Ramanathan

Nature, travel, photography, electronic gadgets, cricket, science & technology, space exploration etc,. Opinions are just mine! Retweets are not endorsements!

[Nandini @NBDwrites]

I was fourteen, walking home from school in Paris with my French-American friend. Summer was around the corner and the heat was relentless.

‘You must be used to this heat,’ she said.

‘Not really,’ I replied. ‘We lived in the hills in India before we came to Paris.’

‘Hills? I didn’t know India had hills.’

‘We have the Himalayas,” I had replied. ‘The highest mountains in the world.’

She stopped dead.

‘You’ve got to be kidding! The highest mountains are in America.’

That expression of absolute certainty is etched into my memory even today.

Twenty years later, when I met her again in New York, I reminded her of that conversation. We couldn’t stop ourselves from laughing.

So anyway that afternoon we went home, and I opened my Philips Atlas and showed her the Himalayas.

‘You know,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘ I’d always wondered about that weird name. I just assumed it was some Native American name.’

A few weeks later, in geography class, while studying the Alps, our teacher announced they were the highest mountains in the world.

My newly enlightened friend proudly corrected her.

‘Actually, the Himalayas are.’

The teacher shot me a look that instantly identified the culprit behind this inconvenient fact.

Then, without missing a beat, she recovered.
‘Yes… but the Himalayas are the newest highest mountains. The Alps were the oldest highest mountains.’

Case closed.

At fourteen, I learnt one of life’s great lessons: The West doesn’t just write history, geography, science. It often decides it.

If something is ancient, extraordinary or foundational, somehow it must have originated in Europe or at the very least be explained through a European lens.

The Rig Veda became “Aryan.” A Middle Eastern Jew named Jesus acquired blond hair and blue eyes.
Even Panini, at one point, seemed to belong to everyone except India.

Now, apparently, Panini is Pakistani.

Progress, I suppose.
From ‘ that’s impossible’ to ‘it was ours all along.’

The script changes. The narrator doesn’t.

#SundayMusings

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@SwayamTewari You don’t see TV is it 🤔😃

[Nick Collins @nickcollins1953]

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was established in 1505. Sushruta had already been performing reconstructive surgery for over two thousand years by then. His ethical framework predates the Hippocratic Oath. East India Company surgeons were still learning rhinoplasty techniques from Indian practitioners in the 18th century.

What happened in Edinburgh this week is an overdue correction to Western assumptions about where foundational medical knowledge originated.

[Abhijit Iyer-Mitra @Iyervval]

🧵 1/2 This weekend @celebi_aviation’s local 5th columns, sent me a legal notice implying that @RTErdogan & @EmineErdogan’s daughter is of low character & association with her is disreputable. My lawyer @jai_a_dehadrai sent them this reply (notice in following tweet)

[Sann @san_x_m]

This is a massive wake-up call.

Imagine your startup built on Fable 5 and it just went dark overnight with zero warning.

Anthropics own foreign national employees cannot even access it.

This is proof that you cannot fully rely on American tech infrastructure. Countries around the world need to start building for themselves.

Build sovereign. Build local.

Technology is the new weapon and today just proved it.

[K.Annamalai @annamalai_k]

Let’s step up, take action, and be the change.

Join here to begin our political movement!

https://t.co/oVURDAxIE7

[Amazing Physics @amazing_physics]

Voyager hit a 90,000°F wall at the solar system’s edge

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed a boundary called the heliopause — the outer edge of the Sun’s influence, where the solar wind meets interstellar space. But what it found there surprised scientists: a region of intensely heated plasma reaching temperatures of 30,000–90,000°F (17,000–50,000°C).

This wasn’t a solid wall. It was a turbulent boundary zone where particles from the Sun slow down and pile up against the pressure of interstellar space. As they compress, their energy increases, heating the plasma to extraordinary temperatures.

But here’s the strange part: despite those extreme temperatures, this region wouldn’t feel hot to a human. The plasma is incredibly sparse — far emptier than any vacuum we can create on Earth — so there are too few particles to transfer heat effectively. In other words, it’s a “hot” region that wouldn’t actually burn you.

Voyager’s instruments detected a sharp drop in solar particles and a rise in cosmic rays, confirming it had crossed into interstellar space. At the same time, it picked up subtle vibrations in the plasma — like ripples traveling through an invisible ocean — allowing scientists to measure its density and temperature for the first time.

This boundary acts as a protective shield. The heliosphere deflects a large fraction of harmful cosmic radiation, helping make life on Earth possible. Beyond it lies the raw environment of the galaxy.

