SHUNYA, a labor of love and lunacy, dates from Feb 2000. It hosts photos by Namit Arora, and writing by him, Usha Alexander, and vp.

NAMIT ARORA, the founder of Shunya, grew up in the Indian cow-belt city of Gwalior, famous for its fort and the first epigraphic evidence of zero. His training at the IIT in Bengal led him to Louisiana for a masters in computer engineering, and a great escape to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early '90s. Since then he has played a cog in the wheel of Internet technology at three failed startups and three big corporations. This hasn't made him wise, but has enabled him to attend lectures of dubious practical value at Stanford and to live, work, or travel in scores of countries, including yearlong stints in London and Amsterdam.

During a two-year break, Namit traveled across India and created a photojournal. Over a hundred organizations, including 15 museums, 30 academies, and 40 publishers have licensed his photos. His writing has appeared in venues like the Humanist, Philosophy Now, the Kyoto Journal, Culture Wars, The Philosopher, and three college anthologies in the U.S. He has a column on 3 Quarks Daily, often writes for Himal, and has finished a novel that he hasn't published yet. Namit's review of Joothan won the 3 Quarks Daily 2011 Arts & Literature Prize. His recent work includes River of Faith, a documentary film about the Kumbh Mela.

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Photo Licensing and Copyright

Namit's photos have been licensed by museums, academia, media & publishing, governments, individuals, NGOs, etc. If you too wish to use one or more of his copyrighted photos, please email to negotiate a sensible fee, file format, and resolution (images on this website are about 50% the quality and 30% the size of the original). The license fee depends on your means and ends, and is usually in the USD 30-300 range (volume discounts available) — progressive non-profits (e.g., Amnesty, ACLU, ICRC, MSF, UNICEF) can get their licenses for free. Please always inquire before copying (fair use exception). To make an online payment, click on the Buy Now button on the right. Selected Licensee Organizations

Advertise on Shunya Shunya displays ads via Google Adsense. Direct all custom advertising enquiries to  shunya@shunya.net. ________________ "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 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. :-)