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NAMIT ARORA is a writer and travel photographer based near Delhi. Raised in Gwalior, a city famous for its historic fort, Tansen, and the first epigraphic evidence of zero, he studied at IIT Kharagpur and earned an MS in computer engineering from Louisiana. For two decades, he played a cog in the wheel of Internet technology at both failed startups and big corporations in Silicon Valley. It’s unclear if this made him wiser but it did allow him to take social science courses of dubious practical value at Stanford, and to live, work, or travel in scores of countries, with yearlong stints in London and Amsterdam. He quit this profession in 2013 for a life of reading and writing, returned to India, and volunteered for two years with the Delhi government to find innovative solutions to civic problems; he led the drafting of Delhi's solar energy policy and a task force on air pollution. Namit has written for venues like 3 Quarks Daily, The Caravan, The Baffler, The Humanist, Philosophy Now, The TLS, The Philosopher, Himal, The Wire, Outlook India, and five anthologies (see an archive of his articles and some favorite books). He won the 3QD Arts & Literature Prize in 2011. On a two-year break, 2004–06, he traveled across India and kept a photojournal. Over 15 museums, 40 academies, and 60 publishers have licensed his photos. His videography includes River of Faith, a film on the Kumbh Mela. Namit's three books include: (1) Indians: A Brief History of a Civilization, (2) The Lottery of Birth: On Inherited Social Inequalities, and (3) the novel A California Story (US) / Love and Loathing in Silicon Valley (India). His latest is Indians, a history web series in ten episodes produced by The Wire. He is on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Email.
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Photo Licensing and Copyright (Selected Licensee Organizations) |
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Namit's photos have been licensed by museums, academia, media, publishers, governments, individuals, NGOs, etc. If you too desire any from this archive of 25K+ copyrighted photos (~half from India), please email to negotiate a license fee, file format, and resolution. The fee depends on your means and ends—progressive non-profits and causes can get their licenses for free. Please always inquire before copying (fair use exception). To make your online payment, click on the Buy Now button on the right. |
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SHUNYA, a labor of love and folly, went 
"Shunya" means "zero" as well as a metaphysical "void". Zero and our decimal system arose in India some 1500 years ago, reaching the West via the Arabs and so came to be called Arabic Numerals. The city of Gwalior, in its Bhojadeva inscriptions, has perhaps the earliest known epigraphic evidence of zero in India. So for all practical purposes, Gwalior may be regarded as the birthplace of zero. It also happens to be the city where Namit was raised and he surely stands to gain a measure of pride from this association. :-)