The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Akshay Jaitly, founder of Trilegal and co-founder of TrustBridge, is a lawyer who built a modern Indian law firm and works on rule-of-law reform. He recounts Trilegal’s founding, values like meritocracy and lockstep equity, governance fixes after early ruptures, and how professionalization changed India’s legal market. He also discusses TrustBridge’s regulator work and practical policy implementation.

Shruti Rajagopalan, policy economist focused on Indian regulation and governance, gives a primer on what regulation is and when it is justified. She explores traffic rules as design choices, the costs and enforcement challenges of rules, historical and colonial roots of Indian controls, intervention cascades in agriculture, vested interests that block reform, and practical checklists for deregulation.

Ravikumar Kashi, Indian contemporary artist, writer and educator known for paper, printmaking and installations. He talks about tactile curiosity with materials, turning private mourning into public multisensory work, and treating the studio as an experimental lab. He discusses teaching as lifeline, archiving Bangalore’s flex banners as social data, and resisting a fixed signature style while embracing scale and craft.

Ramachandra Guha, historian and public intellectual known for India After Gandhi, reflects on friendships that shaped his life. He talks about slowing down, music and later creativity. He traces mentors like Dharma Kumar, Shekhar Pathak and D.R. Nagaraj. He also explores intellectual ecosystems, the decline of print, and the value of intergenerational bonds.

Janhavi Nilekani, development economist and founder of Astrika working on maternal healthcare and midwifery. She talks about transforming maternity care in India, why C-section and overtreatment are so common, and how midwifery and system incentives can change outcomes. She also discusses the medical and social implications of gender-critical thinking and why sex matters in clinical settings.

V Ravichandar, civic activist and founder of Bangalore International Centre and the Literature Festival, reflects on a lifetime of city-building. He talks about urban governance reforms, low-cost sustainable projects like Lalbagh restoration, designing accountability mechanisms such as BATF summits, balancing work inside and outside government, and pivoting to culture and crowdfunding to build civic life.

Gautam John, social-sector leader and former entrepreneur who now leads philanthropic work, reflects on leadership, masculinity, parenting and community-led solutions. He talks about pausing for reflection, building deep friendships, stepping away from social media, designing convenings for serendipity, unheroic leadership and enabling others to lead. Stories range from law school to running StoryWeaver and parenting as primary caregiver.

Rukmini S, journalist and data storyteller behind Data For India and Whole Numbers and Half Truths, explains why better public data matters. She discusses building a durable public-data platform, surprising finds like large-scale home-based custom tailoring, India’s falling child population and ageing trends, and how clear methods, literacy and forensic work change policy and public understanding.

Join Manoj Kewalramani, a China analyst at the Takshashila Institution, as he unpacks the complexities of China's history and modern society. He highlights his surprising early impressions from living in China and warns against oversimplified views rooted in ancient civilization tropes. Dive into discussions on women's roles, Xi Jinping's consolidation of power, and the influence of geography and politics on China's unique identity. Kewalramani also reflects on China's dynamic future and its relationship with the U.S. and India.

Shruti Rajagopalan, a public intellectual and conference organizer, joins Pranay Kotasthane, a policy commentator, to share insights on friendship and life's winding paths. They explore the magic of spontaneous conversations at unconferences and the importance of vulnerability. The trio discusses the balance between structure and spontaneity, emphasizing small, meaningful gestures in daily life. They also delve into the fun of learning equestrian skills, reflect on personal growth, and recommend books that foster humility and creativity.