The first time I came across the word Tokonoma, I assumed it was a person, or perhaps a place hidden among mountains with excellent tea and impossible train timings. Instead, it turned out to be something far more dangerous. An idea. The Japanese, it seems, looked at an empty corner in a room and decided …
The birds know before we do. A few warm sunny days appear between the rains, and suddenly the compound walls become crowded again. There is hopping and fluttering and endless discussion taking place among leaves that are still drying from yesterday’s shower. Ants return to their routes with the seriousness of government departments reopening after …
Society’s Oldest Startup. Human civilization has achieved remarkable things. We split the atom, mapped the genome, and built artificial intelligence capable of conversing with us. Yet among all our inventions, one industry remains older, more resilient, and remarkably immune to technological disruption. Ghost Transportation. Dead Ghost Logistics Pvt. Ltd. Not the supernatural variety, of course. …
Among the Vases of Today. The vase in the photograph had no business interrupting my afternoon. It was not the subject of the photograph. It had not negotiated for attention. It stood quietly in the corner, carrying itself with the sort of confidence usually associated with old aristocrats and cats. Yet there it was. Waiting. …