The evening I left Manikarnika, I imagined I was leaving a place. In the days that followed, I realised that I had carried it along with me. The smells that had assailed me faded quickly. The sounds of Varanasi receded into memory. Yet the questions raised by that ancient cremation ground remained stubbornly alive. TheyContinue reading “The Gift of Manikarnika”
Tag Archives: philosophy
Manikarnika: Where Fire Becomes Eternity
I arrived at Manikarnika as the sun was preparing to leave the sky. The evening light had begun to soften the hard outlines of Varanasi. As I walked through the city’s labyrinthine lanes, Kashi displayed all its familiar contradictions at once—pilgrims and shopkeepers, temple bells and motorcycle horns, saffron-clad ascetics and foreign visitors, all sharingContinue reading “Manikarnika: Where Fire Becomes Eternity”
Conversations at the Edge of History-II
Podcasts as the Archives of the Future The rise of the long-form podcast may ultimately prove to be more than a cultural or technological phenomenon. It may represent a profound transformation in the way human civilisation records itself. What appears today as an explosion of digital conversation may tomorrow be recognised as one of theContinue reading “Conversations at the Edge of History-II “
Conversations at the Edge of History -I
Dwarkesh Patel and the Rise of the Serious Podcast In recent years, the long-form podcast has evolved from a niche digital experiment into one of the principal arenas of contemporary discourse. Politicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, philosophers, and cultural figures increasingly prefer podcasts over conventional television interviews or newspaper conversations when they wish to reflect freely, speculateContinue reading “Conversations at the Edge of History -I”
The Second Mind: Part – III
A Three-Part Reflection on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Human Intelligence. Control, Catastrophe, and the Fragility of Intelligence Beyond disruption and creativity lies a more unsettling terrain—one defined not by possibility alone, but by vulnerability. AI, for all its sophistication, rests upon foundations that are at once powerful and fragile: data, infrastructure, and systemsContinue reading “The Second Mind: Part – III”
The Second Mind-Part I
A Three-Part Reflection on Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Human Intelligence Part I Disruption and the Rewriting of the World Disruptions rarely arrive with a clear declaration of intent. They begin as faint tremors beneath the surface of established order, unsettling assumptions before revealing their transformative force. History offers many such moments—the printing press,Continue reading “The Second Mind-Part I”
Who owns A Language?
A widely circulated interview between Elena Reyes, a Filipino professor of English, and a veteran British broadcaster James Whitmore did something quietly radical. In a few unadorned exchanges, it unsettled a belief so deeply normalised that it often goes unquestioned: that there exists a proper way to speak English, and that this propriety is bestContinue reading “Who owns A Language?”
Is Bengaluru Decaying? A City at the Crossroads of Character
Bengaluru—once serenely known as India’s Garden City—is today hailed as the IT Capital of India, a pulsating nerve centre of the digital economy, flush with start-ups, unicorns, venture capital, and dreams coded in binary. But beneath this luminous façade lies a more sobering reality: a city caught in a slow but visible unravelling. One mustContinue reading “Is Bengaluru Decaying? A City at the Crossroads of Character”
My Father, Me, My Sons
A Reflection for Father’s Day Father’s Day is not an Indian tradition, yet it’s quiet arrival each June has begun to find a place in our consciousness. Perhaps its popularity owes something to commercial enthusiasm, but behind the greeting cards and curated gifts lies an occasion—a pause in the stream of days—to honour the menContinue reading “My Father, Me, My Sons”
In the Shadow of the Flame
– Exploring the invisible contours of creativity, the grace of waiting, and the unseen brilliance that shapes the world in silence “They also serve who only stand and wait.”— John Milton, On His Blindness What does it mean to create? Is creativity a sudden, divine benediction bestowed upon a chosen few? Or is it a facultyContinue reading “In the Shadow of the Flame”
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