New Delhi, March 13 -- The word archive conjures up images of pale parchment and manuscripts from a distant past, sealed and stowed away in boxes in dank rooms. Instead, imagine an ever-evolving collection of general items-circulars, letters, advertisements, sketches and drawings, stories, even chairs and spectacle cases-that trace India's journey to the current moment. Companies, educational institutions, foundations and collectors are creating these kinds of contemporary archives that focus on histories that linger in our everyday lives, impacting our present. And through it, they're reminding us of the paths that science, feminism, consumerism, rural movements, art, activism and cinema are taking in modern India.

An example is the God...