Lately, I have visualised life as a strange loop, exploring the enigmatic, self-referential patterns often defining human existence. In fact, ‘I Am a Strange Loop’ is the title of a book by the cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter, published in 2007. I first read it in 2010 and multiple times thereafter. The book delves into the interconnectedness and cyclical nature of our thoughts, actions, and experiences.

“By our deepest nature, we humans float in a world of familiar and comfortable but quite impossible-to-define abstract patterns . . .The general rule is that we swim in the world of everyday concepts, and it is they, not micro-events, that define our reality. . . it is the upward leap from raw stimuli to symbols that imbues the loop with strangeness.” (Chapter 13, p. 175, 179, 187).

Last week, from March 23 to 27, 2025, General Gurmit Singh, the Governor of Uttarakhand, hosted me. He has been a good friend since 2015 when he retired as Deputy Chief of the Indian Army. He lives in Dehradun, and my visit was long overdue as I haven’t been venturing out and travelling lately. My son Amol took time off his work and escorted me there. I stayed in the historic mansion at Raj Bhavan, where Indian Prime Ministers Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Smt. Indira Gandhi once stayed. At around 2500 feet above sea level, Dehradun offers a comfortable climate. The sky was beautifully blue during my stay, and the air was gently breezing. I sat in the lobby overseeing a sprawling lush green lawn and watched various beautiful birds of multiple colours flying around and chirping.

On the last day, a few hours before my evening departure to Hyderabad, Dr Manmohan Singh Chauhan, the world-renowned zoologist and biotechnologist, landed there. He is currently the Vice Chancellor of G. B. Pant University in Uttarakhand. I am an alumnus of this university. I stayed there for a decade (1971 – 1981), first for my graduation in Mechanical Engineering, then as a teaching associate while pursuing my master’s part-time. In February 1982, I relocated to Hyderabad after being selected to work with the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and met Dr APJ Abdul Kalam there, which transformed my life. This story continued until Dr Kalam departed from this world in 2015. I never tire of repeating it whenever I find an opportunity and even create such occasions to express myself.

I know of Dr Chauhan and am familiar with his work on animal cloning. He has been the Director of the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, Haryana, and has gained significant fame in research on cows, buffaloes, yaks and goats. Over his career of more than three decades in research, he has developed several potential breeding biotechnologies for livestock efficiency. He holds the record for making ‘Garima 2’, the first buffalo calf clone in the world. His pioneering efforts in this area involve using advanced genetic technologies to clone species at the risk of extinction, thereby aiding conservation efforts. By replicating the genetic material of endangered animals, his research aims to increase their population and genetic diversity, offering a beacon of hope for preserving biodiversity.

A native of Uttarakhand, Dr Chauhan was born in January 1960 in Pauri Garhwal. After graduating from Jaiharikhal, Dr Chauhan completed his MSc. from Srinagar, Garhwal, in 1981 and went to Punjab Agricultural University for his PhD, which he received in 1986. He worked at the hallowed Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States, founded as the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1872, which set up a template for such institutions worldwide. As a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy; the National Academy of Sciences, India; the National Academy of Dairy Science (India); the Indian Society for the Study of Reproduction and Fertility; and the Society of Animal Physiologists of India, unarguably, Dr Chauhan is India’s leading scientist.

When I shared my G.B. Pant University ID number (5690)—an unchangeable roll number allotted to a student of the University—Dr Chauhan smiled and said, “It has increased by 47,000 now.” Standing with the Chancellor, General Gurmit Singh and the Vice Chancellor of the University where I studied in the 1970s was like closing a loop. What could be the essence of such loops? Are they mere fabrications of the human mind, or do we imagine them to give meaning and importance to our lives, or is there some higher order moving us to meet and separate from people at different times? 

According to scientists like Hofstadter, a strange loop is a paradoxical structure that arises when one unexpectedly finds oneself back where one started by moving through levels of a hierarchy. Strange loops manifest in how we perceive and engage with the world around us, creating patterns that echo our thoughts and actions. One of the fundamental aspects of strange loops is self-reference, the ability of a system to refer to itself. Human consciousness itself can be considered a weird loop. Our minds constantly reflect on their states, creating an ongoing narrative that shapes our identity. This self-referential process allows us to ponder our existence, make decisions, and develop a sense of self.

Let there be no confusion about the truth that ‘Life’ is replete with cycles: day turns into night, seasons change, and history often repeats itself. These cycles are strange loops that remind us of the recurring nature of existence. On a personal level, individuals experience loops of behaviour, habits, and relationships, often finding themselves in similar situations repeatedly. These patterns can be comforting and disconcerting, highlighting the complexity of human experiences.

