India's ancient skill heritage

Before looking at modern industry, the chapter looks back at how skill worked in India.

In ancient times, work was a way of expressing one's nature and striving for perfection: an offering to the deity, or to the person receiving it. It had to be done with devotion.

Even the tools were worshipped, a tradition that continues today as Viśhwakarmā pūjā or Āyudha pūjā.

So making things combined kalā (art) and vidyā (knowledge), and that knowledge was passed from generation to generation, and built on, not just repeated.

It was also written down. The śhilpa śhāstras are ancient texts with detailed design guidelines for sculpture, painting, buildings, wooden items and jewellery. Texts on sculpture set out exact postures, colours, measurements and proportions.

The chapter adds a striking detail about temple sculptors: generations of families worked on India's temples "without expecting to see the finished outcome". They pursued excellence, treating work as worship, practising regularly and learning new techniques.

Then a technology most people have never heard of. For over 2000 years, Indians built ships and boats by stitching wooden planks together with cords instead of nails.

That was not a weakness; it was a design choice. The stitching made the hulls flexible, so they could bend with the waves, which helped them sail the Indian Ocean with ease. The technique declined sharply after the Europeans arrived in the 16th century, and survives now only in small fishing boats.