Now more than 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) from Earth, Voyager 1 continues to send back data from this frontier. It’s the most distant human-made object ever built — still exploring a region no spacecraft had ever reached.

At the very edge of our solar system, space isn’t empty or calm.

It’s a violent, invisible boundary — and we’ve only just begun to understand it.

Learn more:
“Voyager 1 Observes Low-Energy Galactic Cosmic Rays in a Region Depleted of Heliospheric Ions.” Science, 2013.

📸Credit: NASA/JPL

[Abhijit Iyer-Mitra @Iyervval]

You know the Padma awards are the absolute pinnacle of how this government is connected to the ground. If you want to understand why Modi can never be defeated - look at the Padma awardees. All deeply connected to their communities - each one deeply meaningful. ❤️

[Dr. Deepessh Divaakaran (Dr. DD) @md_deepesh]

Modi told Indians not to travel abroad.
Then he visited five nations in six days.
How rude.

While television screamed about press freedom…
While Trump flew to China collecting headlines…
While Melodi memes flooded timelines…
While half the internet debated cockroaches…

India quietly changed the board.
Not the game.

The board.

And almost nobody noticed.

This was positioning.
11 years of positioning.

Executed in 6 days.
Without firing a bullet.

May 15.
Abu Dhabi.
Two and a half hours.

That was enough.

Three things happened instantly.

One.
India no longer panics during oil shocks.
The reserves are already home.

Two.
Gulf capital now flows into Indian infrastructure.
Not Chinese infrastructure.

Three.
If the Gulf burns tomorrow…
India becomes the escape route.

May 15 to 17.
The Hague.

ASML.
The company China cannot touch.

No ASML machine…
No advanced chips.
No AI race.
No missile guidance.
No semiconductor future.

India walked in quietly.
And got the deal.

Three consequences.

One.
India enters the chip war.
Not as a customer.
As a manufacturer.

Two.
Western technology companies now need India.
Not China.

Three.
The next war will not begin with bullets.
It will begin with semiconductors.
India just armed itself.

May 17 to 18.
Gothenburg.

India-Sweden Technology and AI Corridor.
Signed.
And Ursula von der Leyen was present.

Three outcomes.

One.
Indian AI startups now get direct European access.

Two.
Sweden's defence industry needs Indian scale.

Three.
The India-EU trade relationship just became technological.
Not transactional.

May 18 to 19.
Oslo.

First Indian PM visit in 43 years.
That alone should tell you something.

Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund.
1.7 trillion dollars.
Largest on earth.

Just signed a Green Strategic Partnership with India.
Not aid.
Not charity.
Partnership.

Three implications.

One.
The world's largest pool of money…
is betting on India.

Two.
Arctic shipping routes are opening.
India just secured a seat.

Three.
Green maritime and hydro technology transfer begins quietly.

May 20.
Rome.

People thought he went there for photographs with Meloni.

He went there for IMEC.
Bye Bye… China & BRI

One.
India becomes Europe's trade artery.

Two.
Italy's stagnant ports revive through Indian trade routes.

Three.
IMEC now has two anchors.
UAE on one side.
Italy on the other.

India runs the pipe between them.

And this is the part people still don't understand.
China needs India.
America needs India.
Russia needs India.

Hostile to none.
Necessary to all.

The next era will not belong to the loudest country.
It will belong to the most indispensable one.

India just applied for that role.
And nobody rejected the application.

If someone tells you India is collapsing…
Show them this post.
And just enjoy the reaction.

A predator entered five boardrooms…
In six days…
Wearing kurta and jacket…
Smiling for cameras…
While quietly acquiring India’s Future.

Jai Bharat!!!

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@MinhazMerchant Perfectly diagnosed 👌🏼👍🏼👏🏼

[Minhaz Merchant @MinhazMerchant]

Europeans came to India & China as humble supplicants till 1700. Following invasive colonisation, the humble European supplicants were now wealthy. Extractive colonialism fuelled the Industrial Revolution & created a prosperous Europe after centuries of plague & poverty. Racism & condescension towards those they had exploited rose among the supplicants-turned-masters. But the tide is turning. India & China are reclaiming, bit by bit, their historic civilisational pre-eminence. European journalists have a lot of catching up to do.

[Erik Solheim @ErikSolheim]

Why is the West not curious on the great Indian 🇮🇳 civilization?

This week Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Norway. The government rolled out the red carpet. King Harald invited for lunch. All bigwigs of Norwegian business turned up. This is of course as it should be at such a historic visit.

