Which 5 Indian tile techniques does the Independence Day Google Doodle showcase?

With Google's two iconic Gs, this year's 15 August doodle added four 'C's that Indians have been justifiably proud of over the last 79 years — and in one case, for a few centuries.

These iconic badges of honour, our national preoccupations of the last year (and forever), are depicted in ‘cosmicpunk’ artwork by Sonal Vasave and Makarand Narkar of Mumbai-based Boomranng Studio that represent five style of traditional tile work — and we could use your help to identify one of them!

G: A Jaipur blue pottery tile carries the anchoring Google 'G' in in indigo and white.

O: Is a moon, celebrating India's strides in space, with Chandrayaan rising before it. Team National Herald scratched our collective head but could not agree on the craft technique this tile represents. Is it khurja pottery? Is it a painted tile? Think you know? Tell us in the comments below!

O: Depicted as an Athangudi tile is a cricket ball and bats, for India's favourite game — though not its official national sport (but fair dinkum, most of the world knows us for our prowess with the red or white ball and the willow, and we have hopes of grabbing an Olympic gold for it).

G: The second, most recognisable Google 'g' is rendered as a delicate blue Mughal-style pietra dura, with what looks like prickly waterlilies (they give you foxnuts, or makhana!) and convolvulus flanking it.

L: Is a mosaic chess piece, a royal prize on a chequerboard, celebrating a game (shatranj) India gave the world — and has lately been winning quite a lot of attention and accolades for.

E: Is a little hard to see as a letter in the cinema reel (requires imagination, which a moviegoer should have in spades, yes?), but celebrates India's movie-making legacy in West Bengal's terracotta relief. Forgive us for immediately saluting Satyajit Ray!

Now, about that first contentious 'O'... Would you like to educate us?

Leave a comment below, or on any of our social posts on X or Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn or Threads.

[PS: We have reached out to the creators, per usual journalistic protocol, to ask what they had in mind. This story will be updated when they get back to us!]