Avalahalli. 2025Copenhagen. 2025Avalahalli. 2025Bhusaval. 2025Geneva. 2025 It has been a nail-biting year! That’s the summary of 2025. Relaying it as it happened is an easier way to do a roundup post this year instead of writing about what excited, what churned and what triggered. All of that, as I now understand, is the human condition. … Continue reading Roundup 2025
Thank You, Gandhi by Krishna Kumar
Thank You, Gandhi by Krishna Kumar. Penguin Viking It took effort to finish books this year. It has taken more effort to clear out drafts into published posts. As the cliche goes - the year flew by! So, as every December, here is me trying to post unfinished drafts and thoughts on various books, travel … Continue reading Thank You, Gandhi by Krishna Kumar
Farm updates for Kharif 2025 cropping season & a large irrigation canal project in the region
Summer cropping season began two weeks earlier than usual. We have a mix of cotton and pigeonpea on a cropping area of 16 acres. Sowing was supervised by parents, with me chasing easier money in consulting assignments. Last year’s rain inundation damaged about three acres of planted cotton very early in the season. So, frustrated … Continue reading Farm updates for Kharif 2025 cropping season & a large irrigation canal project in the region
May Day, 2025
The last I wrote to observe May Day was in 2021. A couple of years have slipped by before I could get back to writing about the state of workers, even though I continue to work in this space through wages and cost of living data, if not gig jobs directly. What seems new is … Continue reading May Day, 2025
Inter-dependence of density, transport and productivity in a city
Thinking about density of cities and their productivity has become a key concern in countries which are rapidly urbanizing. How do we handle the challenge of ensuring that as cities grow in their size and population, the city's productivity also rises. Stagnant productivity does not bode well for economic growth as well as for social … Continue reading Inter-dependence of density, transport and productivity in a city
Rules-based order & the Indus Waters Treaty
Of the Indus River system, Satluj, Beas and Ravi carry 20% of the water and Jhelum, Indus, Chenab carry 80%. Under the Indus Waters Treaty, India has the rights to use water from the Satluj, Beas and Ravi rivers. It is bound by the treaty to not use water from Jhelum, Indus and Chenab rivers … Continue reading Rules-based order & the Indus Waters Treaty
Lunchtime at a conference
At a conference in a town north of Delhi an acquaintance quipped that India is changing from the last time he was here. The remark about a changing India had a sense of appreciation. It felt partially true. But then, adding a rejoinder on rising inequality, my acquaintance observed that things will come to a … Continue reading Lunchtime at a conference
Farm Days: Feb 2025
Wardha 10 Feb 2025 The urge to record these days continues to be strong even after seven years and fourteen cropping seasons. The access road through two villages and on to our village is being rebuilt. There is emphasis on farm roads and rural connectivity in the state lately. With equipment and construction frenzy this … Continue reading Farm Days: Feb 2025
Agri sector narrative in the Economic Survey 2024-25
The Ministry of Finance’s DEA released the Economic Survey 2024-25 report ahead of presenting the union budget. The government appears to be thinking hard about driving dometic growth and resilience. It is useful to see the positioning of agri sector in this growth narrative that focuses on raising productivity: Achieving competitiveness will be an incomplete … Continue reading Agri sector narrative in the Economic Survey 2024-25
Tata Mumbai Marathon 2025
TMM 2025 As I got on to the sea face road at Trident Hotel during this year’s run, I heard the Railway Protection Force opening the morning with a bagpiper band of all things! To hear ‘Om Jai Jagdish' aarti played on pipes was a surreal feeling. It was unusual and lovely to hear the … Continue reading Tata Mumbai Marathon 2025
Contested Realities 