Blog
A Moment of Civilisational Pride
I was born in 1955 in independent India. When I look back today, without hesitation, the best moment in public life I witnessed is the construction of a grand temple and the consecration of the idol of Shri Rama Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22, 2024…
Heaven, Not Up There, But Right Here
The Tower of Babel is mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 11:1-9). The prideful ancient Babylonians wanted to build a mighty city and a tower with its top in the heavens. The work remained incomplete after they were cursed to speak different languages…
Seer of the Past and the Future in the Present
The New Year 2024 begins on a positive note. The Indian economy is doing well, and people generally enjoy good times, if not great. There is no distress or despair in the air except for some intransigent pessimists who are perhaps blind to everything good…
The Mother Code
One of my cherished childhood memories is singing before the image of Mother Durga created on the wall using cow dung, called Sanjhi, in our home every year during Navratri. This was not done in every house in our locality and many children would…
Mayor Ghulati
London is a very special place. As a city, it is splendid, and historical, and continues to be the financial hub of the modern world, though it is no more the epicenter of global order. Indians have been living in London, and most of the modern thinkers have studied in the great universities of Cambridge and Oxford…
Spiritual Turnpikes
I recently met Mr. Chandu Thota, Vice President at Google, when he was here in Hyderabad, where he studied at Osmania Engineering College. Chandu played a pioneering role in the development of digital mapping. He worked at Microsoft from 2002 to 2007 on maps and later established his own company…
Can the Change be Stopped?
Meeting people gives meaning to life. I consider myself profusely blessed to have met some of the finest people and learned from them. Chandu Thota, Vice President and Head of Engineering at Google Headquarters in Silicon Valley , is one such person whom I met rather late, but except for a wish that we could have met earlier and worked together…
Paradox of Life
I met Dr Dilip Pawar by chance. But what a good chance it turned out to be. He is an oncologist turned clinical pharmacologist and a leading figure in the discovery of cancer drugs. A sagacious person of calm temperament, Dr Pawar worked with cancer patients throughout his career, especially the poor…
Minimum Working Hypothesis About Life
It is normal to consider the meaning of life after leading a fulfilling life. I lived an active life that included travel, met many saints, outstanding people, and celebrities, and had my due share of disappointments and accomplishments…
Intentional Asceticism
My long-standing friend and publisher of several books Piyush Kumar sent me a copy of Lifespan, a book by David Sinclair, regarding the science behind aging, during my stay at AIIMS, New Delhi. Dr. Sinclair (b. 1969) is an is an Australian-American…