What Sachit Thinks

LifeStraw: A Simple Innovation That Changed Access to Drinking Water LifeStraw: A Simple Innovation That Changed Access to Drinking Water I’m starting a new series on what I believe are some of the most important innovations of our time — ideas that don’t just advance technology, but meaningfully improve human life. First off the block is the LifeStraw. Innovation Through Simplicity Designed to make clean drinking water accessible to some of the poorest regions in the world, LifeStraw is a reminder that innovation does not always mean complexity. It is a simple, portable filtration device that allows users to drink directly from contaminated water sources while filtering out harmful bacteria and parasites. The brilliance of LifeStraw lies not just in what it does, but in how intuitively it does it. There are no batteries, no chemicals, no moving parts — just a straightforward design that works where it is needed most. H...

The other day, I was discussing traffic woes in Bangalore with my friends over lunch. Sure, everything looks chaotic, but here's one way of navigating through easily. What if you had a James Bond car? With missiles and bullets at your disposal at the flick of a button? Just imagine, this scene - You are in a traffic jam. You can see an ambulance approaching from behind begging for clearance. You are on the right side and you somehow start moving towards the left to make way. However, there's a Qualis on the left lane trying to squeeze its way through. The ambulance is still blaring. The Qualis starts honking in frustration and just doesn't stop. He knows about the ambulance, but still honks. He gesticulates his fist towards you. What if you had a bazooka missile which could vaporize that Qualis ? Think again.

Claimed as the largest flyover in South Asia, the Hebbal flyover is in danger of crashing. I traverse through this piece of construction everyday and there isn't a time when the North-South ramp is not clogged with vehicles. How much can it bear? The flyover is pounded by hundreds of thousands of heavy vehicles 18 hours a day, and in my estimation, for 8 hours, the flyover is burdened with traffic jams. Stranded on the flyover, I have felt the flyover sway ! It is very very scary. I'm not a pessimist, but this is another example of a tragedy waiting to happen.

Om Shanti Om Review: A Glorious, Self-Aware Bollywood Masala | Sachit Murthy It was almost after seven years that my wife and I watched a movie alone together. No kids, no interruptions, no intermission rushes for snacks — just the two of us, slightly uncomfortable at first, but secretly enjoying the novelty of watching a full film uninterrupted. And what a film to return to that experience with. Farah Khan clearly wins the Om Shanti Om vs Saawariya battle hands down. While one film drowned in indulgent artifice, OSO revels in its excess with self-awareness. This is Bollywood masala in its most honest form — like a well-cooked Indian curry: a bit of masti , a dose of emotion, generous drama, nostalgia, parody, and unapologetic spectacle. By the time you exit the theatre, you feel strangely fulfilled. The film delivers exactly what it promises — entertainment — and does so without pretence. As a sucker for cinematic indulgence, I was satisfied. ...

Saawariya Review: When Grandeur Overpowers Story | Sachit Murthy Last Saturday, I was at the theatre with my entire family to watch Saawariya at Vaibhav. My wife — a committed Sanjay Leela Bhansali fan — had been excited ever since I booked the tickets a week in advance. Expectations, as you can imagine, were high. My six-year-old son didn’t want to come along. He has recently concluded that movies are boring — a dangerous opinion for a child growing up in India. We somehow managed to drag him along. Sadly, the film only confirmed his premonition. The core problem with Saawariya is that Bhansali seems to have fallen in love with the Bhansali brand itself. Grandeur is fine — even welcome — but not at the cost of the two things that traditionally work in Bollywood: Masala Story Saawariya offers neither in sufficient measure. There is only so long that visual beauty can hold your attention. Once the novelty wears off, the eye adapt...

Buying a House Without Infrastructure: Bangalore’s Real Estate Illusion Buying a House Without Roads: The Great Urban Illusion My family and I were invited for a house-warming ceremony yesterday. My distant cousin has finally managed to buy a flat in one of the recently sprung-up areas of Bangalore. I was actually looking forward to the visit. I was curious to see the ‘new’ Bangalore — the one constantly advertised as the city’s future. I should have known better. Disappointing would be a mild word. Disgusting is closer to the truth. The Reality Behind the Gated Promise Crawling traffic. Non-existent roads. No proper water supply. Erratic electricity. Difficult access to even basic community services. Zero access to immediate medical care. The list writes itself, and still feels incomplete. What struck me most was not just the absence of infrastructure, but how casually it has been accepted. This is not a temporary inconvenience, not a...

The Great Indian Con Job: How Political Spectacle Thrives on Manufactured Poverty The Great Indian Con Job As usual, I was driving to work when I noticed something familiar — and unsettling. Scores of people were walking along the pavement, all moving in one direction — towards the Vidhana Soudha. There must have been at least ten thousand of them. Some on foot. Others packed into buses, trucks, tempos, and every form of transport imaginable. The occasion was obvious: the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Karnataka. But something didn’t add up. I looked more closely at the milling crowd. They didn’t look like party workers. They didn’t look politically charged or ideologically invested. They looked like poor, tired villagers — herded into Bangalore for a spectacle they likely knew very little about. That’s when a few uncomfortable thoughts began forming. I made a men...