Rather different was media. No curiosity, no real attempt to understand India. When the third most powerful man in the world visits Norway, you may expect some real interest? An attempt to understand the world’s third largest economy, a global green leader, one of the world’s brightest civilizations??

It’s not that Norway is overrun with visit at this level. Last Indian top visit was Indira Gandhi in 1983. Last Chinese president visit was 1996, last American president was 2009.

Here are some taste bits from Norwegian media:

* Aftenposten the largest newspaper printed a caricature of Modi as a snake charmer, many found it racist and derogatory. The accompanying article (written by an otherwise brilliant journalist) described Modi as a “slightly annoying man” and simply showcased that India is not high on the papers reading lists.

* Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the state broadcaster, explained “why prime minister Støre is clearing his desk to receive Modi”. From everyone outside Norway I got exactly the opposite question: Why did Modi use his valuable time in such a small and insignificant place?

* Dagsavisen, a left of center daily, sent a young journalist to throw questions after Modi - claiming that India is 157 on a global democracy ranking. When a ranking is so contrary to common sense - why doesnt she ask those who created the ranking why they spread such nonsense?

I am not aware of one Norwegian journalist closely following India. NOT ONE! How can the public learn more?

Unless you believe democracy only fits a handful of small, homogenous, ultra rich western nations, India is the miracle of democracy. The large, complex, lingustically and religiously diverse nation with many poor people - which has etablished a vibrant democracy and is much less violent than Europe or America.

India can in fact make a claim to be the worlds most homegrown and impressive democracy.

We are entering the Asian century. Unless we Europeans become more curious - to civiliazation, history, politics and economy in the Global South - we will become the big losers of history.

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@e1r1k11 @iamamitvasu @AdityaRajKaul @narendramodi Being tolerant can look magnanimous but it’s also a starting point of surrender. History shows it.

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@e1r1k11 @iamamitvasu @AdityaRajKaul @narendramodi May be this will give you a better picture 😊
https://t.co/aw1rLkMdkR

[Erik Solheim @ErikSolheim]

In defense of Indian 🇮🇳 democracy!

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi most successful visit to Norway a minor incident happened. A Norwegian journalist demanded that the prime minister starts holding press conferences. She claimed that Indian democracy is in bad shape.

May be its time to pause? May be its time to be a bit curious to the world’s largest democracy?

Two weeks ago five Indian states and territories held elections. The turn out in the battlefield state of West Bengal was 94%. In the last local election in Norway it was 62%, in many European local elections turn out is below 50%. Can voting in massive numbers be a signal Indians trust their democratic process?

In the same election BJP won big in Assam and West Bengal. It lost even bigger in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Can this diversity be a signal that Indian democracy is reflecting the will of the people?

The journalist referred to a democracy ranking putting India at 157 in the world, behind many dictatorships and deeply troubled states. When a ranking is so obviously contrary to common sense, why not ask critical questions to those making the ranking rather than demand that leaders shall comment on nonsense? I recommend Salvatore Babones book “Dharma democracy”. The book debunks convincingly the flawed methodology of these rankings.

It was referred to a ranking claiming it’s very dangerous to be a journalist in India. Reality is that it is more dangerous to be journalist in the US and far more dangerous in the vast majority of other nations in the world.

Let’s be real. India is not perfect. Of course there are incidents. India has a population the size of North America, South America and Europe combined. But India is much more peaceful than Europe or the Americas. That’s remarkable - given the ethnic, language and religious diversity of India and the many development challenges.

Unless we consider democracy a form of government only suited for some very small, peaceful and homogeneous Western European nations, may be we should commend Indian democracy?

India is the only major former UK colony which became and has remained a democracy. Its sometimes claimed that the Brits taught India democracy. If that was the case why isn’t Myanmar or Pakistan or the Gulf kingdoms democracies??? Reality is that Indian democracy is both homegrown and extraordinary successful.

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@e1r1k11 @iamamitvasu @AdityaRajKaul @narendramodi Not embarrassed … just smiling and amused at the colonial stereotyping by people who don’t know enough of India 😊

[Abhijit Iyer-Mitra @Iyervval]

Yup. @ErikSolheim nailed it

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@e1r1k11 @iamamitvasu @AdityaRajKaul @narendramodi CNN used to do it earlier but, they now understand the sensitivity and stopped.

[Ramanathan @tkramanathan]

@e1r1k11 @iamamitvasu @AdityaRajKaul @narendramodi … Indian as a snake charmer or with a cow … these are generally considered as derogatory or racist.