By KV Raghupathi There are four types of gurus in creation. One is a human guru who not only imparts knowledge of the material world but also sets an example for others to follow by actively and purposefully cultivating qualities and values in life. This ethical discipline is critical to obtaining higher knowledge – you…
There’s a photograph from last week that ought to be framed and hung somewhere solemn. Spokespeople for a political party named after an insect, seated beside GOI ministers, hammering out terms. Compensation for families of the dead, a minister’s resignation. A movement, months old and born out of a single social media post, negotiating as…
India & Australia have announced a rare, two-way act of repatriation: three Chola-era Tamil Nadu antiquities – a ceremonial bronze trident of Goddess Bhadrakali, a granite idol of Nandi, and a six-headed sculpture of Lord Kartikeya – will return to India from Australian collections. Even as India returns the remains of an Aboriginal ancestor that…
A new bridge should last for years—not just 17 days. So why do so many roads and bridges fall apart so quickly? A bridge in Dehradun that cost ₹16 crore developed a huge pit beside it just 17 days after it opened. Many people blamed the heavy monsoon rains. But is rain really the problem?…
From having too little ID, we now have too much of it Growing up in Calcutta, I knew my family and I were Indian because we lived in Calcutta, which was in India. Geography proved our Indianness. But our official proof of being Indian was Ration Card, pronounced Raashun Card. Raashun Card was a prized…
Court, govt, cops must not send out signals that are liable to be misinterpreted by the young of the nation Days ahead are crucial. CJP, organisers of Gen Z protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar that spread to several states, called off their stir basis assurances that no punitive action will be taken against protesters, and…
17 days and rain is all it took to stump a ₹16cr bridge. Are we no longer building infra to last? Just 17 days after a ₹16cr bridge was inaugurated in Dehradun, a cavernous pit has opened near it. In another country, authorities might feel mortified, fall over themselves apologising and atoning. Here, the monsoon…
This post (#77) is inspired by a conversation with my friend Rohit Gaikwad, an engineer and technology leader with a PhD, who is also a certified yoga teacher and advanced practitioner. What made this conversation with Rohit really interesting is not just what he knows, but how he thinks. He is a first-principles thinker who…
The 36-day agitation at Jantar Mantar, spearheaded by Gen Z under the banner of the “Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)” and centred on the demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged paper leak issue, has become a significant case study in democratic protest. Whether one agrees with the movement or not, it…
By Vipul Anekant I still remember the first time i heard the word ‘Alhamdulillah’. Unfamiliar with its meaning, i discovered its profound simplicity: ‘All praise is due to the Almighty.’ This simple utterance struck a deep chord. Why say Alhamdulillah when something good happens, instead of claiming ‘i did it’ or ‘i deserve it’? Why…