Blog

When the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced on 7 October, I immediately thought of a scientist I have known and admired for many years—Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, formerly Director of the CSIR–Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. The Nobel Prize went to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for their pioneering discoveries...

Rivers shape civilisations, nourish their fields, connect their settlements, and enter their collective memory. The Sindhu, Ganga and Kaveri helped shape the civilisation of the Indian subcontinent– a rich tapestry of kingdoms and cultures; the Nile sustained ancient Egypt and the kingdoms of Nubia in what is now Sudan. The Yellow River was one...

Though I have been a tea person all my life, coffee has always intrigued me. During my travels in the United States, it seemed to be everywhere: at breakfast tables, in offices, beside hotel reception desks and in paper cups carried through the streets. In Ethiopia, I encountered something more intimate—a tradition in which roasting, brewing and...

Since I met Dr Chinnababu Sunkavalli, the robotic surgical oncologist, in 2022 through an introduction by the Tangirala brothers, Venkat and Ravi, he has become part of my life. His enthusiasm, his commitment to connecting with people, and his extraordinary zeal to serve others have continually impressed me. When you see a younger person doing...

Dr. Prithvi Raj Jampana is a distinguished radiation oncologist with extensive experience in radiotherapy and systemic treatments for a wide range of cancers. He trained in clinical oncology at Oxford University Hospitals and worked in the UK for over two decades before returning to India. He is now Consultant and Head of Radiation Oncology at...

I have been reading an English translation of the Kathasaritsagara—The Ocean of the Streams of Stories—composed in Sanskrit by Somadeva, a Kashmiri writer of the eleventh century. Organised into eighteen books, it is less a conventional book than an immense reservoir of narratives. Stories arise from within other stories, branch into still...

One teaching of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam that I have always tried to follow is to ‘stay in circulation’, as he put it. By this, he did not merely mean travelling, attending meetings or remaining publicly visible. He meant keeping the mind in motion—meeting people, visiting institutions, listening to new ideas and allowing one’s own convictions to...

Every year on September 5, India celebrates Teachers’ Day in memory of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975), one of modern India’s most distinguished philosophers, teachers and statesmen. His life demonstrated that scholarship need not remain confined to the classroom; at its best, it can illuminate public life and guide a nation. Dr....

Among the great images created by Indian civilisation, few possess the visual authority of the Chola Nataraja. Shiva dances within a circle of flame, one foot planted upon ignorance and the other lifted in liberating grace. His hair flies outward, his arms extend in several directions, yet his face remains serenely composed. Motion and stillness,...

I recently visited PI Health Sciences Ltd. at Genome Valley, Hyderabad, at the invitation of my long-standing friend, Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, who joined the organisation as Chief Scientific Advisor after his superannuation as Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Given the freedom to choose my subject, I decided to...