The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire

The amazing story of how from an inconspicuous office in far away England, with less than a hundred employees, the East India Company controlled the destiny of a land as large and diverse as India. They started in 1600, and by the early 1800s, they had demolished the last credible threat to their domination in India – the Marathas. A corporation that arrived in India for trade, and ended up pillaging the country and finally giving it to the Crown on a platter.

The Wizard and the Prophet

As the world races towards a population in double figure billions, there is a huge pressure on ensuring basic necessities for all – water, food, clean air, and scalable energy sources. Represented principally by Norman Borlaug (the wizard) and William Vogt (the prophet), there are two schools of thought in how humanity could solve this. Scientific and philosophical, it’s not an easy read, but does provide some great perspectives.

The business of brand

In the not-so distant past, determining the audience of a brand, and the success of its campaign was not very complicated. Relatively speaking. But with VC funding and digitisation, ways of building a business have changed. And so must brand storytelling. Add to that a polarised world and social media amplification, and there’s enough material for a smart brand to game it.