Coriolanus - a historical figure of Ancient Rome who lived four centuries before Julius Caesar, has a play on his life written by the Bard. Despite it being one of his lesser-known works, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it. In a nutshell, Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is a killing machine, who after winning many a … Continue reading Coriolanus
In 1971, during the height of the East Pakistan refugee crisis, the philosopher Peter Singer published an essay called Famine, Affluence, and Morality in which the ‘Shallow Pond’ thought experiment - one of philosophy’s most profound thought experiments - made its appearance. On your way to work, you pass a small pond. Children sometimes play … Continue reading The Shallow Pond and the Life You Can Save
Cleopatra was not the exotic, scheming, and lustful queen of legend who ensnared Rome’s greatest men. Her affairs with Pompey, Caesar, and Antony were historic realities, but these were driven by realpolitik. As Adrian Goldsworthy writes: Cleopatra was not another Helen of Troy, a mythical figure about whom the most important thing was her beauty. … Continue reading Antony and Cleopatra
In the early aughts, when I was in college, Roy’s long-form essays were a frequent feature in the Outlook magazine. Vinod Mehta’s trust in her made her a household name, and he, too, fondly wrote about this association in his memoir. Sometime in 2015, her introduction to Navayana's edition of Ambedkar's 'Annihilation of Caste' again … Continue reading Roy’s Memoir
Last evening, I attended the book launch of the Shillong-based journalist Patricia Mukhim’s ‘From Isolation to Integration: Navigating the Geopolitics of India's Northeast (1990-2023)'. (Her daughter is also my colleague at UNDP). The launch included a discussion on the Northeast by a stellar panel – Vrinda Grover, Shyam Saran, GK Pillai, Shekhar Gupta, and Tiplut … Continue reading A Discussion on the Northeast
Cats evolved sometime in 7000 BC in the Fertile Crescent. But unlike dogs, they never really caught the imagination of the earliest humans. The transition of the cat from a scavenger to a cultural object began sometime in the late part of the 19th century and a lot of it was due to the art … Continue reading Louis Wain and his Cats
Julius Caesar (1970): I’ve been on a Roman history reading project for a month. This 1970 star-studded movie was a faithful adaptation of the play. But, the whole Roman setting and the costumes made it a bit too ‘period’ for my taste. Antony and Cleopatra: As in Julius Caesar, Charlton Heston also essays the role … Continue reading What I Watched – August 2025
Steve Brusatte’s “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World” was a quick and engaging read about the fascinating field of palaeontology, and, of course, dinosaurs. A new species of dinosaur is currently being discovered, on average, once a week. (I took time to wrap my head around this … Continue reading Some Dino Facts
In Disaster Management, assessing risks is foundational towards ‘preparing’ for a disaster and ‘mitigating’ the impacts of a disaster. Intuitively, we all understand risk. Shopping during a pandemic is a high-risk activity, depending on one’s age (vulnerability) and the places visited (exposure). Building a resort on the floodplains of the Ganga is ‘risky’. Being born … Continue reading Reflections on Hazard Risk and Vulnerability Assessments
I tried to dig out a few enduring cultural legacies of Caesar... C-Section: Caesar’s mother didn’t die giving birth to him. So the belief that he was born by a cesarean surgery has been widely discredited. Despite this, the association gave his name to the procedure. The Ides of March: referred to the 15th day … Continue reading The Enduring Legacies of Caesar
