Blogs

When actor Vijay was planning his political entry in early 2024, this column hoped he would declare DMK as his primary opponent. He, a debutant promising to be an alternative, has followed common sense to identify the incumbent as his main rival. In fact, Vijay has kept DMK so much in his crosshairs that the…

Trust is a behaviour, not a statement. I walked into the team’s daily standup like I always had. Sat down. Listened. Asked a few questions. Nothing unusual. Except everything about it was wrong. I’d recently been elevated to a new higher leadership position, overseeing people across multiple functions. But I was still showing up to…

Ritu Tawde of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Mahayuti and Sanjay Ghadi of Shiv Sena recently assumed office as the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Mumbai respectively. The saffron flag of the BJP-Mahayuti now flies over Mumbai with great pride. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were personally present at the ceremony. After…

India has built an LLM, has good startups & upcoming data centres. But that’s not enough  Big things happen when people put their heads together. In Feb 1974, a handful of Taiwanese engineers and officials met for a breakfast meeting. Taiwan’s economy depended on labour-intensive factories at the time, but the breakfast group saw competition…

Reading about food studies can feel like being on a roller coaster. One day something is “super healthy.” The next day, it’s “dangerous.” It can get very confusing! Take coffee, for example. A big study of 130,000 people says drinking two or three cups a day might help protect your brain as you grow older…

Big things happen when people work together. In 1974, a small group of Taiwanese engineers met for breakfast. Back then, Taiwan mostly had simple, labour-heavy factories. But this group realised other countries would soon beat them at that. So they decided Taiwan must move into high-tech work. Just four years later, Taiwan was not only…

Friendly family GP has got competition Every time I water the bougainvillea near the compound wall, my next-door neighbor will lean over for some medical advice. But many people who used to visit the friendly family physician for their health issues, have nowadays replaced their GP with ChatGPT: “I have a headache doctor – I’m…

The divisional chart used to examine spirituality is D20. In Part 6 this was not discussed. Before doing so, the different layers of spirituality must be understood. One layer arises when a Guru is present and guides the aspirant; this has already been discussed. Krishna says: Bhagavad Gītā 18.66सर्वधर्मान् परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।अहं त्वां…

Even as the very thought of a contagion that might be spreading globally drives panic, border closures, and lockdowns, there has never been a systematic articulation of the scientific principles to determine a society’s calibrated response. Instead, we have an assortment of opinions, often informed by pseudo-scientific methods such as epidemiological models and ethics.  The…

There is a beautiful story about Kanyakumari, India’s southernmost tip. Shiva was residing on Mount Kailash, which lies to the far north of India. Uma had a desire to marry Shiva. Hearing Uma’s prayer, Shiva set off from Kailash with his retinue. As per the rules in those days, the marriage had to be finalized…