Synaesthesia is a trait in which the senses blend: some people taste words, see heartbeats, or feel sounds as textures. Lydia Ruffles, herself a synaesthete, talks to others who have it. Around 4 per cent of people are estimated to have some form, though the true figure may be higher, since many do not realise their experience is unusual. There are more than 80 types, and no two synaesthetes describe their experience the same way. Some are born with it, while others acquire it later, sometimes through illness or trauma. Synaesthesia is not an illness, and researchers can confirm some types with consistency tests and brain scans, which show the taste-processing area lighting up when a person with lexical-gustatory synaesthesia hears words.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.