Ideas travel further than the people who had them.

Essays that follow a few of them forward: Indian thought, history, science, and the machines we now ask for answers.

More from the library

Recent writing

All essays →
  1. At Their Feet

    Walking from Machhapuchhre Base Camp to Annapurna Base Camp, and the thought that turned two camps on a map into the feet of two gods.

    Human QuestIndian Thought

  2. Before the Kakatiyas: An Evening at Nandikandi

    Another journey into Hyderabad before Hyderabad: a star-shaped Chalukya temple at Nandikandi, an inscription of 1014, and a regional chief named Pampa Permanadi.

    Ancient → ModernIndian Thought

  3. The History of Velimela

    An inscription from 1121, wells dug in 1319, and a name on an 1842 map: what the records still keep about the village I moved into.

    Ancient → ModernIndian Thought

  4. If AI Does the Work, What Does the Work Do to Us?

    Work leaves behind two things: what we produce, and what we become able to do. AI can deliver the first without the second.

    Technology & SocietyAncient → Modern

  5. Hyderabad Before Hyderabad

    A search through inscriptions turned the western edge of Hyderabad, and the place I call home, into a much older neighbourhood.

    Ancient → ModernIndian Thought

esc

↑↓ move ↵ open Browse everything →