“Repeated gut detoxes and probiotics won’t help if you continue holding onto the “tiger’s tail”—the stress. That’s the missing link in your detox protocol” Dr. Ashmita
With 100 days left until I turn 40, I’ve become laser-focused on preemptive care—a philosophy inspired by Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint. My genetic predispositions, including non-alcoholic cirrhosis and cardiac arrest, means that health is more than just important—it’s personal & spiritual*.
In the 15th century, Venetian explorer Niccolò de’ Conti coined the phrase “The Italian of the East” for Telugu, captivated by its melody and rhythm. He famously asked, “Is this language or music?”
Telugu boasts around 96 million speakers and ranks 16th globally, while Italian, with approximately 60-70 million speakers, falls outside the top 20, usually around 21st or 22nd.
Despite its cultural prominence, Italian’s global reach may be possibly smaller than Telugu’s owing to this upcoming election between the beautiful & elegant Dravidians of the United States.
Telugu Usha Vancereprising the historic Telugu-Tamil rivalry; Veep Kamala Harris
Maybe in light of the emerging 21st century power dynamics, it’s more appropriate to consider Italian as the “Telugu of the Mediterranean?” 🙂
But less on geopolitics and back to linguists; much like Italian, Telugu’s frequent use of vowel-ending words creates a natural rhythm, blurring the lines between speech and melody. Many thanks to the excellent video below for so much of the source content of the post.
Tl;dr Four Reasons Why Telugu is So Poetic:
Vowel-Endings: Nearly every word in Telugu ends with a vowel, making it rhythmically pleasing and easy to rhyme.
Vowel Harmony: Telugu’s phonetic structure ensures that vowels are adjusted for a more aesthetically pleasing flow, creating a melodic cadence.
Verb Flexibility: Telugu verbs can take on thousands of forms from a single root (e.g., choodu becomes choosaanu, choosthunnanu, choosindi), allowing for nuanced expression and sound variation.
Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Dravidian Influence: The layering of these linguistic traditions adds depth and variety to Telugu, enriching its poetic and musical capabilities.
India’s influence on world history is undeniable, yet the narratives that emerge often come from unexpected directions. William Dalrymple’s latest, The Golden Road, shines a light on the central role India played in ancient global exchanges—spreading ideas, art, religion, and science across vast geographies. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, the legacy of Indian civilization is visible everywhere.
Consider Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram), a bustling port city under the Pallava dynasty (275-897 AD), whose ships once connected India to Southeast Asia. These traders didn’t just carry textiles and spices; they brought with them Sanskrit, Buddhism, and Indian architecture. The awe-inspiring Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the largest religious monument in the world, and Borobudur in Java, the largest Buddhist temple on the planet, are prime examples of how Indian ideas were adopted and adapted by local cultures. In Angkor Wat, Hinduism’s cosmology of Mount Meru shaped the temple’s design, while Borobudur’s mandala-like structure reflects Indian Mahayana Buddhism’s spiritual journey to enlightenment. Continue reading The Power of the ancient Indian Story
To Raise a Fallen People is an interesting collection of Indian writings from the late 19th century, compiled by Professor Rahul Sagar, who is Associate Professor at Yale-NUS College and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Professor Sagar has gathered together several Indian writings on national and international affairs from the late 19th century and he has chosen to frame the book as “Indians were not morons and had thoughts about the rest of the world in the 19th century that can tell us about Indian foreign policy today”, but this editorial frame adds nothing to the book. The book is good because the selections are interesting and worth reading, not because it sheds any light on current Indian foreign policy.
One sees what various Indian thinkers thought about their own position in the world in the late 19th century, when the mutiny had been crushed and British rule in India had stabilized and seemed almost permanent. The writers range from famous authors and politicians such as Bankim Chatterjee, Mohandas Gandhi, Annie Besant and Salar Jung, but the one i found most interesting was a letter from Anandibai Joshi (first Indian woman to go to the USA for medical studies) explaining her decision to go to America. The “prohibition” against foreign travel is discussed (and vehemently rejected). The wonders of Great Britain are described, but so are her crimes. There are interesting pieces from some Muslim thinkers, all of whom regard the Hindu majority as basically irrelevant and are focused on the “clash” they think is going on between islamdom and Western powers (with complaints against Russians as oppressors of Ottoman Turkey and invaders of central Asia, but also against the British for raking up Armenian massacres; Muslim writers feel the British empire is also a Muslim empire (since more Muslims were subjects of Victoria than of any Muslim sovereign) and wish Britain would heed their concerns about the caliphate, etc). In short, a great window into late 19th century colonial India and its intellectuals. Ignore the foreign policy hook that the author has used to set up the book and just enjoy the excerpts.