Recognising the emerging patterns is essential for understanding the strange loops in our lives. These patterns can be seen in our choices, the relationships we cultivate, and the events that shape our lives. By identifying these loops, we can gain insight into our motivations and behaviours, allowing us to make more informed decisions and break free from detrimental cycles. Memory plays a crucial role in the formation of strange loops. Our experiences shape our perceptions and reactions, creating a feedback loop that influences future actions. By finding meaning in these loops, we can cultivate a sense of fulfilment and resilience, navigating the complexities of existence with grace and understanding its recurrences and reflections, according to General Gurmit Singh

While taking leave after our brief meeting, Dr Chauhan briefly mentioned his visit to Russia’s Saint Petersburg University to enhance research and education in veterinary sciences, particularly in animal cloning, gene characterisation, and ovum-pick-up techniques. The hand-guided cloning technology developed in India is straightforward and practical; this can also help save Amur tigers, the largest cats in the world, also known as the Siberian tiger, on the brink of extinction.

Thanks to scientists like Dr Chauhan, who shunned the temptation of making personal money working abroad and remained working in the institutions that educated them, India, once scorned as a land of snake charmers and rope-trick artists by the Westerner hubris, is now becoming the epicentre of cutting-edge biotechnology.

From $10 billion a decade ago to $160 billion at the beginning of 2025, India’s bioeconomy has experienced a tremendous transition. It has established biotechnology as a foundation for long-term economic prosperity and technological advancement. Growing at a CAGR of almost 20 per cent over the last four years, it would be $300 billion by 2030, or even half a trillion. All loops are eventually entwined. The efforts of inspired individuals, good institutions and governments create a snowball effect. This is how societies and nations are transformed. Life’s strange loops can also provide a sense of continuity and purpose. When one loop closes, another loop begins and may embrace multiple lifetimes.

I arrived in Hyderabad in 1982, and since there were no official housing options, I rented a section of a house in the Vidyanagar neighbourhood. From there, I would take the local train to Uppuguda, and as a form of physical exercise, I would walk 2 km to DRDL from the station. The ‘Lab Quarters’ in Kanchanbagh, adjacent to the workplace, were offered to me only after a few years. I thought I had left behind that phase of my life but when I recently found myself near Vidyanagar railway station, it was a déjà vu moment.

Mr. K. Srinivasa Rao, Regional Director of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Director of the National Instructional Media Institute, Chennai, invited me to the National Skill Training Institute (NSTI), Vidyanagar. I recalled everything from then on. After forty years of transformation, the site of a sparingly occupied campus, Central Training Institute (CTI), is now the epicentre of the National Skill Programme, the prime minister’s flagship initiative.

The Directorate General Resettlement (DGR) is organising employment-oriented resettlement training courses for retired/ retiring Armed Forces personnel with the National Skill India Mission to increase the employability of veterans. Industries such as capital goods, aerospace and aviation (drone technology), and automobiles are the primary foci of the initiative. Disabled service members, widows and dependents are among the groups whose skill sets are addressed. Its ultimate goal is ensuring their successful resettlement by providing them 100% work prospects. The National Instructional Media Institute is creating material and pedagogy for the Indian Armed Forces, and 33 NSTIs nationwide will participate in the program to help 70,000 former service members find meaningful employment when they retire.

Four weeks of Welding Technology, one week of Metrology and Engineering Inspection, three weeks of AutoCAD 2D & 3D, and four weeks devoted to CNC Programming, Operation and Maintenance comprise the three-month Production Technology course at NSTI Vidyanagar. Additionally, NSTI Vidyanagar offers armed forces members a three-month Basics of Automobile training. In addition, students can get specialised knowledge in drone technology by enrolling in a three-month course offered by NSTI Ramanthapur. These programs are set to be held in the following states: Odisha (in Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (in Jaipur), Bihar (in Patna), Jamshedpur (in Jharkhand) and Tamil Nadu (in Chennai). DGR has given the go-ahead for these events.

The participants from the Army, Air Force and Navy were all dressed in their uniforms, and it was clear that they were physically and mentally prepared for the task at hand. Without hesitation, they radiated enthusiasm, energy, and a simple-mindedness, which is mostly lost as a virtue by people in general, lately. As they were mainly from northern India, they loved me speaking in Hindi. I shared with them about Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and how destiny operates. Young Kalam was rejected during the Air Force selection but eventually received the salute from the Air Force Chief as the President of India. His dream of flying an aircraft was also fulfilled when he co-piloted the Su-30 fighter jet on June 8, 2006, at the Lohegaon Air Force Base in Pune. I engaged in a lively discussion with the participants afterwards.

