Blog
India's new rural employment framework promises scientific planning. It may instead be quietly rewriting the relationship between democracy, technology and the Indian village.The political debate surrounding the replacement of MGNREGA has been remarkably limited with much of the real issues being flagged by the civil society. The Government celebrates a larger vision of Viksit Bharat, longer employment guarantees and technology-driven planning. The Opposition has largely focused on the disappearance of Mahatma Gandhi's name. Both debates miss the more profound transformation now underway. The…
The Indian Grammar of InnovationHow adaptation, substitution, and self-reliance created a civilizational culture of innovationInnovation did not arrive in India through incubators, venture capital, or start-up ecosystems. It has always existed in our villages, workshops, farms, and homes.What made it possible was a civilizational way of thinking.Indian knowledge traditions are rooted in the idea of reducing suffering, living in harmony with one's surroundings, and making the best possible use of what is available. From this emerged three powerful principles that quietly governed everyday life…
23/05/2026: Recently while have a dialogue around poverty we were discussing the 2-dimensional nature of measurement and addressing of poverty. This morning’s newspaper story caught my eye as an example of how poverty can be a complex difficult phenomenon to understand in the Indian context. (this is version 2 of this article, the first version was re-written for more contemporary audience placing the story in a larger perspective)Somewhere in the expanding outskirts of Chennai, where the airport lights blink all night over old villages that no longer remember themselves, a sack lay by…
2nd April 2026: "Money is a Demon, Laxmi is a Goddess" - excerpts from the chapters of this book by Vinobha Bhave was read and discussed. Vinobha outlines his vision for Sarvodaya in this compiled book starting with a critical analysis of Communism and leftist position on various issues. He differentiates the leftist position against that of the Gandhian one and highlights how by being non-violent, inclusive, labour dignity driven and decentralized the later is far more superior than the State Capitalistic Communism of modern times. His assertions and analysis are proven in time as the…
“I know you have thought about this a lot, can you give it a shape and help design a curriculum for IKS for teachers?”, was a question posed by a head of prestigious Teacher’s training college recently. I started with a disclaimer, “Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) is a term of contradiction. What constitutes the understanding of ‘Indian’, ‘Knowledge’ and ‘System’ as used today are all defined by the Western society from the 15th century onwards. IKS as it is currently used and articulated is either a continuation or a reaction to the colonial construct of these concepts".Let me…
What is the Future Institution in the Development sector?NGOs (of Civil Society organizations if you prefer the American term for it) in India have had the toughest decade in existence since Independence. Five key factors have impacted the sector which many are unable to cope with. These are -the changes in the regulatory ecosystemraising expectation of the newer generation of employeesimpact and entry of market forces in the development sectorfast changing needs of the communities they work with andthe ecosystem of funding and finance available for development organizationRegulatory…