Mumbai Diaries: The Pull of Ballard Estate
I keep returning to Ballard Estate like a magnet. Perhaps because few corners of Mumbai reveal quite so beautifully—and quirkily—how the city lives with its past.
Imperfectly Perfect
I share my love for the world, its people, and its cultures with a fun spiritual twist--the world is a small place and we are way more alike than different, muddling together through this imperfectly perfect life.
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Latest episodes
Make a Career of Humanity
A quote at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial stayed with me for years. This week, a teenager on Capitol Hill unexpectedly showed me what it meant.
Moved: In the Presence of the School of Athens at the Vatican
Standing before Raphael's School of Athens, I was overwhelmed by the wisdom gathered in a single painting—and by how much we seem to need it today.
Searching for Perfect Balance in an Imperfect World
A reflection on politics, friendship, sakshi bhava, and the search for inner balance in a noisy, divided world.
To Those Seeking Ground Again
A reflection on surrender, steadiness amidst life’s opposites, and the quiet work of lifting oneself from within.
Kilkenny, Ireland: A Medieval City with Swagger
What begins with a sandwich shop called Blaa Blaa Blaa unfolds into a story about medieval streets, memories of famine, stained-glass splendor, and the humor that still shapes Kilkenny today.
Beyond Trivia: What Quiz Bowl Really Teaches
Is Quiz Bowl just trivia—or something more? As my son heads into Nationals, I reflect on what these competitions really teach.
Beyond Trivia: What Quiz Bowl Really Teaches
And what, ultimately, becomes wisdom?
Ireland Diaries: Fanore—Where Nothing Tries, and Everything Is
On Ireland’s wild western edge, a place that doesn’t try to belong—and doesn’t ask you to either
Scotland Diaries: Grassmarket, Twenty Years Later
Between memory and the present, I found not the city I remembered—but the self I had become.
Perspective from Washington, DC: The World in a Morning
On the first day of spring in Washington, DC, a morning of cherry blossoms, museums, and milestones becomes a reflection on perspective—and on how we learn to see the world.
Two short pieces adapted from recent history writing originally published on LinkedIn, reflecting the structure and tone of Smart News features.
How Cyrus the Great Ruled a Diverse Empire More Than 2,500 Years Ago
Ancient Ideas, Modern Questions: The Cyrus Cylinder
What an ancient artifact reveals about power, diversity, and what endures.
Why Laughter Still Matters, Especially Now
A short Sunday reflection on laughter, Rabelais, and finding perspective when the world feels heavy.
Peeling the Onion: Writing, Neruda, and the Search for Meaning
Writing, like peeling an onion, sometimes makes your eyes water.
Selected Writing - Anu Prabhala
World Bank Narrative: Education Systems Transformation
Finding Aurangzeb in Dresden (Part 2)
Empires collapse. Power fades. The work remains.
Snow in July
On grief, gravity, and giving life meaning while it is here.
Finding Aurangzeb in Dresden
A jeweled Mughal emperor in Dresden—and a question about what survives when ego does not.
Rest Stops
When action turns into awareness