Top firms value former military personnel for their inherent skills, which include leadership, teamwork, honesty, risk management and problem-solving. These qualities help individuals negotiate complicated and risky situations. An increasing number of positions in the commercial, supply chain, project decision-making, O&M (operations and maintenance) and frontline sectors are going to veterans. The issue arises when lower-ranking veterans are stuck in doing traditional duties of administration and security.

Drawing on his extensive background of more than 30 years in training, curriculum development and production of instructional materials, Mr. Rao has chosen to go outside the box, in this case. His crystal-clear explanation on reskilling and upskilling captivated me. Big Data and similar technologies, he claims, are gaining prominence since they enable domain specialists to sift through mountains of data in pursuit of fresh insights. However, the demand for data analysts is outpacing the supply. Disruptive technologies like the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence face the same situation. Businesses can benefit from reskilling and upskilling programs because they provide employees with the tools to tackle new challenges.

According to Mr. Rao, the goal of reskilling (sometimes called professional recycling) is to prepare workers to transition to a new role within the organisation, while the goal of upskilling is to teach workers new skills to maximise their performance. The former produces more adaptable employees, while the latter makes more specialised ones. Companies in India are increasingly recognising the importance of veterans and actively seeking out both reskilling and upskilling. In the future, artificial intelligence will be doing most of the automated tasks, allowing organisations to concentrate on enhancing the distinctive traits essential to human progress: trust, creativity, leadership, and learning. NSTIs are working to make this vision a reality.

Some 60,000 service members are released or retire each year relatively early compared to other careers to keep the military young. Job offers were extended to over 25,000 veterans from various industries annually. In Mr. Rao’s opinion, this can easily be doubled by helping people gain new skills and easing their transition into a second career. With the right kind of individualised induction, sensitisation, and curated learning programs, veterans can transition back into civilian life and find new opportunities in various corporate and supply chain roles.

Mr. Rao graciously invited me to lunch with his colleagues. The same food that the trainees at the institution eat was served. It was healthy, delicious, and straightforward. By tapping into the knowledge of individuals already established in the skilling industry, I sought their advice on best incorporating AI into existing processes. Focusing on developing the unique human abilities that differentiate humans from machines, was the resounding response I received.

They all agreed that soft skills are more critical than ever. To succeed in the AI era, humans need to be able to communicate, think critically, creatively, emotionally, intelligently, adaptably, and make decisions. Either AI will be unable to match human soft skills, or even if this happens, the middle-aged generation will surpass AI in these abilities within a few years’ time, if not longer. Subsequent generations will have more modern means of subsistence and advancement.

Several military members took selfies with me following the group shot, which humbled me. One of them confided in me, saying that seeing Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in person was a dream that could never happen for him, but he felt as if it finally happened by meeting me. The strength of the Indian people’s faith brought tears to my eyes. How can machines ever match this, I wondered.

Without a shadow of a doubt, every veteran possesses the potential to make a significant difference, propel innovation, and help build a better, more equitable, and more sustainable society. The benefits that a person receives by joining the Military Service are invaluable. The trend will be to serve in the military for a few years as AI tightens its grasp. Also, our schools should start offering degrees and diplomas that teach people how to do things that computers can’t do so that they can keep up with the times. AI’s influence is directly proportional to the caliber of its users. Technology adoption isn’t enough to ensure a smooth integration; strong human collaboration will be essential, and what NSTI is doing is the most actively needed service to our nation and society.

The Mahakumbh Mela, one of the largest gatherings of people for religious purposes worldwide, has just concluded in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The Kumbh Mela takes place every 12 years by rotation at four locations—at Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganga River; at Prayagraj, at the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mythical invisible Sarasvati River; at Nashik, on the banks of the Godavari River; and at Ujjain, on the banks of the Shipra River. The Kumbh Mela illustrates the significance of water in spirituality and the vibrant tapestry of Indian religious life. One grand cycle (Mahakumbh) is completed every 144 years. Six hundred fifty million people bathed over 45 days this year. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the world. It was voluntary, done out of personal expenses, and not bound by any holy injunction—a unique feature of Sanatan Dharma.

