The Admiral That Embarrassed an Empire
He controlled the entire Maharashtra coastline from Sawantwadi to Mumbai. Every ship paid a levy called jakat. Those that refused lost the ship. He also founded Alibaug and issued his own silver currency, the Alibagi rupaiya. The ferry to his island leaves from the town he built. →
The Bowl That Holds Everything
Painted black. Hollowed from a Mexican fruit shell. Travelled oceans. Then settled quietly into temple life, as if it had always been there. Accumulating wisdom through the ages when all I thought it collected was coins. →
Every Country Is Adopting AI. Very Few Are Asking What Kind.
Every great leap forward casts a shadow. We just rarely look at it. The India AI Impact Summit brought together the luminaries, the announcements, the billions in investment. Running quietly alongside it — almost in the shadow of it — was a different kind of conversation. One worth paying attention to.
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Tourist, Go Home
A wall in Barcelona said exactly what it meant. On travel, humility, and whose home you’re actually standing in. →
This Moment That Is Slipping Away
The present is the only gift you can give yourself without a booking confirmation. But first, you have to be in it.
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Cu Chi: What the Ground Remembers
He arranges the leaves over the hatch. In seconds, the entrance is gone. This, he says, is how an army disappeared. →
Earn a Living. Keep a Life.
Lining up for the surf on a weekday evening.
No medals. No announcements. Just bodies remembering they were built to move. →
Both Sides Now, by the Fire
You light a small fire for warmth, and end up watching the clouds drift across the moon, thinking about life instead.
Somewhere in the glow, it feels perfectly fine to admit that none of us really know it all. →
How to Say a Lot Without Saying Much
The Backstreet Boys once sang, “It’s only words.” Which, at the time, felt like a tragic discovery. A young man realising that “I love you” had begun to sound like “please pass the salt”. The words were still there. The meaning had quietly packed its bags and left. I thought of that line again when →
An Unforgettable Wall Street Queue
I expected queues for coffee and museums in New York. I didn’t expect one behind a bull, or for it to stay with me long after I left. →
A Small Defence Of Thinking
Stillness has a way of bringing small things back into view. A breath. A thought. Even spinach in the teeth becomes visible once the rush stops. →
Fresh Bearings in January
The weather has not resolved itself. Neither has the world.
Still, moments like this appear. A quiet reminder to keep going. →
Word of the Year 2026
After years of motion, this year asked for something else. A pause. A clearer look.
A word that arrived slowly, and stayed. →
The Things That Worked. And the Ones That Quietly Didn’t.
Bells are meant to bring cheer. They are also very good at interrupting comfort.
This year had both kinds of rings. The trick was learning which ones to smile at, and which ones to pause for. →
Audit of Me: A December Reflection on Time, Attention, and Patterns
I tried to fit a year into seven kilos and failed in interesting ways. What followed was a quiet audit of time, attention, and the small patterns that shape our days. →