The US government just admitted the power grid can't keep up with AI. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued emergency orders to six regional grid operators this week, bypassing the years-long normal regulatory process. Microsoft alone added 4 gigawatts of new data centrecapacity in the past 18 months — roughly the electricity use of a small country. "The grid cannot handle current build rates." That's the regulator's own language.

Also this week — the Reuters Institute's 2026 Digital NewsReport found that 10% of people worldwide now use AI chatbots for news every week, up from 7% a year ago. Only 4% of those click through to the original article. Most of us are now getting our understanding of the world secondhand,summarised, with no idea who actually reported it.

Plus — a 10-minute masala omelette with toast, and a poem.

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

Masala omelette with toast. 2 eggs beaten with finely chopped green chilli + small chopped onion + coriander leaves + pinch turmeric + salt. Whisk well. Hot pan with 1 tsp oil or ghee — pour in, let edges set, fold once. Toast 2 slices of bread alongside. Butter if you have time. 10 minutes total.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"When the World Falls Apart" — from Fifty Rooms ofSilence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected].

Episode 20. Four weeks of Six Minutes of Silence.

This week gave us three threads worth keeping: a kill switchthat was used for the first time (the US government took two AI models offline — that power is now real). A country finding its place across three days — India losing IT jobs, building its own AI, and showing up at global tables to negotiate the rules. And a rocket company that bet its future on a coding tool.

Plus — what The Bandrum Base rub is actually for (a wholespatchcock chicken on the Weber Kettle), and a poem about turning over a new leaf.

New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

— THE BANDRUM CHICKEN —

Spatchcock a whole chicken (press on breastbone until flat). Rub The Bandrum Base (brown sugar + onion powder + garlic powder + salt, equal parts first three, half salt) generously all over and under the skin. Rest 2 hours minimum — overnight better. Weber Kettle indirect heat (~170-180°C). Chicken on cooler side, skin up, 45 min-1 hr. Flip to hot side last 10 min tocrisp skin. Optional: add paprika, cumin, coffee grounds, or chilli to the Base.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"A New Leaf" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

This week, India showed up on three different world stages for AI — in three different countries. In Slovakia, PM Modi announced an "India Chair on Artificial Intelligence" at a local university. At the G7 Tech Security Summit, India sat at the table discussing global AI and social media risks. And at VivaTech in Paris, India and France launched a Year of Innovation to bridge startups across both countries.

Two weeks ago, the story was India's engineers losing jobs toAI. This week, the story is India's government deciding where AI policy gets written — and insisting on a seat at that table.

Plus — SpaceX's $60 billion acquisition of AI coding startupCursor, the EU's new Cloud and AI Development Act, a baked sweet potato recipe, and a poem about rowing hard toward the rising sun.

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

Baked sweet potato. Wash (don't peel), prick a few times with a fork. Bake at 200°C for 45-60 min until a knife slides in easily. Split open. Top with butter + salt, OR lime juice + chilli powder (street-style), OR honey + cinnamon (dessert-style).

— TODAY'S POEM —

"Foundation Day" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by LinuConil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

India minted a new AI unicorn yesterday. Sarvam — aBengaluru-based startup building voice agents in Indian languages — raised $234 million (about ₹1,950 crore) led by HCLTech, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Their platform handles more than 20 million daily interactions, including Government of India farmer outreach programs and insurance campaigns. They built an AI that speaks Indian, to Indians, about Indian things.

Also this week — IIT Bombay launched BharatGen, India's firstsovereign AI initiative. Built by Indians, for India. Twenty-two scheduled Indian languages. Most foundation models on earth today were trained on English internet text. BharatGen is trying to change that for 1.5 billion people. India is no longer just deploying other people's AI. India is starting to build itsown.

Plus — a bánh mì recipe from a Vietnam trip that fed me everyday, and a poem from my book.

— TODAY'S RECIPE — BÁNH MÌ —

Bread: Vietnamese baguette, French baguette, or a soft longroll. Protein: thin slices of pork shoulder marinated in soy + garlic + fish sauce + pinch of sugar, then grilled. (Chicken works equally well, same marinade.) Pickle: shredded carrot + radish (or daikon) tossed in vinegar + sugar + salt, rest 15 min. Assemble: split bread, thin smear of mayonnaise, layer meat, top with pickle, add cucumber slices + fresh coriander + greenchilli. Few drops of soy or Maggi seasoning if you have it. Hot, cold, sharp, soft, salty, sweet — all in one bite.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"The Deafening Silence" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

Two weeks ago, the IMF warned that AI would eat the bottom rungs of the career ladder. This week, that warning landed in India. TCS announced 12,261 layoffs. Cognizant is cutting up to 15,000 under Project Leap, with India expected to absorb the largest share. And last week, TCS chairman N. Chandrasekaran said the day is not far when TCS will have half a million AI agents in its workforce.

