The Infrastructure That Doesn't Appear on Maps: The Next Billion-Dollar Opportunity in the Age of AI

Dear Friends,

When my father was in a hospital bed in a city during his last days, he insisted that we take him back to our hometown. Though we didn’t have that oxygen infrastructure at home, we managed to arrange it there. I am not a fan of the hometown concept, but I understand that it was his emotional attachment. In some cases, I have observed that owning a house vs. renting a house is an emotional issue in that age group.

Why am I bringing this concept now?

Yesterday, there was news about a 94-year-old US citizen who submitted a request to the Government of India to regain her Indian citizenship. She wants to be in her home village during this last phase of her life. It seems it was her final wish, and her children are working towards the same.

Interestingly, Vani Kola, an Indian venture capitalist, talked about Emotional Infrastructure in her weekly newsletter yesterday. She was writing about how cuteness is a powerful emotional cue and how big businesses were built across the world. She started explaining that big brands like Nemo, Noddy, Hello Kitty, and the Duolingo owl all draw on the same emotional language of innocence and playfulness.

She says, "Japan turned this into a cultural force through kawaii, where cuteness moved across toys, stationery, fashion, food, public signs, mascots, and brands. Hello Kitty turned 50 recently and still reportedly earns billions every year." She was talking about the Kidults market, as they also hold the buying power. It seems adults spend USD 9 billion annually worldwide.

If we delve deeper into this subject and business, emotional infrastructure is not limited to toys, fashion, and stationery. It is much bigger than that. In my view, a ventilator is emotional infrastructure. I have seen many cases where a patient is technically dead but kept on a ventilator as the zodiac stars (religious belief) are not good during that period. Palliative care is a similar subject. Memorial parks are emotional infrastructure. Google Photos is emotional infrastructure.

For that matter, WhatsApp's Last Seen feature is emotional infrastructure. Old fountain pens, watches, and birthday gifts are emotional infrastructure. If we broadly classify this, it is of four types: Memory Infrastructure, Relationship Infrastructure, Hope Infrastructure, and Identity Infrastructure.

Roads connect places. Emotional infrastructure connects people. Sometimes, physical infrastructure helps us live. Emotional infrastructure gives us reasons to live.

In line with this thought, Taarangam Tales recently launched Netra Raksha – Eye Care Tips for the 4–8-year age group. Their maiden character, Ranga, like Spiderman, presents this book. All pictures are drawn, and the content is curated using HI (Human Illustrated for Human Intelligence), without using AI.

You may preview this book at: https://heyzine.com/flip-book/cbf3ba52ec.html

Wishing Ranga becomes part of your emotional infrastructure.

What emotional infrastructure are you holding now?

Ravi Saripalle