When something sounds too good to be true, always be suspicious. The incoming revolution in the transport sector heralded by Musk revolutionizing EVs - by making them an object of desire – has been touted as the best thing to have happened to mankind. While the energy to power these vehicles will someday be ‘clean’, … Continue reading The Underbelly of the EV Revolution
I spent the Diwali Sunday at a friend’s place and finished Teju Cole’s Tremor (between the conversations). Cole, who was a sensation in Twitter with his micro fiction - until he decided to quit the platform – in his latest book brings in the familiar and exhausting immigrant analysis of art, culture and history. A … Continue reading Teju Cole on Death and Music
Despite completing four decades on earth, I’m yet to learn a single mantra or a complete prayer. While I'm fascinated with rituals each time I see them, I’ve never felt the need to bow down to them or worry about not giving them adequate ‘respect’. I’m convinced that the hold that religion has over our … Continue reading On Rituals
I spent the Dusshera weekend in Dharamshala. It was only after booking the tickets did I realize that the India-New Zealand World Cup match was also happening there at the same time. With the snow-capped peaks as the backdrop, it is little wonder that the cricket stadium is India’s prettiest. Like a typical tourist, I … Continue reading The Dharamshala Weekend
Why is owning a house such an emotional pull for humans? Why do we derive so much joy from the act (in some cases the mere thought) of designing our living spaces, decorating rooms and pondering about the changes that would be necessary to be initiated in as we age. While a lot of it … Continue reading Buildings aren’t static
A friend of mine spent the previous two years in Penang as part of an international consortium in the business of designing and fabricating semiconductor units. Being an avid sketcher and a photographer, I got to see glimpses of the city through his posts and updates. Though I knew next to nothing about the place … Continue reading Discovering Penang (through books, how else!)
During the Great Depression, a decade of droughts and severe dust storms caused an ecological phenomenon called the Dust Bowl in the United States. Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado were gripped by mass rural impoverishment. The situation became more fraught as the period coincided with the introduction of mechanized farming pushing thousands into penury. … Continue reading The Dust Bowl
Last month, I spent the Independence Day weekend with my family exploring Ahmedabad and Baroda. The highlight of Baroda was the audio-guided tour of the Lakshmi Vilas Palace. We spent close to two hours admiring the palace and its treasures. Like any major Indian palace tour, there were manicured lawns, dazzling chandeliers, the mandatory tiger … Continue reading Aurobindo, Auroville & Pondicherry
When I landed in Delhi 14 years ago, I was miserable. Affordable housing was a joke, eating out was costly, travelling home once in a few months was an expensive proposition and to make matters worse, I was surrounded by people who lived in an alternate universe. Economic worries never troubled them. Fast forward to … Continue reading Inequality can be a good thing
Look around yourself and observe all the objects you see. Every one of them will one day be categorized as waste and either end up in a landfill, get decomposed, broken down, recycled or end up in the oceans. Everything we touch was created by generating waste; and will some day end up becoming waste. … Continue reading Thinking about Waste
