Category: Zachary

This article, as the raw draft, inspired my light-hearted newsletter piece titled 'Mastering the Art of Complaining: How to Secure What You Deserve in an Unequal World.'

Continue reading “Fully Booked”: How Colorism Shapes Who Gets In

Vimal Yoganathan, South Asian Representation, and Football’s Unspoken Racial Hierarchies

Vimal Yoganathan’s debut for Barnsley, highlighted by his two-goal performance, represents more than just a personal victory. His success shines a light on the severe underrepresentation of *South Asians* in English football, where they make up 7% of the UK population but only 0.3% of professional footballers.

There are two important nuances to consider regarding the South Asian population in football. Firstly, a significant portion of this population consists of adult immigrants, who typically do not enter professional sports due to their age upon arrival. Secondly, there has been some positive progress, with a 29% growth in the number of South Asian players in recent years, although this remains a small fraction relative to their overall representation in the UK.

For South Asian players, Yoganathan’s story is an outlier, illustrating the deeply embedded systemic and cultural barriers that continue to block progress in a sport dominated by white coaches and management.

Continue reading Breaking Through the White Ceiling

A Journey of Inner Transformation

Finally, there is a fourth garden, the Garden of the One. 
A seeker went to that door and a voice asked, “Who is there?” 
The seeker answered, “I am here, Beloved.” 
The voice replied, “Then go away.” 
The seeker went away, and continued his search and meditation for many years, until finally he returned and once again the voice met him with the same question as before. 
This time, the seeker answered, “You are here.” 
Then the seeker entered and there was no seeker and no sought, there was no lover or beloved, there was only the “One” forever and ever.

Continue reading Kanha Shanti Vanam

One of the commentators on this blog responded to my comment advocating for 55% female representation and leadership on the Waqf board controversy with the following:

“When you want to destroy a company from the top, you put women in the C-suite. The same logic applies here, it’s a sinister ploy.”

Presumably (and hopefully), this is simply bad banter—my British sensibilities are primed towards the funny kind. However, given the complex issues around patriarchy in Pakistan, as Omar’s recent post on blasphemy suggests, it’s important to examine this claim and set the record straight.

Rather than engaging in such cynical takes on women in leadership, let’s look at the tangible results produced by women who have ascended to leadership positions—specifically the career of Indra Nooyi, the former Indian (Tam-Bram from Chennai) CEO of PepsiCo, and how her achievements compare to those of her competitors.

• Revenue Growth: Under Nooyi’s leadership, PepsiCo’s revenue grew by 80%, while Coca-Cola’s revenue fell by approximately 9% during the same period.
• Stock Performance: PepsiCo’s stock price surged by 109% under Nooyi, far outpacing Coca-Cola’s 67% growth from 2006 to 2018.
• Healthier Product Shift: Nooyi spearheaded PepsiCo’s pivot from sugary snacks to healthier options, increasing its “guilt-free” product revenue to 45%. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola struggled to make comparable gains in the health-conscious market.

Continue reading How Indra Nooyi’s successful leadership shatters patriarchal myths in Pakistan

Waqf properties, governed under Islamic law, make up the third-largest landholdings in India. Spanning nearly 900k properties & 2.3mn acres—roughly the size of Delaware or Luxembourg—they include iconic sites like the Taj Mahal, Jama Masjid, and Charminar. Despite their cultural significance and prime urban locations, these properties have faced scrutiny for mismanagement, with their total value estimated at ₹1.2 lakh crore ($14.5 billion).

Waqf refers to properties dedicated to religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law. Once designated as waqf, ownership is transferred irrevocably to Allah. There are 32 waqf boards in India, including two Shia boards, with about 200 individuals managing them. Once a property is declared waqf, it remains so indefinitely, leading to disputes such as claims on islands in Bet Dwarka, the Bengaluru Eidgah ground, and Kolkata’s Tollygunge Club. Some of these properties, like the Royal Calcutta Golf Club and ITC Windsor Hotel, have historical significance dating back to the Mughal era.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, currently under review, proposes around 40 amendments to the existing Waqf Act of 1995. It seeks to overhaul how these properties are governed, introducing non-Muslims and Muslim women into Waqf board governance, updating the registration process, and shifting property dispute resolutions from Waqf tribunals to civil courts. The aim is to improve transparency and accountability across the nearly 1 million properties controlled by 32 Waqf boards.

Historical Context

Waqf properties trace back to the Delhi Sultanate and were formally regulated during the British era under the Mussalman Waqf Act of 1923. This act aimed to curb the misuse of Waqf properties, but even today, mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments plague these lands, prompting calls for reform. The 1995 Waqf Act, later amended in 2013, did little to prevent the ongoing inefficiencies, leading to the introduction of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024.

 

Continue reading The Battle for the Taj Mahal & India’s Sacred Lands: Waqf Boards Under Fire

“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*.

Continue reading The Gut-Brain Detox: Preparing for 40 with Ozone Therapy in Chennai

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.

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:

1. Vowel-Endings: Nearly every word in Telugu ends with a vowel, making it rhythmically pleasing and easy to rhyme.
2. Vowel Harmony: Telugu’s phonetic structure ensures that vowels are adjusted for a more aesthetically pleasing flow, creating a melodic cadence.
3. 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.
4. Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Dravidian Influence: The layering of these linguistic traditions adds depth and variety to Telugu, enriching its poetic and musical capabilities.

See more detail after the jump.

Continue reading The Italian of the East: Is It Language or Music?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Radhika and Anant Ambani finally get married. Mind you their wedding festivites, all in all, started in March of this year. So it essentially stretched on for months.

The latest news today is that Anant gifted his 10 groomsmen, limited edition luxury watches (only 25 pieces), worth $250,000 apiece.

I wish the Ambanis the very best that life has to offer but I’m reflecting that this might go some way in explaining as to why the BJP’s electoral results were so much poorer than expected. I also note that the Gandhis refused to attend the wedding; in a way one can’t buy the attendance of blue bloods?

I’m sounding slightly Waspish here (what to do I live between the two Cambridges) but such excessive and extravagant displays of wealth seems only focused on pleasure and leisure. What I would have much preferred is some old decrepit part of India sensitively restored for the wedding; where is the investment in the country itself.

One could argue that the Ambanis are the very essence and marrow of India then why are they partaking in foreign luxury brands and not patronising in domestic industries.

These are just questions that I’m asking since after all this is easily the most expensive wedding on the planet and history; Mukesh Ambani has spent $600 million on this entire escapade (0.5% of the Ambani family wealth?).

We also had a rather nice wedding but above all it interwove taste, class, tradition with a touch of opulence.

Noblesse obligee demands those who are fortunate to reflect on what they are able to give back to society; one cannot but remember that European nobility patronised the Great Masters, Mozart, Brahms and other such brilliant art. Even Shah Jahan, who was not the wisest or sanest of rules, at least built the tear on the cheek of eternity.

What has emerged from Anant’s wedding that will stand the test of time?