In Hinduism, ritual performance, adherence to dharma (moral and ethical duties), and participation in festivals play crucial roles in individual and community life. While many philosophical schools within Hinduism explore different beliefs and understandings of the divine, emphasising rituals and practices is a defining feature. This means that individual interpretations of belief can vary widely, but community-level practices and rituals unify followers in their devotion. People from all strata of society, rising above sects and local identities, come together as one humanity. Performing the ritual is often considered as important as studying scriptures and meditation. Even though there have been efforts to intellectualise orthopraxy since the Enlightenment, it remains a crucial component of all religions.

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) best represented a more inclusive and philosophical approach to Hinduism. He respected traditional beliefs (orthodoxy) and emphasised that direct experience and practice (orthopraxy) were crucial for spiritual development. Spiritual practice and personal experience are fundamental to understanding the divine, and yoga and meditation serve as pathways to realisation. Before the World Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda eloquently demonstrated that the tenets of Hinduism were all-encompassing and that the Hindu religion stood for tolerance and universal acceptance.

It was a historical moment reflecting how India rose in the modern world. What does the contemporary world need most? Free market economies have produced better living standards and an expanding middle class. This magnitude of gathering would have been impossible without rapid transportation, communication, and computer networks—the hallmarks of the 21^st-century world that India has fully embraced. The rise of Indian-origin people in multinational corporations and the availability of the best global products in India testify to the changing role of international boundaries. People coming to the Kumbh Mela from various states all over India, travelling long distances and from abroad too, marked orthopraxy, replacing orthodox mindsets.

Is an era of universal orthopraxy imminent? Is there a movement towards revitalising the practice of correct actions and rituals in various religious or philosophical traditions, emphasising practical application over mere belief systems? In an increasingly technology-driven world, many are seeking meaning and connection through practices that foster community and spirituality, highlighting the importance of how we live our values rather than merely what we believe. There is a greater appreciation for actively practising one’s beliefs. Being confident while representing your opinion is at the root of self-confidence among the youth, who thronged to the Kumbh Mela not because someone told them to but because they felt like going there. More than ten million people were provided free meals daily by various voluntary organisations, and people showed exemplary discipline and bonhomie. 

There is a growing trend towards personal experience and direct engagement with spirituality, as people seek authentic connections through practices rather than dogmatic beliefs. Advocating for an orthopraxy renaissance could reflect a desire for more integrated and actionable expressions of spirituality and ethics in today’s complex world. This movement would encourage people to focus on living out their values in practice, fostering deeper connections with themselves, their communities and the divine. Orthopraxy is palpable.

The concept of a universal orthopraxy follows next. Can an agreed-upon set of practices and rituals transcend different cultures and religions? Many traditions emphasise similar ethical principles, such as compassion, honesty and justice. A universal orthopraxy could unify practices that embody these values across various cultures. Practices centred around environmental stewardship and social responsibility may serve as a common ground that many communities could adopt, promoting a sense of global responsibility. Practices like mindfulness, meditation and other forms of holistic well-being have gained international popularity, suggesting that certain spiritual practices can transcend cultural boundaries. Acts of service and altruism can resonate across different societies and religions, promoting the idea that helping others is a universal practice.

A universal orthopraxy might emphasise cross-cultural exchanges and collaborations facilitated by the Internet and digital communication. This could lead to the blending of ideas and practices, fostering creativity and innovation across borders. With the rise of digital media, artists might explore new forms of expression through virtual reality, augmented reality and interactive installations. This movement could challenge traditional concepts of art and push boundaries in creativity.

An emphasis on sustainable practices and environmental consciousness could shift the focus to humanism. This might involve innovations in sustainable agriculture, green technology and conservation efforts. Though every religion promotes humanism, it is traditionally viewed as a philosophical and ethical stance emphasising human values, reason and individual agency. However, religious doctrines overshadow it. Promoting dialogues and collaborations regarding practices that emphasise shared values might be more feasible than establishing a singular set of practices everyone must follow. Can social media and online platforms lead to the creation of networks where individuals can share their practices, experiences and insights on ethical living?

Why not host celebrations or events highlighting diverse customs and practices while focusing on compassion, community and kindness as themes? The need is to integrate humanity around commonalities, not divide it along the dissimilarities. Victor Hugo (1802–1885), the legendary French writer, in his novel Les Misérables, made one of his characters say, “An army cannot stop an idea whose time has come”. This powerful statement expresses that once a concept or idea gains momentum and widespread acceptance, it becomes unstoppable, regardless of the forces against it, including political or military power.

