Kaushik Khanikar

  Some walks get you a gold star on your fitness app. Others sneak up and rearrange your soul. This one? It did both and threw in a few laughs for good measure. It was a muggy Sunday evening, June 22, 2025, the kind of day where most folks were sprawled on couches, recovering from brunch mimosas or lost in the algorithm’s latest binge-worthy trap. Sagar Da, Plabon Da, and I had a wilder plan: a barefoot hike to the Maa Kamakhya Temple during Ambubachi Mela, a spiritual whirlwind that’s half divine timeout, half cosmic reset. Spoiler alert: it was less zen monks gliding uphill and more three desk jockeys dodging puddles and crises. The Crew: Not Exactly Dalai Lama Material Sagar da  our in-house philosopher and unshakable presence walked ahead with the kind of calm that you only read about in Upanishads. Plabon da , ever the comic relief, provided laughs at just the right moments, turning even fatigue into something bearable. And me? I was somewhere in between awe and analytics...

  Flight AI171: A Heartbreak in the Heavens, a Reckoning on Earth By : Kaushik Khanikar Date : 13-06-2025 The skies over India bore witness to a harrowing silence as Air India flight AI171 met a tragic end. What was intended to be another seamless commercial passage across clouds became a stark reminder that beneath the marvel of modern aviation lies a lattice of decisions, trade-offs, and vulnerabilities technical, managerial, and moral. For those of us who’ve admired aircraft from runways or run simulation checks in hobbyist RC setups, this event strikes with more than grief, it stirs introspection. I. The Whistle That Pierced the Silence Picture this: Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer with grit in his veins, standing alone in a sea of suits. He wasn’t chasing fame or a Netflix documentary. He was chasing truth. His warning? The 787 Dreamliner, that sleek marvel of modern aviation, had flaws so small you’d need a microscope to see them—gaps in its fuselage, mere whispers of ...

Prologue: 30th May 2025 When the Rain Wouldn’t Stop The monsoon arrived in Guwahati with its usual fanfare thunderclaps echoing like a grand overture, the Brahmaputra swelling with purpose. 30th May 2025, Guwahati drowned beneath a curtain of relentless rain. I had just left office, thinking it would be a slow drive home. Instead, I found myself battling a flash flood, barely navigating through submerged streets. My car sputtered in protest, coughing through water that nearly silenced the engine for good. The number plate was torn away by the current gone, like so many fragments of the city swallowed by the deluge. I gripped the steering wheel harder than I’ve held onto most things in life. By the time I reached home, drenched in sweat and streetlight reflection, I wasn’t thinking about the struggle anymore. A question crept into my mind, unbidden but persistent: What if the rain never stops? What would Guwahati look like after 30 days of unyielding deluge? As a consultant shaped by Bi...

 During my recent road trip to Shergaon, Arunachal Pradesh, with three of my friends from diverse professions, I encountered a fascinating situation that highlighted how technology can make travel more efficient, even in remote locations.  Driving the Tata Safari from Guwahati, the journey took us through some of the most scenic yet network-challenged areas, particularly the stretch between Bhairabkundu and Shergaon which has no mobilde network and internet Worried about navigating without connectivity, I turned to my Apple Watch Series 10, which significantly contributed to making our trip successful and stress-free.The GPS capabilities of the watch independent of cellular network or Wi-Fi, allowed me to track our location accurately throughout the entire journey.  The built-in compass backtrack mode was especially invaluable , As with this feature, I could trace our steps and the route even without access to maps or real-time location updates, providing reassurance in ...