Sustainability. Probably one of the most used words during the last decade. The concept has been democratised in the sense that every person and organisation feels like a stakeholder. That is a good thing. The not so good thing is how the concept has been ‘othered’ to borrow a term from sociology and alienated. Sustainability as a segment has grown to become both a vertical and also horizontal across large organisations. Large amounts of money have moved to this vertical. What it has achieved among…Continue Reading “Repair shop or sustiainability startup”
Autos demand a certain upper and lower body ratio that I don’t have. The lack of shock absorbers means my spine is constantly playing relay back and forth, back and forth. If you have longer legs, you can’t put both feet on the floor. One stays on the floor with thigh at the right angle. Perfect to absorb shocks. The other leg lies at a queer angle. Vibrating with the machine. Like a seismograph. Your upper body sways like Jagannath during pahundi jatra. The same…Continue Reading “My body in autos”
Turmeric caused lead poisoning. To South Asians, it’s equivalent to a medicine turning out to be poision. There are many reasons why this continues to happen and many of us are working on supply side to ensure it doesn’t. But while working with growers and processors is important and we know that’s where high value technology will see probable mass adoption and sustain our revenues, there is an equal need of consumer technologies that can place the power on the retail buyer’s hand. Currently, the…Continue Reading “Chain of pathlabs. For food.”
The pent up anger in upper caste Hindu men that comes from perennially feeling like victims is the force behind the rise of Hindutva. Dalits have it better. Earlier they used to clean our toilets, now MNREGA has made them rich. They won’t work our fields, someone had said. The anti dalit violence took a radical new turn after Dalits started to do marginally better. Muslims have it better. In a country where police, state, society and economy works against the minorities, it doesn’t take…Continue Reading “The biggest victim of them all”
Lately I have been a little cheap. Old age and sickness and all that. But that has nothing to do with my perception of Blue Tokai. My first encounter with the brand was because the high commission had an outlet inside the campus and tanu was addicted to it. I used to tease her that my office had free and great coffee as well as some 30 types of tea bags and cookies for free. Anyway, as a representative of the urban poor, I objected…Continue Reading “Blue Tokai and Communism in Khan Market”
When we were growing up, the daala in the household was like the loveable oldie. You liked the feeling of having them around but they were never the center of anything. You focused elsewhere. The small ones were called daala and the bigger ones pachia. The mudhi was had in a daala, boiled rice was strained in a pachia. They were cheap. Though, they were never disposed. Some were as old as my father’s marriage. Others kept time of his younger siblings’ marital calendar. They…Continue Reading “The Comeback Daala”
The nights have merged into days. The morning alarm, the most despicable human invention, has finally been fed a bottle of sleeping pills and silenced. The mornings are lazy. Isn’t that how it should be for the apex predator? No one wakes up and runs for food. Animals hurry at daybreak because they don’t want to be eaten. Day and night are now words without value judgements. Why are you up at this hour? Why are you sleeping at this time? The questions have no…Continue Reading “The Lockdown Lullaby”
Australia is not known for their creative content. But here two shows that you must must watch. Operation Buffalo. The wrong kind of black Operation Buffalo has a plot that stuns you right from the opening scene. And, the show never lets up. I am not divulging any details. The wrong kind of black gave me goosebumps and a sleepless night. Based on a true story, this short series touches every gland that you have in your body. PS:- There is so much brilliant content…Continue Reading “The wrong kind of black – Indian version coming when?”
