The Complete Archive
Science and civilization. Evidence and uncertainty. Art, memory, leadership and the moral imagination—held in one continuing conversation.
18 works
EssayA comic and affectionate natural history of examination season in a monastery school—and of the monks, anxieties, stratagems and enduring lessons that survived long after the marks were forgotten.
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EssayA few evenings ago, an old university friend called. At our age, telephone conversations generally begin with practical matters. How is work? How is health? How are the children? Have you finally managed to reduce your cholesterol? Have you enough for retirement yet? Such discussions are the natural habitat of…
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EssayThere is something deeply moving about the story of Rama. Not because Rama performs miracles, reveals hidden cosmic powers, or speaks in impossible metaphysical riddles. Rama resonates because he does something far more difficult: he keeps his word. That sounds almost embarrassingly simple in the modern world, yet perhaps…
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TalkShort Podcast on my views on the impact of Artificial Intelligence in Pharma It is clear to everyone that AI is impacting our life and work in a foundational manner. How it is exactly doing that is sometimes bit hard to articulate. I shared some of my opinions on how AI is impacting…
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EssayIndia’s pharmaceutical sector occupies a paradoxical position in the global health ecosystem. The country is the world’s largest supplier of generic medicines and vaccines by volume, yet it plays a limited role in shaping global regulatory decisions that determine how and when medicines reach patients. This asymmetry constrains India’s…
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TalkReuters Pharma 2026 | Barcelona A defining moment in my speaking journey. At Reuters Pharma 2026, I presented a keynote on uncertainty in drug development, exploring how probability, evidence, and policy are reshaping the architecture of modern regulatory decision-making. The session brought together senior leaders across R&D, regulatory affairs, and market access—and sparked a…
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EssayHe lies not now in gold, but under glass. No longer crowned, no longer veiled in art, But blackened to the measure of the grave — A shrunken relic of the human part. The skin, once warmed by breath, is drawn and dry; The face has lost its…
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TalkJTNDdmlkZW8lMjB3aWR0aCUzRDEwMCUyNSUyMGNvbnRyb2xzJTNFJTBBJTNDc291cmNlJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cCUzQSUyRiUyRmFuaXJiYW5zYWRodS5jb20lMkZ3cC1jb250ZW50JTJGdXBsb2FkcyUyRjIwMjYlMkYwMyUyRkFTLTkubXA0JTIyJTIwYXV0b3BsYXklM0QlMjIxJTIyJTIwdHlwZSUzRCUyMnZpZGVvJTJGbXA0JTIyJTNFJTBBJTNDJTJGdmlkZW8lM0U=
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EssayThe Unlikely Beginning Certain passions arrive in one’s life with the quiet inevitability of destiny. Others appear more like eccentric visitors—unexpected, slightly mysterious, and met with raised eyebrows by everyone around you. My life as an art collector belongs firmly…
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EssayOld institutions are not just buildings; they are living archives of ideas, values, and excellence — roots that keep the future from drifting. Great nations are not built overnight; they are sustained by their oldest institutions, where generations learn not just what…
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EssayModern biology has every reason to be confident. In little more than a century, it has moved from speculation to precision, from metaphor to molecule. We can read entire genomes, compare them across species, manipulate them with astonishing finesse, and…
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EssayIf you think clinical trials began with fluorescent-lit laboratories, white-coated researchers arguing about p-values, and statisticians sighing into their spreadsheets, allow yourself to travel back—far back—to the 6th century BCE. Long before regulatory agencies, IRB approvals, or PowerPoint presentations on…
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EssayIntroduction Pyramids are far more than icons of ancient Egypt. They represent one of the oldest and most resilient architectural ideas in human history. Across millennia and continents, civilizations have independently devised pyramid-like structures as tombs, temples, shrines, and ceremonial platforms.…
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EssayThere is something almost disarming about it. Among the loftiest metaphysical invocations of the Vedic world — a prayer to Shiva, the Three-Eyed Lord, conqueror of death — we find… a cucumber. Not thunder. Not cosmic fire. Not celestial weapons. A vegetable! And yet, in…
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EssayThe Forgotten Fire Most people today assume — almost instinctively — that ancient Indian or Vedic civilization must have been rigidly patriarchal, a world where men spoke, men taught, and men shaped the sacred. This assumption has been repeated so often that it now…
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TalkThis talk features Dr. Anirban Sadhu, Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs, who shares insights on education, career transitions, and the importance of transferable skills. He explains that learning goes beyond formal degrees and continues throughout one’s professional life. Reflecting on his journey from studying microbiology in India to completing a…
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EssayHumanity has always interpreted its greatest leaps — agricultural, industrial, digital — through metaphors drawn from its deepest spiritual memory. The Indian philosophical imagination, with its cyclic view of time and archetypal Avatāras, provides one of…
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TalkAn Insightful Afternoon at the Basel School of Business An intellectually stimulating afternoon spent on free flowing, wide ranging discussions with management students of the Basel School of Business on topics of general interest as well as Drug Development. I loved the experience immensely. I hope the students also found my talk interesting…
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