Historical events like the Kumbh Mela, which have been ongoing since time immemorial, testify that when people recognise the importance and validity of an idea, it can lead to significant societal changes, even in the face of oppression or resistance. It answers how the Hindu society survived a thousand years of foreign rule and experienced a resurgence.

Multitudes are the most potent force on Earth. Is it too much to ask whether some steps can aim to build connections and highlight commonalities between different religions for the good of humanity? Or, why ask? It will happen anyway. When the multitude realises that an environmentally sound, equitable world and sustainable living are good for it and the future generations, the way the world moves will be different. It will happen, whether we call it orthopraxy or even choose to ignore it.

Nestled in a family and career, it may appear a little unsettling to consider oneself part of a cosmos, primarily unknown. But when this realisation dawns that not only one but everyone else around, and indeed everything, are a mere part of a larger drama that is rolling out of itself, it starts appearing lifelike, and a sense of peace and tranquillity arises from inside when one spends some quiet time alone, doing nothing and thinking nothing. 

Let us look at the most fundamental truth of being alive. How do I exist? I exist because I was born to my parents. My parents were born of their parents. As life is transferred from parents to children through the process of procreation, it is a fact that each of us carries our ancestors within as our DNA. It is a precise, unaltered, unhindered flow from time immemorial. Patches of DNA are like maps of people’s past.

We hardly know about ancestors beyond grandparents. Ancestors before grandparents are often hidden in the distant past and exist only as stories. As families turn nuclear, even these are forgotten. My grandfather died even before my birth or my father’s marriage. However, these aspects are dealt with in detail in the Hindu religion. The Garuda Purana explains what happens to a soul after leaving the mortal body. The tradition is to recite a portion of it at every death. Ancient Indians knew that life continues beyond the body after it dies and is disposed of.

One of the ceremonies prescribed in Garuda Purana is Narayan Bali Puja. In case any of the ancestors died an unnatural death – which means accidents and other untimely deaths – or did not receive a proper funeral and last rites for any reason, someone in the lineage can invoke that ancestor by offering specially made rice balls with sesame seeds and give them a respectful goodbye. I performed this rite recently at the Godavari River, some 200 km north of Hyderabad, at Kandakurti, in Nizamabad District, in the presence of my wife Anjana and son Amol.

The ritual starts with a head-drowning bath in the river – connecting the present existence with the eternal stream. Then, you wear a fresh two-piece cotton sheet covering your body. The first part of the ceremony is to purify the place, your mind, and body by chanting Vedic Mantras. In the second part of the ceremony, the Trinity of gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra – is invoked with the ancestor souls around a sanctified water vessel. Ten guarding spirits of directions (eight horizontal ones and two vertical ones) accompany them as soldiers escort kings. In the third part, rice and sesame balls are made and worshipped. These balls are then immersed in the river, along with the dress worn in the ritual and a bath is taken.

The four priests who performed the ceremony were young, well-versed in the ritual, and did good work using a book. The atmosphere was solemn and free of material trappings, and I felt like I was floating above the world’s trappings for a while. Making balls with hot, freshly cooked rice at the spot after mixing it with black sesame seeds was very satisfying, as was the experience of immersing them later in the river. I could see fish rushing to consume them. I could feel the presence of my ancestors within me, accompanied by a surge of emotion and tears welling up. Our biggest tormentor is our mind, and it was silenced for a while, I must say.

According to ancient Indian philosophy, there are five dimensions of the mind, a four-plus-one structure. Manas, Chitta, Buddhi, Ahamkara and Atman. Manas is the lower mind, which collects sensory impressions. Chitta holds impressions, memories, and experiences. Buddhi is the decision-making part of the mind. Ahamkara is the sense of ‘I-ness’. It gives rise to ‘personal’ experiences by linking the senses to an internal, subjective centre. Together, these four mental organs are called Antahkarna. It is very common not to understand each function individually. The Atman is the most fundamental part of awareness, enveloped by Antahkarna.

We live primarily in the material world, driven mainly by Ahamkara. Atman, though the primary source and owner of the body, is hardly noticed. We flood our lives with desires. We condition our lives to be busy and live in the company of other people, and what-ifs are useless. People spend most of their waking hours on TV and the Internet, indulging in trivia and passively flowing with how the world is moving on – politics, games and sports, films, etc. A willingness to transcend into more advanced forms rarely arises. However, once it does, there is no turning back. A constant yearning to understand what lies beyond this material existence does not fade away.

