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- When machines become oracles13 min read
- The age of answers, and the lost art of questions5 min read
- The Layered Birth of Gods17 min read
Long reads
- When machines become oracles13 min read
- The Layered Birth of Gods17 min read
- Why India created so many spiritual systems, and kept them all15 min read
Paths through Hecimal
- ◐Ancient → Modern31 essays
- ◑Human Quest14 essays
- ◓Indian Thought17 essays
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When machines become oracles
I built an astrology engine and refused to call its outputs predictions. Modern AI raises the same question about what a model can actually see.
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The age of answers, and the lost art of questions
Answers used to be expensive and are now nearly free. If scarcity has only moved rather than disappeared, what became scarce is knowing what to ask.
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The Layered Birth of Gods
One temple accepts only flowers; another remembers blood. Read those differences as fossils rather than local flavour, and the gods start to look assembled.
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The Lord of the Hills and the Clay of the Desert
A terracotta goddess excavated at Ur around 1800 BCE looks unmistakably like Venkateshwara. Coincidence, or a shared grammar for picturing the divine?
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Age of the Shiva Tandava Stotra
The hymn is credited to Ravana, but its metre, vocabulary and imagery point somewhere else entirely: eighth-century Rashtrakuta India.
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Why India created so many spiritual systems, and kept them all
Ritual, self-knowledge, mantra, yoga, devotion: India kept adding paths without discarding the old ones. Why the contradictions were allowed to stand.
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Tracing the origins of Srāddha
The gods are offered svāhā; the ancestors, svadhā. Following one difference in wording back through the Brāhmaṇas to the root of a rite for the dead.
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The Many Faces of Indian Gods: A Historical Story
In the Rigveda the gods have no faces, only fire, storm and wind. How Indian divinity travelled from poetic metaphor into carved, worshipable stone.
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The Timeless Evolution of Shiva
Ascetic, dancer, destroyer. Shiva was not born whole: he accumulated, absorbing a wild forest power, a storm god and a yogi across four thousand years.
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The Journey of Indian Spirituality, Part 2
By 500 CE the Vedic sacrifice had argued itself into abstraction. Part two follows what rose in its place: Buddhism, bhakti, and a god you could love.
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Bringing Navya-Nyaya’s Subtle Logic to Customer Segmentation
E-commerce today is ultra-competitive. Brands and marketers strive to understand customers at increasingly granular levels.
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The Rise of Vishnu and Fall of Indra
Religion and nature were deeply intertwined in ancient India, with gods representing powerful forces influencing daily life.
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The Journey of Indian Spirituality, Part 1
In the ancient world, early humans looked up at the vast sky, gazed at the mighty rivers, and stood in awe of the towering mountains.
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Evolution of Faith - From Rituals to Religion
As human societies evolved, so did their understanding of the world around them. What began assimple rituals to appease the forces of naturegradually transformed into more structured belief systems.
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Tracing Ancient Footsteps in Kurnool
Human resilience is a story written in the sands of time, marked by relentless pursuit of survival and exploration. Our journey began in the heart of Africa, where our ancestors first walked the earth.
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From Primal Fear to Divine Symphony
Thousands of years ago, when humanity was still confined to the dense, untamed forests, the Earth endured a brutal summer. The relentless heat from the sun scorched the land, leaving it parched and lifeless.
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A Marketer’s Journey Through Maya
As a business/marketing guy, I often find myself pondering the deeper truths behind consumer behavior. In the constant dance of persuasion and influence, the lines between genuine need and manufactured desire blur.
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Rewriting Mathematical History: The Bakhshali Manuscript’s Revelations
The history of mathematics is rich with innovators who brought forth concepts and systems that revolutionized our understanding of the universe.
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A Journey Through India’s Age-old Water Wisdom
Water, often termed the “lifeblood of civilization,” has been at the core of societal development from the earliest of times.
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The Evolution of Luxury: A Timeless Journey
When we hear the word “luxury” today, most of us picture gleaming mansions, highend cars, and designer fashion. We often think of luxury as an exclusive indulgence - a lifestyle that sets certain people apart.