For thirty years, Indian IT operated on a pyramid. Wide at thebottom — fresh engineering graduates billed by the hour. Narrow at the top — a few senior architects. That pyramid built the Indian middle class. The pyramid is flattening.

Meanwhile, in Gandhinagar yesterday, Gujarat CM Bhupendrabhai Patel unveiled the state's Industrial Policy 2026 — with major AI provisions including workforce reskilling subsidies, infrastructure grants, and a fund fordisplaced workers. So India is in a strange position. Companies firing people while announcing AI rollouts. State governments writing playbooks for the people being fired. Central government keeping a watch. Three different speeds.Same problem.

Plus — a 15-minute quinoa salad (it's pronounced keen-wah), and a poem about things drifting away from us.

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

15-minute quinoa salad. Rinse 1 cup quinoa thoroughly in coldwater (removes bitter coating). Cook in 2 cups water + pinch of salt for 12-15 min until little spirals pop out. Drain, cool. In a big bowl: quinoa + cucumber chopped small + 2 ripe tomatoes diced + ½ red onion finely sliced + handfulfresh parsley or coriander. Optional: 1 can chickpeas. Dressing: the Bandrum Vinaigrette (olive oil + salt + pepper) with lemon juice. Whisk, pour, toss. Crumble feta on top if you have it.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"Drifting Away" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

Friday evening, at 5:21 PM Eastern Time, the US CommerceDepartment ordered Anthropic — the company behind Claude — to immediately disable its two most powerful AI models for any foreign national, anywhere on earth. The practical effect was simple: they had to disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for every customer, every country, within hours. Both models had launched just three days earlier.

Whether the government was right or Anthropic was right is the second question. The first question is much bigger. Until Friday evening, the power of a government to take an AI model offline was theoretical. Friday evening, that power became real. One government. One letter. Two of the mostpowerful AI models in the world — gone for everyone, within hours. That's a precedent. And precedents, once set, get used again.

Plus — a banana cake you can make in your mixer (yes, the same one you grind chutney in), and a poem.

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

Easy Mixie Banana Cake. Into the mixie: 3 ripe bananas + 2 eggs + ½ cup sugar + ½ cup vegetable oil + 1 tsp vanilla. Blend 30 sec until smooth. Add 1½ cups plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder + ½ tsp baking soda + ¼ tsp salt. Pulse 3-4 times only — do NOT overblend. Optional: ¼ tsp cinnamon, ¼ cupchopped walnuts or chocolate chips. Pour into greased 8-inch tin. Bake at 170°C for 35-40 min until a toothpick comes out clean.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"Fire" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil,published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

End of week three. Three threads to look back on. The Freeze:Congress unveiled the Great American AI Act with a three-year pause on every state-level AI law. The Eating: the IMF warned that entry-level hiring is down 15-25% as AI eats the bottom rungs of the career ladder. The Healing: researchers at the University of Michigan built an AI that reads brain MRIscans in seconds — flagging strokes and hemorrhages with 97.5% accuracy.

And one more number released this week: a Malwarebytes survey found that 85% of adults can no longer tell real content from AI-generated content. In 2025 it was 66%. Twenty points in one year. We're losing one thing. We're gaining another. And we're getting worse at telling which is which.

Plus — the salad I make for every party at my house, the Bandrum Vinaigrette, and a poem to carry into the weekend.

— THE PARTY SALAD —

Penne (cooked, drained, cooled) + 2 green apples cubed (squeeze lemon immediately — prevents browning) + 1 crunchy tomato (scoop out insides) + 1 each yellow/red/green bell pepper julienned raw + boiled potatoes peeled andcubed (not too soft) + cooked boneless chicken cubed + chopped parsley. Toss together. Chill.

