Kaustubh Naik

My latest piece for @scroll_in unpacks a bizarre 18th-century legal battle in Portuguese Goa: the defence of Hindu bigamy using Christian theology. Read here: scroll.in/article/1090...

Penn admin began final bargaining with the grad union at night and I was told the bargaining got over at 1 am. Thankfully they agreed to the new contract!

How is it that the zone that you’re seated in is always called for boarding at the end?

The Algorithmic Flattening of Goan History The Instagram algorithm rewards retention and engagement.

In my new Substack post, I write about ‘this survived the brutal Portuguese rule’ hook for Insta reels and the algorithmic flattening of Goan history. open.substack.com/pub/kaustubh...

What an unusual place to spend the NY morning!

Settler branding in Goa - Of Khazans and Balcãos Why the settler elites love Goan words but ignore Goan realities.

Settler branding in Goa - Of Khazans and Balcãos open.substack.com/pub/kaustubh...

"A narrative that sells Goa as a morality-free zone for the mainland – a suspension of reality where the conservatism of Indian society holds no valency. This creates a ferocious, insatiable desire to consume Goa, to eat its land, drink its water and burn its silence" - @kaustubh.bsky.social

Being (Goa) Based Postal Posturing in the Settler Economy

Where I decode what it means to be ‘Goa based’ for settlers.

YouTube video by ThePrint Birch by Romeo Lane fire tragedy: What does accountability look like?

youtu.be/WOogqntQhqI?...

"The cheap alcohol, the boundless hedonism, the carefully staged “freedom” where mainland India’s social constraints do not hold valency — this is the hyperreal party state, designed to capture the aspirational elite’s longing for release."
@kaustubh.bsky.social on the neo-colonialism gaze in Goa

The Goa Simulacrum The Local as the Inconvenience of an Imagined Paradise

The Goa Simulacra open.substack.com/pub/kaustubh...

Just began working on something new.

Hello! I’m good. How are you?

How to Belong in Goa And other crises of Aldona Filmmakers

My long pending rant about the settlers in Goa and their crisis of belonging. open.substack.com/pub/kaustubh...

Should go back to reading Aijaz Ahmad.

The airline seemed pretty normal about this entire thing while I kept thinking I didn’t want to d** while omw to Madison and when my last meal was a salad bought from a meal voucher.

The fuck we just returned midair to PHL because the aircraft had engine issues.

Where’s the Madison gossip at?

The rw ecosystem has set up a fellowship in Jadunath Sarkar’s name to foster research and publishing in Indian history.

R.I.P. Jayant Narlikar Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (1938-2025) I heard this morning of the death at the age of 86 of renowned Indian cosmologist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar. I understand he died peacefully in his sleep after a brief illness. Scientifically, Jayant Narlikar is probably best known for his work with Fred Hoyle on a conformal gravity theory and as an advocate of the Steady State theory of cosmology.

R.I.P. Jayant Narlikar

Professor Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (1938-2025) I heard this morning of the death at the age of 86 of renowned Indian cosmologist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar. I understand he died peacefully in his sleep after a brief illness. Scientifically, Jayant Narlikar is probably best known…

Thanks for this great thread Ananya! Have you read this piece by Sagar in Caravan titled ‘What Hindi Keeps Hidden’?It is so close to what you’re saying about languages enabling (or disabling) thoughts.

TIL Teju Cole is married to a Goan.

This Sophia Qureshi optics is a trap that Indian Muslims, and Indian liberals should refrain from falling into. It has set unrealistic standards of acceptance for a community that is structurally persecuted on a daily basis.

The absurdity of our times is so much that Raj Thackeray of all the people has a restrained response, refusing to participate in the ongoing war mongering, and has instead asked pertinent questions about internal security lapses.

What has gotten into Indian liberals that they’ve turned into a war supporting mob overnight?

I am not worried for Kamra as much as I am worried for the crew that put this show together.

Chaava has unintentionally triggered a Brahmin Maratha feud in the Marathi public sphere.

Gathered some courage and said no to an invite to do a lecture. You either die young or live long enough to be invited as a शिवव्याख्याता.

Not Ravish Kumar asking Modi take a snake from Vantara and leave it in the White House as a response to Trump’s rant on tariffs.

Stripping away the rhetoric associated with this statement, CM is technically correct in asking for a nuance in how we periodise colonial rule in Goa. However, it is a different matter whether the local Marathas were consistently loyal to the Maratha state.