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Material Minds: Charvaka to Naturalism
Exploring the mysteries of life and the world around us has always intrigued humans. From ancient times to the present day, different ideas have blossomed to explain what we see and experience.
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Nietzsche’s “Will to Power” in Consumer Behavior
Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Will to Power” is a philosophical concept that speaks to an innate drive within all beings to assert and enhance their own vitality, power, and significance.
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Seas That Connected Crowns
In the ancient city of Kanchipuram, the air was thick with sorrow and tension. The elder Pallava king, Paramesvara varman I, had breathed his last, and the kingdom was plunged into a state of uncertainty.
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Weaving Tales, Selling Software
Imagine an ancient Indian village illuminated by the ethereal silver glow of the moon. As the stars begin to twinkle, the villagers gather in the communal square.
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Revolutionize Customer Segmentation: A Sankhya Approach
In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, customer segmentation is often the cornerstone of effective marketing.
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Ancient Commerce with a Modern Conscience
Let’s take a step back in time, journeying to ancient India, to be specific around the 4th and 5th centuries CE. Picture two bustling towns: Aihole and Pattadakal, located in what is now modern-day Karnataka.
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The Forgotten Odyssey
Here’s a history lesson you probably didn’t get in school: a long time ago, an Indian community found a new home in ancient Armenia. This isn’t your usual migration story.
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Atoms and Ideas: From Ancient Greece to Modern Science
The notion of atomism has intrigued humanity across different civilizations and periods.
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Meluhha to Mesopotamia: Sailing Westward
In past articles, we’ve delved into India’s rich history of trade with far-off civilizations like Rome and Egypt.
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The Evolution of Personalization: A Journey Through Time and Tech
In the labyrinth of human desires, the yearning for a personalized experience stands as a universal constant, transcending time, geography, and culture.
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Sanskrit in the Sahara
In the pages of history, scattered like elusive gemstones, are discoveries that reshape our understanding of the past.
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Nadis and Neural Networks
Yogic anatomy mapped channels of energy; neuroscience maps pathways of signal. Two very different attempts to diagram the same interior.
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Socratic Approach to Understanding Your Prospect
In the high-stakes arena of B2B SaaS, a discovery call is more than just an introductory conversation; it’s an expedition into a prospect’s unique ecosystem of needs, pain points, and potential aspirations.
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How Sound Has Shaped Humanity
Sound, in its various forms and manifestations, has been a potent force in shaping the human experience.
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Narrative Alchemy in Business
In today’s age, storytelling is not confined to the realms of literature and cinema. It has found its way into the very core of how businesses interact with their audiences, especially in the tech-driven world of SaaS.
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Hyderabad: The Forgotten Epochs and the Quest for Origins, Part 1
Greetings from the heart of Hyderabad, a city where history whispers through the stones, food, and soil.
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From Pune Potters to British Surgeons: The Story of Nose Jobs
The concept of interconnected knowledge can be envisioned as a vast, invisible web, each thread contributing to the strength and integrity of the whole.
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When Aryabhata Meets Aditya L1
As ISRO’s Aditya L1 spacecraft soared into the sky from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, a new chapter was added to India’s ambitious space exploration narrative.
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From Screen Time to Soul Time
In the chaotic noise of emails, push notifications, endless scrolling, and incessant multitasking, many of us are seeking solace and meaning.
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Solving for X, Living for Now
As we go through life, we often face really tough problems. These could be big questions about the universe or challenges in our own personal lives.
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Kautilya’s Guide to AI Governance
In a world increasingly influenced by technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), ethical considerations have come to the forefront.
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Legends and Language: The Tamil-Korean Connection
Language isn’t just a medium of communication; it’s a repository of culture, history, and shared experiences.
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Rediscovering Rome’s Indian Odyssey
In the heart of ancient civilizations, two grand civilizations, Rome and India, reached across vast distances, captivated by tales and trade.
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Einstein Meets the Sages: Time’s Tale
In the quiet heart of ancient India, sages sat under sprawling banyan trees, delving deep into meditative introspection.
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Vapa: The Illustrator Behind A Thousand Dreams
In the cozy corners of Indian homes, among stacks of magazines, one finds treasures that spark nostalgia. They’re often tales from the past, bound in well-thumbed pages, bearing artwork that speaks to the soul.
