India’s most entertaining newspaper, The Times of India, shocked the nation, by carrying a brilliantly researched, substantial piece of journalism on its front page. Millions of readers across the country were stunned, and in the words of many, ‘blown away’ by the piece, the quality of which some said they hadn’t expected even in their dreams.

“I woke up in the morning, expecting the usual contrived headline disparaging Narendra Modi, followed by some awesome pornographic glamorous pictures in the Page 3 sections, and some tips on how to improve my sex life on some other pages. But what I saw today left me frozen in shock for an entire minute. I couldn’t believe it – everything was perfect, right from the headline to the reporting, to the facts backing the report, to the research and analysis. For a moment, I wondered if I was reading the wrong portal and checked the masthead, but it was TOI alright!” said Anand Latedas, an avid TOI reader, to The UnReal Times.

“I am pretty sure we’ll see a clarification tomorrow somewhere in the inner pages, disowning today’s issue,” said Abhishek Dixit, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe it – no pictures of scantily dressed models, no sex tips, no Chetan Bhagat articles – pure, unadulterated brilliant news reports that are likely to drive and inspire the nation to improve itself.”

The development made waves on social media too. As early as 6.30 am, “TOIFrontPage,” “TOI” and “Times Of India” floated to the top of the Twitter trends.

The paper’s makeover gave rise to speculation whether there’d be a similar transformation with another prominent product of the Times Group, the NewsHour debate. Readers wondered if popular anchor Arnab Goswami would invite highly knowledgeable panelists from across the country and give them ample time to air their views lucidly without any interruptions. Readers wrestled with the mind boggling possibility of a congenial atmosphere on Newshour fostering healthy debate and discussion, with the anchor playing a constructive role in protecting the dignity of the debate and preventing it from descending into a cockfight.

But all those expectations were put to rest a minute into the evening’s Newshour debate when Arnab Goswami introduced his first panelist, Sanjay Jha.