Another crucial Indian concept is the multiverse. Every moment contains multiple universes, and the one in which we are living through our bodies and senses is just one. Each universe has a different time-space scale; an hour here can be a year or a second in another universe and even more stretched or contracted depending on how distant or proximal it is in space-time. Thus, one can connect to all one’s ancestors and future progeny as a consciousness. Or, more accurately, one can become aware of these connections, as they are already present here and now. So, as I invoked my ancestors that day, they were watching. It was their present moment in some other universe, and so it was for my great-grandchildren, who were not even born yet in my present reality.

In the last few decades, Quantum mechanics has thrown up many paradoxes that cannot be understood in the framework of reductionist physics. For example, non-local effects can propagate instantaneously over enormous distances. An impromptu choice on Earth regarding the observation of a photon, whether a wave or a particle, changes a scenario set up millions of years ago somewhere in space from where it is travelling. According to a thought experiment popularised by American physicist John Archibald Wheeler (1911 –2008), our choices today can change the distant past. These effects establish that the idea of an objective reality, visualised in terms of material objects, is insufficient, if not invalid. Had not science concluded that colours, tastes, and smells exist only in consciousness?

The Theory of Everything, which comprehensively incorporates the subjective and the objective, is elusive. But we know that a lot is yet to be known, and more than what we know is what we are ignorant of, even collectively as humanity. Of the thousand things we do for amusement – travel, partying, and whatnot – remembering our ancestors is worth doing, even if we don’t know if it works. The tears I momentarily had while making the balls of cooked rice and sesame seeds for my ancestors testified that it was valid. Finally, I felt like a yarn woven into the fabric of the universe. I wish I could better appreciate the embroidery and know my motifs and colours.

I have always believed in the mystery surrounding this world. As a child, I believed in mythological stories, the stories in my textbooks, and the ones I heard on the radio (Television was not avaiable in homes until the 1970s). Then, when I entered the realm of books, I related to the stories there. Only after enrolling in GB Pant University and living surrounded by scientific institutions did rationality dawn on my consciousness. There was a great library there, and I used to spend hours reading books on humanities, driven by an irrational curiosity.

After coming to Hyderabad, the work pressure at the Defence Research & Development Laboratory (DRDL) took me away from books for a while. In 1987, I developed life-threatening ventricular tachycardia and was rushed to hospital in an emergency. When I thought about why I had that medical emergency and how was I treated in an ICU, which included medicines accessed from the U.K. through government channels, my enchantment with the mysterious returned. I met Dr B. Soma Raju in the hospital. Colonel R. Swaminathan, Chief of Management Services at DRDL, emerged as excellent support. In hindsight, that crisis propelled me to a higher orbit.

 Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had chosen me to pilot ‘Civilian Spinoffs of the Defence Technologies’, a programme aimed at developing affordable indigenous medical devices. He created the Society for Biomedical Technology as an interministerial initiative of the Government of India. But as the Indian economy opened up and globalisation swept in, this initiative turned redundant. Dr Soma Raju, by this time a good friend-cum-mentor, established the CARE Foundation and Hospital,and I took a leap of faith, quitting my government job to work there. Dr Kalam was a steadfast pillar, offering constant guidance and support.

In 2004, I suffered a cardiac arrest. Thankfully, as I was working at CARE Hospital (a career path that seemed nearly impossible for a mechanical engineer), I could be resuscitated in time. On the eve of my bypass surgery, Mr Madhu Reddy, CEO of University Press and publisher of ‘Wings of Fire’, visited me and gifted me a copy of ‘Glass Palace’, a novel by Amitav Ghosh about the King of Burma. Later, I visited Myanmar, the new name of Burma, with Dr. P. Krishnam Raju, Cardiologist and Chairman of CARE Foundation. We visited the real ‘Glass Palace’. Our visit paved the way for the training of Burmese doctors in India, which led to the beginning of the healthcare revolution there, similar to the onein India in the 1980s.

After Dr Kalam departed in 2015, I took up reading scriptures and decoding them for young people by writing in simple English. Dr Soma Raju gifted me ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ by Joseph Campbell (1904–1987), which explores how mystery reveals itself in the world of sight and sound to whoever is open to transformation. On my own, I have read, over two years, the collected works of the Swiss psychiatristCarl Jung (1875–1961), published in twenty volumes. Volume 14 is ‘Mysterium Coniunctionis’; he wrote it at the age of 81. He metaphorically said that peace descends only after the ego is discarded, just as the moon rises after sunset.

And then, suddenly, the Shaligram appeared.

