Samanth Subramanian’s book, The Web Beneath the Waves—a collection of reports written by the investigative journalist over the past two decades—explores fascinating stories about people, issues and systems that we might otherwise never notice. Whether it is the submarine cables that carry our internet traffic; the decline in India’s vulture population, which forced Zoroastrians to rethink traditional cremation practices; or the surprisingly dirty fight between the paper towel and hand-dryer industries following the arrival of the Dyson Airblade in 2006, Subramanian consistently finds intriguing stories in places we rarely think to look.
In the book’s title essay, Subramanian takes us into the otherwise obscure world of submarine communications cables through the story of Tonga’s internet outage in 2022. On Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga in the South Pacific, an undersea eruption severed the submarine cables connecting the island to the rest of the world. What followed was not just a communication outage, but a breakdown of commerce and everyday activity that depended on the internet, revealing just how much of modern life rests on these cables. We learn about the depths where these cables operate and how they carry 95 per cent of the world’s international internet traffic. Subramanian’s writing gives these cables a sense of character, making us curious not just about Tonga’s internet outage but about the infrastructure we rarely think about. As he writes, we “inhabit the internet in an odd, paradoxical state”, forgetting both its physical presence and its centrality to our lives.
The essay also examines how the dependence on this network has made submarine cables targets for surveillance and strategic interference. Countries such as China, the US and Russia have recognised their importance, making them vulnerable to sabotage. The US and China, in particular, have sought to disrupt each other’s underwater infrastructure. Subramanian recounts these incidents with the pace of a thriller.
Subramanian’s ability to find larger stories in specific subjects runs through the book. He writes about two affluent Sri Lankan brothers who became suicide bombers during the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, the transformation of Delhi-NCR through real-estate development, and the history and exclusivity of Mumbai’s Breach Candy Club. In each case, he uses individual stories to examine larger questions of land, class, power and history. However, some reports inevitably feel dated. The 2011 profile of Lalit Modi, for example, does not give us anything new.
All in all, the collection is a gripping read for anyone curious about the hidden systems that shape our lives. Subramanian’s reports are accessible enough for an easy read, yet packed with enough detail to satisfy a curious reader. Whether you want to know what keeps your Instagram Reels playing, how Lalit Modi ran the IPL, or how a declining vulture population can alter centuries-old funeral practices among Indian Zoroastrians, the book makes the invisible world around us surprisingly tangible.