The 11th century traveller Al Biruni came to India and found its thinking people insular and not particularly curious about the outside world. Yet, India has been at the crossroads of Asia, home to travellers, traders and teachers who roamed the world. Contemporary India is a paradox. It has an elite that is globally linked and open to global influences and yet exhibits a shocking niggardliness when it comes to investing in seeking an Indian view of the world or presenting an Indian view to the world.