India, July 30 -- It began 200 years ago, a blink in the vast timeline of human history, when the Industrial Revolution shifted the world on its axis. Before that, human civilisation moved slowly. Generations passed with little change. A plough here, a wheel there. Evolution was steady, biological, gradual. But in the last two centuries, we hit fast-forward. We leapt ahead with inventions: Machines, chemicals, weapons, technology. Life became easier, faster, more efficient. But we also made mistakes. Bombs, chemical fertilisers, industrial food, all born from good intentions, all with side-effects we're still trying to fix. Each wave of invention brings newer problems, and the stakes keep rising.

Now, even before we could start construct...