 chapters provide a detailed account of how broadcast media works throughout the country of India. Akash Banerjee uses his numerous years of experience in the field to tell uncover details on how different news outlets have reported some of the biggest news stories that have happened throughout the country of India. This book features various personal essays that reveal how broadcast journalists are dedicated to always finding news and will even risk their lives in the process. Banerjee highlights that even though broadcast media faces competition from different web and social media platforms, people still look to news channels for getting a story as it develops. In an interview with The Times of India, Akash Banerjee discusses the motivation behind writing the book. He explains “Tales from Shining and Sinking India was originally conceived as an attempt to explain the complicated workings of a 24x7 newsroom; however it progressed to highlight the stories that make and break India .” The book includes numerous important events that had an effect on the country. These events include the 26/11 terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 166 people, the Bihar floods that left that part of the country severely damaged, and the launch of Chandrayaan, India’s first lunar probe. The book reminds readers of the hard work that broadcast journalists face every time they go into work. Banerjee reminds people that “any budding journalist should be aware that news media is not about anchoring the 9 p.m. bulletin. It’s about hard nosed research and a grueling job that’s certainly not for the fainthearted ."

Articles and Beliefs
Banerjee has written many satirical articles on political issues and opinions in India, as well. He wrote for News Laundry for about two years, starting in 2015, while he was still working for Radio Mirchi. His last article from News Laundry was posted on December 1, 2016, called “#NationalAnthem: Why Must Only Moviegoers Be Reminded Of Their Patriotism?” This article is a about an issue that had been brought up over 60 years before, and had been finalized by India’s Supreme Court in September of 2016, so that all theatres in India have to play the national anthem before their movies. Banerjee goes on to question why, then, the Supreme Court do not, themselves, play the national anthem before they “get down to jurisprudence on a daily basis.” This is just one example of how Banerjee uses his articles to reveal a very bare, hard truth of India’s political and social situations. He exaggerates his opinions in order to contribute to how ridiculous he sees the situations that he creates articles about, and to clearly make the point that he is trying to make. Many of his articles push towards worrying less about the countries and nations surrounding India, and more about creating a lifestyle in India that is superior to those nations. Although Banerjee thinks about situations logically, he describes them sarcastically, so many people do not understand or agree with the opinions described in his articles. Such discretion can be regarded from any of the comment sections of any of his articles on News Laundry. Like any satirical material, if people decide to take his words all too literally, they will not understand what he is really trying to affirm. The last recorded article that he has published before he dove more deeply into YouTube and social media was “You promised to be a game-changer not a name-changer: An angry HR manager’s notice to CEO Modi.” It was published by Scroll.in on October 9, 2017. By this article, Banerjee seems to have tapped into his own voice and how much influence his articles have on people and their opinions as he wrote a personal note to India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Banerjee is very aware of what he wants and what he believes other people of India should want, while calling out Modi on his lack of action in terms of what he had claimed he would do for the nation before he was elected. Through his articles, Banerjee believes that India is capable of positive change, and focuses on the different situations and ways that India is able to make those changes.

The Desh Bhakt
The Desh Bhakt is India’s first dedicated political and social satire series on the Internet, created by Akash Banerjee. Found primarily on youtube.com, The Desh Bhakt aims to make politics easier to digest and fun to discuss. It attempts to challenge the way political discussions happen in India, which are usually bitter and one-sided, by adding unbiased facts into a light and humorous discussion through satire. The Desh Bhakt believes all political parties are the same and citizens must question everything and everyone to safeguard the interests of the country and democracy. The Desh Bhakt target audience is the digital generation. The Desh Bhakt youtube channel is 100% crowdfunded through the website patreon and Instamojo. Their providers ensure that the channel remains blunt, true, and unbiased to all political situations. The Desh Bhakt currently has 362 out of their 500-patron goal. After meeting their goal, The Desh Bhakt will take its independent political and social satire to the masses, with daily content on social media, new webpage and live youtube channel.

The Desh Bhakt Story So Far
In January 2018, Akash Banerjee started seriously exploring the idea of using political satire. By March 2018, Akash Banerjee quit his job as Vice President at the media company Radio Mirchi. By June 2018, Akash Banerjee sold house to fund an independent new-media startup with lots of satire, The Desh Bhakt. By August 2018, The Desh Bhakt hit 125,000 subscribers on Youtube and Akash Banerjee created a small team. By January 2019, The Desh Bhakt hits 300,000 subscribers on Youtube. In episode 62 of The Desh Bhakt, named “Bhakti Khatre Mai Hain!!!” Akash Banerjee is upset at the hypocrisy of pseudo-bhakts who are increasing in number. The website Scroll.in wrote an article about this episode, highlighting that The Desh Bhakt is not happy with how things are changing right before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Indian general election. In episode 56 of The Desh Bhakt, named “पात्रा के अनमोल रतन” Akash Banerjee wishes Indian politician, Sambit Patra happy birthday. He also wants to thank Sambit for his entertainment and drama that kept kids away from things like BigBoss and Naagin. This is The Desh Bhakt’s most watched episodes with over 1.1 million views. The Desh Bhakt merchandise can be found on the website Kadak Merch.