Reinterpreting wisdom.
One idea at a time.
An inquiry into the things we repeat, the decisions we make, and the connections we miss.
The first book · Coming soon
Look again.
There is usually
more to it.
“What you know determines what you can ask. What you can ask determines what you can know next.”
Hitopedesh is where Hitesh Ahuja follows that loop. From the boardroom to the built environment, from an ancient story to a modern dilemma, the inquiry begins wherever a familiar explanation feels incomplete.
Ideas are examined in their context, connected across disciplines and brought back to the decisions we make. Sometimes the result is an essay. Sometimes a framework. Sometimes a book.
Question the familiar.
A saying can survive for centuries and still need questioning in the situation before us.
Connect the disciplines.
A problem rarely respects the boundaries between design, economics, behaviour and strategy.
Bring it back to practice.
An idea earns its place when it helps us see a problem more clearly or make a better decision.
Different subjects.
The same curious mind.
Work: a job, a duty, or a passion?
Three ways of relating to work, and what Eklavya, Vidura and Sanjay can prompt us to ask about the people in a team.
& business
What does Indian IT really sell?
Looking beyond labour to the responsibility, integration and relief that organisations buy.
& economics
Cement GST rate cut: the housing affordability paradox
Why a lower tax on a key building material may not make homes more affordable.
Can a song make physics easier to remember?
A small experiment in teaching electricity through rhythm, connecting the classroom with an older tradition of remembering.
Selected posts on LinkedIn. Longer explorations continue under Hitopedesh on Substack.
Mythistory
Where myth and history meet — old stories, examined for what they might still be telling us.
Watch on YouTube ↗“I think because I am.From the notebook
I am because I think.”
More is taking shape.
Maxim(um) Management
The first book. Step inside ↗
A second manuscript
— — — — —
Thinking Notebook of a Working Mind
The notebook remains open.
Hitesh Ahuja
Hitesh Ahuja is an architect, entrepreneur, business leader and author with a polymathic approach to understanding the world. His curiosity moves across management, design, history, mythology, science and philosophy, exploring connections that disciplinary boundaries often conceal.
Hitopedesh is the home of that inquiry: reinterpreting wisdom, one idea at a time.
More about Hitesh
“What you know determines what you can ask. What you can ask determines what you can know next.”
This continuing relationship between learning and questioning lies at the heart of Hitesh’s outlook. He sees knowledge as something to connect, examine and put to work. An ancient story can illuminate a modern dilemma; a scientific principle can offer a fresh perspective on business; practical experience can challenge an elegant theory.
His philosophy gives curiosity its discipline: study deepens learning, learning develops wisdom, and wisdom informs action. In his words, “Ultimately, vigour is a function of rigour.”
An Indian School of Business alumnus with over 25 years across entrepreneurship, design, strategy and operations, he brings a practitioner’s perspective to these explorations.
His forthcoming book, Maxim(um) Management, begins with a question characteristic of that approach: are management maxims universal rules or contextual wisdom?
The next thought is on its way.
New essays, new episodes, and the book launch. Follow along.