I was taking a bus past Mandaveli in Chennai, which reminded me of where I learnt mrdangam from Mr Melakaveri K Krishnamurthi between 1993-1996. So, after a few futile Google searches trying to find his whereabouts, I asked Gemini:
Tell me everything that you know about and the current status of Melakaveri K Krishnamurthi, Mandaveli, a mridangam artiste. His son Balaji is a mridangam artiste too
… and I learnt that:
Melakaveri K. Krishnamurthi is deceased. He passed away in the mid-2000s (likely around 2005 or 2006). His legacy is actively maintained by his sons, who organize annual “Remembrance Day” concerts in his honor.
None of my searches were able to figure this out.
Similarly, searches for my BCG-colleague Aravind Nayan yielded no results. So, I asked Gemini:
What happened to my colleague Aravind Nayan whom I worked with at BCG around 2002-2005 and he was also at Infosys BPO around 2008-2010 or so? Find everything you can about him.
… and after 5 minutes of deep research:
… I have identified a very strong candidate in Aravind Nayan Upadrasta, …
He now goes by his other surname - Aravind Upadrasta - which I didn’t know.
Definitive Proof: The bridge between the names is provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs Padma Awards Nomination List (2024), which lists an individual named Aravind Nayan Upadrasta with the status of OCI/PIO (Overseas Citizen of India). This document legally unifies the “Aravind Nayan” of the past with the “Upadrasta” of the present, confirming they are the same entity
Researchers, analysts, and detectives will find people research much easier, but ordinary people will find it useful too. For example, before meeting people, I ask:
Research X. Give me all news related to him since 2005, when I met him last.
Or, to explain what I’ve been doing since I met them:
Research me (Anand, Gramener/Straive) and crisply answer “What have you been up to since 2005?” not as a chronology but as a meaningful story.