The Bandrum Vinaigrette: extra virgin olive oil + salt + pepper.Shake in a jar. Add anything you want on top — mayo, thyme, oregano, mustard. Dress just before serving.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"Water" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

After a heavy week of news, a story that goes the other way.Researchers at the University of Michigan built an AI called Prima that reads brain MRI scans and produces a diagnosis in seconds — across 50+ neurological conditions, with 97.5% accuracy. When you walk into a hospital with a suspectedstroke, every minute matters. Prima can flag a stroke or a brain bleed in the time it takes to slide off the MRI bed. Sometimes — and we don't say this often enough on this show — AI doesn't take something from a person. It gives themtheir next twenty years.

Plus — Google's Gemini went down globally this morning (a quiet reminder that AI is still made of duct tape and servers that catch fire on Wednesdays), Krisp (the noise cancellation tool for video calls), a Kerala chicken stew for the end of the week, and a poem.

— TODAY'S TOOL —

Krisp — Real-time noise cancellation for video calls. Removesbarking dogs, traffic, neighbour drilling. Free to start. https://krisp.ai

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

Kerala chicken stew. Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil + cinnamon + 3cloves + 2 cardamom + bay leaf. Add 2 sliced onions, ginger, 4 garlic cloves, 4 slit green chillies — sauté pale. Add ½ kg bone-in chicken, stir 2 min. Pour ½ cup thin coconut milk + ½ cup water, add diced potato + sliced carrot + salt. Simmer covered 15 min. Off heat: stir in ½ cup thick coconut milk, pinchcrushed pepper, curry leaves bloomed in 1 tsp coconut oil. Eat with appam or bread.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"Earth" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.

Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

The head of the IMF gave a warning yesterday that didn't make the front pages — but should have. AI is creating a shock to entry-level jobs.

The first rungs of the career ladder are being eaten from the bottom up: drafting legal documents, writing first-draft copy, sorting tickets, assembling research. Entry-level hiring at large US firms is already down 15-25%. India is showing the same pattern.

A career used to be a staircase. You walked up one step at atime. The bottom of the staircase is being removed. Which means — for the first time — the question isn't just whether AI takes jobs from people. It's whether AI takes the path that made people who they were.

Plus — a quieter story about US AI data centres being built ondrought-hit land (and the Seminole Nation banning them outright), Otter.ai for meeting notes, a 15-minute Indo-Chinese egg fried rice, and a poem about longing for something better.

— TODAY'S TOOL —

Otter.ai — Live transcription for meetings and conversations.Speaker labels, action items, searchable. https://otter.ai

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

15-minute Indo-Chinese egg fried rice. Hot wok + 2 tbsp oil.Scramble 2 eggs (just set), push aside. Add chopped garlic + a little ginger + ½ chopped onion, 20 sec on high. Add 2 cups cold cooked rice, press flat, crisp 30 sec. Toss with 1 tbsp soy sauce + 1 tsp vinegar + pinch of pepper. Finish with spring onion.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"Yearning" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.Got a thought? Write to [email protected]

Yesterday at WWDC, Tim Cook walked on stage for the last time as Apple's CEO — and announced three things that quietly change how your phone works. Siri is being rebuilt by Google. You get to choose your AI assistant — Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude. And Cook said goodbye.

For thirty years your phone has been made by one company that picked everything for you. Starting this fall, the assistant becomes a choice. And the company that made the phone doesn't even make the brain of it anymore. That's a quiet revolution disguised as a software update.

Plus — Perplexity (the search tool that actually answers), a10-minute Kerala-style mango pickle for this season's raw mangoes, and a poem about finding quiet inside.

— TODAY'S TOOL —

Perplexity — Search that answers directly, with sources.https://www.perplexity.ai

— TODAY'S RECIPE —

10-minute Kerala mango pickle. 1 raw green mango, diced small. Heat 2 tbsp gingelly oil + 1 tsp mustard seeds + pinch fenugreek seeds + 2 slit green chillies + curry leaves until crackling. Lower heat, add 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder + ½ tsp turmeric, stir 10 sec. Add mango + salt. Stir 2 min. Eatwith curd rice tonight.

— TODAY'S POEM —

"My Solace" — from Fifty Rooms of Silence by Linu Conil, published by Romanson, with an endorsement from Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

📖Get the book on Amazon:https://www.amazon.in/Fifty-Rooms-Silence-Linu-Conil/dp/9348314556

—

Six Minutes of Silence is hosted by Linu Conil and produced byThe Bandrum Circuit in Trivandrum, Kerala. New episodes every weekday at 7 AM IST.Got a thought? Write to [email protected]