Human civilisation has never advanced evenly. Progress has always been lopsided, contingent, and cumulative, shaped less by virtue or intelligence than by geography, institutions, and the incentives societies create for adaptation. To understand why some regions prospered early, why others stagnated, how colonisation emerged as a global phenomenon, and what the present moment implies for the future of humanity, we must look at history not as a moral story but as a systems story — one of feedback loops, compounding advantages, and institutional lock-ins. The earliest large-scale prosperity emerged in Eurasia , not because of inherent superiority, but because geography quietly stacked the deck. The Eurasian landmass runs primarily east–west, allowing crops, animals, and technologies to diffuse across similar climates with relatively low friction. Wheat, barley, cattle, horses, ironworking , and writing spread over thousands of kilometres without encountering drastic seasonal or ecologica...

Image Source: Hindustan Times   The recently concluded Mumbai civic polls mark one of the most pivotal political moments for Mumbai - and the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) - in over three decades. To fully grasp their significance, one must go back to 1995, when Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena first rose to power in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Since then, control of Mumbai’s civic body has been the unquestioned crown jewel of Marathi local politics - whoever won Mumbai, was sure to be the power broker at the Maharashtra state level. That era has now decisively ended. The Fall of the Thackeray Stronghold For Uddhav Thackeray, this election represents more than just a political loss - it is the forfeiture of the family’s most valuable inheritance. The BMC, formerly the Bombay Municipal Corporation but now the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, is not only the richest municipal corporation in India but arguably the largest local body in the world by popula...

On a slightly long-haul flight last night, I found myself watching Superboys of Malegaon  - the film came recommended from interviews of many stalwarts such as Javed Akhtar, Farah Khan, and Siddhant Chaturvedi, reviewers like Anupama Chopra, media personalities like Saurabh Dwivedi, and endorsed by many guests on his show. So it had been on my watchlist for some time now - the long haul flight gave me a chance to clear up my list [ I also started watching an old Hollywood classic Fargo, which has been on my watchlist for years now! Will probably finish the remaining 40 minutes later tonight. ]  What was more of a clear-my-watchlist exercise ended up staying with me long after the screen went dark. The film refused to leave my mind, even though I had started watching another right after. Superboys of Malegaon is an easy film to like - rustic, warm, humorous, and deeply human - but where its stands out is on balancing emotion and inspiration without tipping into sentimentality. ...

I was watching the India-Australia ODI the other day when something curious caught my attention. The stadium façade - its arches, the rhythm of its windows, the quiet dignity of its design - looked oddly Victorian. This was the  Sydney Cricket Ground , which upon research I discovered was built in 1851, so aptly had a Victorian architecture . What was remarkable that while the stadium would have been upgraded and fitted with modern amenities and technology, its architecture was never tampered with, rather maintained to the original Victorian designs. That afternoon, I stepped into a branch of the State Bank of India after several years. Driving towards the branch I prepared myself for an experience I probably last had 30 years back in the 1990s - that soft, sepia-tinted decade with the pace of everything - slower. But as I stepped in the branch, the air felt far different. The air-conditioning hummed gently, queues were orderly, and staff went about their work with quie...

India’s Heaviest Communication Satellite # CMS03 successfully launched by LVM3-M4 from SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota . https://x.com/ISRO/status/1985027440645972189 — ISRO (@isro) October 31, 2025 India launched its yet heaviest satellite weighing close to 4.5 tons today - a monumental achievement in itself. But this achievement is more significant when seen in context of India’s aspiration to launch a Space Station within the next decade. Demonstrating the maturing strength of ISRO’s heavy-lift infrastructure, beyond symbolism, this capability directly relates to the next great frontier: deploying the homegrown space station. Artist’s illustration of India’s Bharatiya Antariksh Station . Credit: ISRO ISRO has already announced its intent to place a “Bharatiya Antariksh Station” in low-Earth orbit by the early 2030s . To do this, India will need to routinely lift large, pressurized modules, crew capsules, and cargo vehicles into orbit - much like what the ...

The government recently came up with a proposal to allocate ₹2,000 crore - nearly a fifth of the outlay of ₹10,000 crore from the PM eDrive initiative - to setting up 72,000 EV chargers nationwide. The Union Government has asked states to secure land and install infrastructure (such as transformers and sub-stations) to avail the subsidy, enabling rapid deployment of 72 k chargers across the country. Since the government has not announced a detailed structure for setting up the chargers, it is likely that this fund may get utilized more in urban areas where more EVs are being sold. I would argue however that we should be doing just the opposite. This may sound counter-intuitive, but one of the largest hindrances in rapid adoption of EVs is the range anxiety people feel when—even if only occasionally—they embark on a longer drive, typically on highways. Many potential buyers think: “I drive locally 80 % of the time—but what if that one out-of-town trip leaves me stranded?” In Indi...

As I was idling on Social media over the weekend, I chanced upon this video of BR Chopra 's interview with his younger brother Yash Chopra where he talks about the only remake in his lifetime - Dastan , which was a remake of his own movie Afsana . And that took me down the rabbit hole ...   As I researched more about Afsana, I discovered that it was a trend setter in many ways: first of ' double role ' with identical twin brothers separated in childhood, an oft-used plot in Indian Cinema;  second one of the first to use the international literature [notably its plot is inspired by The Corsican Brothers ]; and third, a pioneer in Film Noir category in Hindi cinema. What impressed me is that the movies were so well integrated with what was happening on the global scene (even though adapted to the Indian audience). I set out to search more on this subject of how Indian cinema was inspired by literature and film making of the rest of the world. So let me take you through my...

In my post in January 2021, following the farmer protests at the Red fort, I had penned this piece where I postulated that anyone and everyone who has ever tried to "win" over the Lal Quilla has suffered subsequent defeat and obliteration.  I illustrated my point based on the fate of: Shahjahan - the builder of the fort Nader Shah - the Persian emperor who's dynasty was wiped out after his win over the Lal quilla The Maratha's who lost at hands of the Durranis after the fort fell into their protection  The British who lost power in India after they chose the fort as the venue of INA trials  My conclusion is that anyone who touches the fort has suffered a bad fate subsequently - and I believe the curse continued with the Farm protests . After the hoisting of Nishan Sahib at the Red fort in mark of solidarity, the entire Farmer agitation movement just fell apart over the period of a few months. The tractor rally to the fort was the last of the large gatherings which c...