Across India, discussions about demographics are charged with questions of destiny and identity. In the Hindi belt, particularly in UP and Bihar, the focus often turns to birth rates between Hindus and Muslims, a dynamic sometimes referred to as a “cradle race.” This term reflects deeper concerns about societal balance, yet paradoxically, it also influences high birth rates among upper castes. I know a (Hindu) woman from Bihar who recently had her third son, a personal example of how this dialectic pervades everyday life.
Globally, the Hindu population has grown modestly from 11% to 15% over the past five centuries. In contrast, the share of the Abrahamic faiths has surged from 37% to 54%, moving from a plurality to a Scottish majority.
In the same period, within what is the modern boundaries of India, the Hindu population has seen a subtle decline—from 85% to 79%—reflecting a complex history of migration, cultural shifts, and geopolitical changes. The most pronounced demographic shifts occurred in areas now known as Pakistan and Bangladesh, which made the Hindu population of the Greater Indian Subcontinent dropped from 78% to 66%. Despite this decline, these two countries still rank as the 2nd and 5th largest Hindu populations globally, underscoring their profound & immovable Indic substrate.
Imperialism in India over a long millennia
Mughal imperialism significantly reshaped Bengal’s religious landscape with taxation settlements, British colonialism introduced Christianity with further irrigation works also impacting demographics in Western Punjab, and Partition irrevocably redrawing demographic lines.
The narrative of global demographic displacement—often framed as the decline of a lighter-skinned, prosperous population in a democracy—oversimplifies and distorts the real dynamics. The Parsis of Mumbai, for example, despite their dwindling numbers, continue to wield significant economic and cultural influence. Their enduring presence in South Bombay, marked by landmarks and institutions, underscores a critical point: demographic numbers don’t necessarily dictate power or presence.
Dishoom is a homage to the Bombay-Irani cafe culture; one of London’s most prominent restaurant groups
Historically, the emergence of elites often resulted from historical accidents rather than pure meritocracy. The upper castes in India, consistently representing 15-25% of the Hindu population over centuries, exemplify this. Their enduring influence, despite societal changes and efforts toward social equity, highlights the deep-rooted structures that shape contemporary realities.
the new French cabinet
In France, the overrepresentation of white individuals in parliament—estimated at 90-95% despite whites comprising 70-85% of the population (but these numbers are notoriously hard to get by as France doesn’t do official racial & ethnic counts so as to not undermine the indivisibility of the French people & nation)—reflects a global issue: power doesn’t always proportionally reflect demographic makeup. This discrepancy invites a broader reflection on how historical advantages and institutional control determine who holds power.
This discussion is crucial, not just academically, but for understanding how identity, power, and demographics intersect in complex ways. By critically examining these narratives, we can better understand the realities of demographic changes without succumbing to deterministic thinking.
The myth of democratic liberal capitalism is the presumption that voters determine the true shift of power. The growing inertia of the deep state—civil services and military administrations—makes genuine reform difficult, echoing George Orwell’s observation: “but England will still be England, an everlasting animal stretching into the future and the past, and, like all living things, having the power to change out of recognition and yet remain the same.”
It’s nigh on impossible to imagine India that is not Bharat, to envision a future where Hinduism isn’t deeply & inextricably intertwined with its land of origin. It is much more likely that one day, Vedic traditions will once again flow across the banks of the Indus, reclaiming the lost civilization of the past.
This excerpt was written by Dr Anandibai Joshi, the first Hindu lady to qualify as a doctor in America. It is her explanation of why she is going to America, and is a window into a very different time. What a clear headed thinker!
The book (to raise a fallen people) is well worth reading (you can ignore the editorial elements, just read the original texts from the 19th century). It is always good to have an idea of where things were… makes it easier to understand where they are..
My Future Visit to America, 1883
— Anandibai Joshi
. . . Our subject to-day is, “My future visit to America, and public inquiries regarding it.” I am asked hundreds of questions about my going to America. I take this opportunity to answer some of them. . . Continue reading Anandibai Joshi goes to America-1883
Doing some reading about the Tibetans for a post for my Substack, and I decide to look around and find some Tibetan genotypes. I went back to a question that has come up before, who contributed the East Asian ancestry into Bengalis? Austro-Asiatics or Tibeto-Burmans?
In this podcast we talk to two Bangladeshi expats who have been involved in recent pro-democracy activism within the BD diaspora. Dr Shafiqur Rahman is a political scientist who teaches in Vancouver. Mr Jyoti Rahman is an activist and blogger who is also an economist and a fiscal policy expert who has worked with the IMF and other institutions. We asked them about what is happening in BD and how this is likely to play out in the coming days..
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