Now that RSS has come out in complete support of Modi, here is a clarification on the rumours that RSS is replacing Modi with Gadkari. The rumours had got a lot of traction and even some journos whispered about them. I have been saying it will never happen. Here is why: 1. There is no clash between RSS and Modi. Modi is the sharpened tip of the spear that is RSS. They are the same. 2. RSS never had any issue with despots. From worshipping…Continue Reading “WHY RSS WILL NEVER REPLACE MODI”
We have put enough hours between 9:00 a.m. and now, and I had my breakfast and caffeine fix just to make sure that I am not hyperventilating out of hunger or caffeine withdrawal, so let me put this out there – My biggest problem with these 09:00 a.m./08:00 p.m. tamashas is the audacity with which the government and the PM treats all of us citizens like a bunch of imbeciles! They don’t think we deserve transparency about data and preparedness, they don’t think we need…Continue Reading “Burn the apathy. Not candles”
What could have helped us in these times – scientific temper and empathy. The IITs and AIIMs and the moon chasing were proof of our pursuit of scientific temper. We have tried to tear that to shreds in last 6 years. Most of the people can’t differentiate between science and mythology anymore. Socialist. That word was put in the preamble as a proof of our institutionalised empathy. A duty towards the poorest. Govt has moved to remove that from the constitution. So even if the…Continue Reading “Empathy and scientific temper”
How do you experience the city depends on the class you belong to and how to navigate it. In India, class is defined by ownership of vehicle. So, public transport is for those who ‘have not’. Let me give you an example of Dhaula Kuan and how it has lessons for city planners who are usually biased in predictable ways. Dhaula Kuan was one of the most congested stretches of Delhi. Airport being close by meant your making to the flight depended on how you…Continue Reading “Dhaula Kuan, city planning and pedestrians”
Nature is not a story of peace or co-living. Every time someone says finding peace and love in nature, I am like bro, have you seen nature? And, then start pushing Natgeo videos. Anyway, this time I saw trees that are being murdered by trees. Like this tree, apparently fruit is used to make sindoor, was being colonised by another one. From root upwards, it is one tree. Then you see these massive tree boil sort of thing where another tree has grafted itself onto…Continue Reading “Trees are bad people”
Dear Sir, After some 17-18 years, I decided to sleep late today. Actually, an old friend made me mix my drinks and I was just pretending to be a felled log today. The bell rings. The maid knocks and says someone is at the door. She looks entertained. There are two girls at the door. Before i could wake up and my lenses could adjust, they told me how great your milk is (no milk is good, no woman would be happy giving milk that…Continue Reading “Open letter to Milkor founders”
Women are unsafe in public places. What makes them safe? More women in public places. 12am: MG Road, Pondicherry – a lone woman selling food from a cart is done for the day and starts folding up 8 am: Auroville beach – a single woman on the beach, setting up her stall, chopping pineapples 9 am: Pondy Marina – after 2 kms of empty roads, a single woman walks down the road and signals that my bike headlight is turned on. 1 am: Promenade –…Continue Reading “Women in public places. Pondicherry”
It’s a good looking place that sounds even better. A curry place in the land of curry but it won’t bore you at all. There are curries from Burma, Indonesia, Sri Lanka any many Indian states that are rarer to find in Delhi than Japanese. I was there on a day when twenty somethings were busy partying. So, the place was much louder than it usually would have been. The ambiance is nice, looks like a quaint bistro as it should. Coming to food, the…Continue Reading “Piali – the curry bistro, Connaught Place”
I know what you are thinking. When you see a beautiful woman, you think it’s too much make up. You see a great photo, and you think instagram or photoshop. Now, let me tell you, you skeptic scumbag, these photos have not been airbrushed, nor have they ever seen a software from inside. They are taken from an aeroplane and here they are, from the memory card of Kaptaan Siddhartha to your computer. The way this conversation is going, let’s not talk anymore. Monsoon skies…Continue Reading “Monsoon Sky – The kind you have not seen before”
Whoever said sky is the limit, very correctly said so. But for learning and evolving, not even sky remains the limit Unlike my regular flying days when I am confined to my cockpit playing around with numerous glittery gadgets, managing the radio contact and circumnavigating around clouds (just a few of the several tasks we, as pilots do- yes of course I am a sincere one 🙂 ), today I was traveling as a passenger in an Indigo A320 aircraft from Delhi to Mumbai. The…Continue Reading “Go Indigo go – Learning Business Mantra from a successful Aviation family”