The use of the Shaligram Shila in the worship of Lord Vishnu is a well-known Hindu practice. I remember Shaligram Shila as a part of our ‘Thakur Ji’ collection, miniaturised metal idols handed over by our ancestors. When I asked my younger brother Salil, who lives in Meerut, about it, he told me that it had accidentally fallen while children were playing with it, causing it to crack. Therefore, it was immersed in the river Ganga.

Shaligram Shila is a fossilised stone collected from the bed or banks of the Kali Gandaki River in the Himalayas, famous for its course that runs between deep gorges. The hallmark of a Shaligram Shila is its black colour and distinctive fossil marks, representing an ancient creature preserved in stoneover millions of years. Obtaining an authentic Shaligram Shila is not easy, as they are primarily circulated through exchangesamong devoted believers. Of course, fake stones are available in the market.

While studying the Shiva Purana to write my next book, ‘The Lord of Innocents’, I came across the story of Shaligram Shila. Lord Vishnu had to impersonate Tulsi’s husband to take away her chastity so that her husband, Shankhachuda, who was protected by that force, could be killed. WhenShankhachuda died in battle with Lord Shiva, Tulsi discovered that she had been deceived. She cursed Lord Vishnu to live as a stone on Earth. The innocent lady who was wronged, ended her life. Impressed with her, Goddess Parvati, took the body of Tulsi and transformed it into the Gandaki River, and from her hair emerged the Tulsi shrub.  

Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a large rocky mountain,known as Shaligram, rolling over in the Gandaki river. To complete the punishment, worms with teeth as strong as the ‘vajra’ (the thunderbolt, Lord Indra’s weapon) carved out various markings on His stone body. So, whoever worships a Shaligram Shila with a Tulsi leaf bridges the ancient past and connects with the eternal strife between good and evil. Itreflects the complexities of discerning the right course of action in challenging situations, where even God may be required to take decisions that are neither straightforward nor conventional.

I usually share my learnings and interesting readings with Amol, my younger son, as a daily morning ritual, when chai (tea) meets coffee on our balcony. One day, I shared the  story of Tulsi and Shaligram with Amol. Coincidentally, some of Amol’s friends were in Varanasi (Kashi) for a spiritual New Year celebration. He shared this story with them over the phone. The coincidence turned serendipitous as his friends were visiting the Bindu Madhav temple. The three presiding deities of Kashi are Lord Vishwanath, Lord Kala Bhairava and Lord Bindu Madhav, a Shaligram idol of Lord Vishnu. When Amol’s friends expressed the request for a Shaligram before the chief priest of the Bindu Madhav Mandir, he graciously gave away a Shaligram stone that had been housed in the temple for several hundred years. He refused to accept money for the favour and said, “It is going where it belongs.” Ever since I have received it, I daily offer it water and a tulsi leaf and experience a strange peace in performing this little ritual.

Fossil stones are found everywhere in the world. They vary in size from microscopic bacteria to fossils of birds, fish, trees and even dinosaurs, some weighing many tons. As for the Himalayas, they were created when the floating Gondwana landmass collided with another, causing the terrain to lift up. Several forests and animals were buried under the mass and their remains were etched on stones as time passed. When I worship the Shaligram, I feel connected to that distant past and the power of time over which water flowing over millions of years transforms rocks into smooth, rounded stones. Life is as ephemeral as it is eternal.

It is no wonder that life’s enigma attracts truth-seekers, from monks and philosophers to explorers and scientists. The best minds seek to unveil the mystery that governs these phenomena. My belief has grown that the universe is nothing more than a mystery, a benign enigma turned terrifying by our irrational pursuit of understanding it. Let us live purposefully, attending to our duties, and let the rest unfold. Some mysteries aren’t meant to be solved and why I exist is one such mystery.

Two people played a crucial role in my professional life—Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, under whom I worked first from 1982 at the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and later as his pupil till he departed in 2015, and Dr B Soma Raju, Cardiologist, who I met in 1986 as a patient, then quit my government service to establish the Cardiac Research and Education (CARE) Foundation in 1997 and worked with him for over two decades. I received valuable insights from him, primarily through some of the rare books he gave me.

Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James Carse is a book he gave me recently. Published in 1987, it is considered a popular book and discussed extensively. A profound book, it offers a different perspective on life. The book is brief and written in simple and direct language. It opens with, “There are at least two kinds of games. One should be called finite, the other infinite. A finite game is played to win, an infinite game to continue the play. If a finite game is to be won by someone, it must come to a definite end. It will come to an end when someone has won.” (p. 1)

As you read the book, the idea becomes more apparent. The format is clear to both sides and those watching whenever a finite game is played—for example, a test match, a one-day international, and a T-20 in cricket. Then there is a football match, which is different. And so on. Even chess is a game, and so are cards. The match ends with one side winning and the other losing. But infinite games continue forever. Take, for example, a marriage, a teacher-pupil relationship, an industry, etc. Generation after generation plays these games, and the idea is not to win or lose but to keep playing. Whether or not we realise it, we are already playing both games. It helps to understand that we don’t go in for ‘win or lose’ in Infinite games and keep playing.

What is this world but an infinite game? There is a social game within which various other games are embedded, like the family game, community game, religion game, political game, and above all, the economic game. Resources must be harnessed and shifted across the globe, goods manufactured, food grown, and trained and able people are needed to do all these activities. So, children must be born, raised and employed. There must be masters, supervisors, sellers, buyers and middlemen. Then, there are the service providers—maids, cooks, barbers, entertainers—depending on who needs what. We are born into a game and live trying to adjust to what is happening rather than living joyously.

An example of a finite game that’s essential to the infinite game of maintaining a healthy life is making sure you walk for 30 minutes every day. An infinite game includes finite games like employee compensation and recognition of short-term performance targets to ensure employees understand their duties and how they contribute to the organisation’s success. A partnership based on mutual respect and duty is like a series of finite games: getting household tasks done daily, having a proper livelihood, and having no addictions.

In the 1980s, I was introduced to a larger world after coming to Hyderabad. There was no internet facility then, and one had to buy books from shops. There was hardly any spare cash, and I found the second-hand book market in the Abids area, held on the footpaths on Sunday when the main market was closed, to be the most heavenly place. I picked up a 1964 book, Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships, by Eric Berne, from there. It was a ‘bestseller’ in popular psychology (pop psychology), a book that simplifies the concepts and theories about human mental life and behaviour, supposedly based on psychology and widely considered credible and accepted by the populace.

Berne presents his idea of transactional analysis in the book’s first part as a framework for understanding social interactions. He suggests that people permanently inhabit three distinct selves—the child, the adult, and the parent—and keep shuffling between them. His main argument is that most interactions between adults are benign. When people engage in out-of-character roles like ‘Parent-and-Child’ or ‘Child-and-Adult’ in what are adult-to-adult dealings, they can lead to problematic interactions. How can a spouse be dealt with as a ‘baby’?

In the second part, we get a rundown of many ‘mind games’, wherein participants engage in predictable and structured ‘transactions’ based on their ill-suited roles. These exchanges may appear natural at first, but they are a cover for concealed agendas with predetermined results. “See What You Made Me Do”, “Why Don’t You”, “Yes, but” and “Ain’t It Awful?” are a few examples of the funny and informal expressions that describe the games in the book. The first person to return to their Adult ego-state is the ‘winner’ of these mental games.

Religion emerges as the most apparent infinite game. Its ultimate purpose is often the ongoing search for meaning, connection and understanding of the Divine. The practices, community involvement and personal growth associated with faith can foster a sense of continuity and exploration. Religions have evolved, responding to cultural changes and new interpretations. This dynamism is characteristic of infinite games, where the goal is to keep the play alive rather than adhering strictly to unchanging rules.

On the other hand, some aspects of religion can resemble finite games, such as dogmatic belief systems, rituals, or positions of authority that may create divisions or a sense of competition among followers. While not all elements of religion may perfectly align with the concept of an infinite game, many facets—particularly those focused on growth, love, and community—reflect an endless approach to life and spirituality. Ultimately, interpretation can vary based on individual experiences and beliefs.

“No one can play a game alone. One cannot be human by oneself. There is no selfhood where there is no community. We do not relate to others as the persons we are; we are who we are in relation to others. Simultaneously, the others with whom we are in relation are themselves in relation. We cannot relate to anyone who is not also relating to us. Our social existence has, therefore, an inescapably fluid character… this ceaseless change does not mean discontinuity; rather, change is itself the very basis of our continuity as persons.” (p. 37)

Like games, people set personal and/or professional goals and work towards them. Life has its own rules and challenges, and, like a game, it requires strategies to navigate through them. Just as games often involve collaboration or competition with others, life requires social interactions and relationships. Games usually include learning from failures and successes, a principle that can be applied to personal development. We can approach life with the same strategies and mindset we use in gaming. Ultimately, viewing life as a game encourages us to embrace its challenges with curiosity, playfulness, and a focus on growth rather than just winning.