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How Our DNA Dances with Destiny and Choice
Nature, in its infinite wisdom, has always been a reflection of life’s profound mysteries. Like a cryptic storyteller, it has whispered tales of destiny, choices, and life through its myriad forms.
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The Spirit of India Manifested in Chandrayaan Missions
India has always had a rich history when it comes to science and technological innovations. Today’s Chandrayaan-3 landing event has reiterated this spirit, bringing the entire country together in unison.
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Universe’s Hologram has an Ancient Parallel
In our quest to understand the universe, science often surprises us with ideas that echo ancient wisdom. One such idea is the Holographic Principle, which suggests our vast universe might be like a giant hologram.
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Deities to Divas: Tracing India’s Continuous Thread of Fandom
The fervour of the Bhakti era and the fervour around a film star may be the same impulse wearing different clothes. India has never stopped making devotees.
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The Immersive Odyssey: Vedic Rituals to Virtual Reality
From the dawn of civilization, humans have always yearned to break free from the shackles of the mundane, to delve deep into experiences that transcend the ordinary.
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The Symphony of the Universe
Physics and ancient Indian wisdom may seem like an unlikely pair, but delve a bit deeper, and you’ll find intriguing parallels.
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The Tale of Two Transcendent Realities
In an ancient land where sages roamed and seekers of truth meditated under banyan trees, two profound philosophical ideas sprouted from the soil of contemplation: Purusha from Sām̊khya and Brahman from Advaita Vedanta.
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Evolution of India’s Natural Philosophy and Engineering Marvels
In an ancient land, where the misty Ganges flowed and the colossal Himalayas stood guard, the nascent seeds of knowledge were sown.
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Moonlit Melodies & Cinematic Marvels: The Marcus Bartley Legacy
Marcus Bartley might not be a household name worldwide, but for the fans of South Indian cinema, he’s nothing short of a legend.
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Heroes & Humanity in Seven Samurai
Across the universe of film analysis, hundreds, and maybe thousands, have delved deep into the world of Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (1954).
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Beyond the Battlefield: Unraveling the True Genghis Khan
Few figures are as flattened by their own legend. Behind the conquests sits a lawgiver, a religious pluralist and an administrator worth reading on his own terms.
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Zero and Infinity: A Dance of Opposites
Zero and infinity: two numbers, each at opposite ends of the numerical spectrum, yet both holding a mystique that goes beyond mere calculation. They represent a lot more than just mathematical symbols.
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Quantum Physics Meets Ancient Wisdom
There’s a particular beauty in exploring connections between seemingly distant fields. One such intriguing overlap exists between the principles of quantum physics and the profound insights of ancient Indian philosophy.
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The Universal Echoes of Human Thought: Tracing Humanity’s Shared Ideas
Throughout history, cultures separated by vast distances and time have often arrived at strikingly similar symbols, structures, and ideas.
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From Rigveda to Research: Parallels Between Nasadiya Sukta and the Big Bang
Throughout history, human beings have looked up at the stars and wondered about the origins of the universe.
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Unleashing the Narrator Within: Mastering Product Storytelling with Tarantino, Chappelle, and…
Imagine stepping into a cinema hall, the lights dimming and a hush falling over the audience as the screen illuminates.
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Witness to Glory: Domingo Paes and the Vijayanagara Empire
Hampi, known for its monumental ruins and historical charm, has always been near and dear to my heart. My multiple visits to this ancient city have always filled me with awe and curiosity.
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Nuclear Past, AI Future: Understanding the Ethical Implications of Technological Innovations
In his latest cinematic triumph, Christopher Nolan takes us into the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist often known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.
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Madhava’s Quest: The Journey of Self-Realization
Long, long ago, there lived a young student named Madhava in a small village. He was brimming with curiosity and a thirst to understand the ultimate reality.
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The Power and Prism of History: A Reflection
History isn’t just a timeline of events: it’s a rich tapestry of varied interpretations, molded by the perspectives of those recounting the tales.
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A Different Tune: My Take on “Nagumomu Ganaleni”
Carnatic music, the classical music of South India, often touches souls and stirs emotions.