The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma Ep 433: The Life and Times of the Takshashila Institution
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Dec 15, 2025 Nitin Pai, a public policy thinker and founder of the Takshashila Institution, is joined by Pranay Kotasthane, a policy scholar and colleague, to discuss their revolutionary journey in reshaping India's policy landscape. They explore the evolution of Takshashila, advocating for constitutional values and economic freedom. The duo shares insights on building a networked think tank, the importance of nurturing young thinkers, and the balancing act between advocacy and education. Their approach to addressing misinformation in public discourse is engaging and profound.
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Pre-2009 Policy Vacuum In India
- India circa 2009 lacked a coherent public-policy ecosystem with few independent thinkers and little demand for policy professionals.
- Takshashila aimed to break that vicious cycle by producing ideas, training people, and popularizing policy discourse.
From Blog To Institution
- Nitin pivoted from blogging to building Pragati magazine and then a think tank after meeting thinkers online and seeing an intellectual community emerge.
- He named his blog The Acorn to signal a vague long-term plan that later grew into Takshashila.
Three-In-One Model For India
- Takshashila combined three roles—think tank, policy school, and media—to suit India's context where resources and institutions differed from the US model.
- The internet enabled a distributed, networked institution rather than an expensive centralized campus.
