Author: Saurabh Garg

Wk 34-25 – Weekly Notes

Weekly update from Saurabh Garg from the 34th week of 2025.

Aug 25. Monday.
Aug 26. Tuesday.
Various places, various times.
This was supposed to happen over the last weekend but I was unable to. Not that I was very busy or something. Just that something kept on coming up. And that kept delaying things. Plus I’ve had few very long days at work. Plus most times I would start writing this on a Friday and then complete in spurts over the weekend. This time, I was unable to work on this on Friday or Saturday. And then Sunday went in meetings and all that.

So that.

I had imagined that I will skip it. But then I realised that skipping would be taking the easy way out. And I dont want to break my streaks.

And with that intro and disclaimer, lessgooo…

Oh, the track of the week is this and this.

Chalo, lets go.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

.

A/ Missed the Sunday Linkedin post.
I missed all my weekend things and this included the post I make each Sunday. If I had posted, I would’ve celebrated Dr Hitakshi. You must check her linkedin.

Apart from all the sense she makes as a doctor, she once mentioned to C that she wants to hire someone and the non negotiables that she has are, “Not dumb. Not slow. Integrity.”

These are super super important for anyone who wants to make a good life!

.

B/ Bikram Bumrah
I can dedicate an entire section to this, if I have to! But here we go!

I saw him live on Aug 23. For this show. And this was easily the highlight of the week! Here are some notes that I took…

  1. Mumbai kaayaro ka sheher hai. Yahan aata ko aaram nahi milta.
  2. You must do what it takes to chase your bliss.
  3. The need of poets and all!

PS: I will write about him in detail some day.

.

C/ Ray LaMontagne 
Ray is a gift that keeps giving. Since I’ve heard him at Starbucks, I have come to become a fan. I’ve heard almost all tracks. These days, I was born to love you is my jam.

.

D/ 2 lakh steps
Since the 6th of August, I have walked 2 lakhs steps. Super stoked. Apart from the lingering ache in the feet, I dont think I’ve lost any weight per se.

Oh, as I write this (Aug 26th), I broke the Canyons I was wearing. I need to get a new walking companion.

.

E / Flash Memory by Sandeep Kaul.
Met Sandeep over the weekend and he told me about this concept of Flash Memory.

He says that all he operates as a slave to his Flash Memory. Like a Flash drive, he only remembers things before and after 30 minutes of now. He has no recollection of the past. He has no plan for the future. He’s in the zone, all the time and leans onto AI tools and others to support.

Now, I have worked like this all my life. Just that I didnot know the name of this concept. From today on, I know the name.

.

There’s a LOT more. But since I am running super late with this and I want to push it, I will skip that for this week and post on this week’s note.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 34.

The highlight photo has to be of Bikram Bumrah. More about him in the next few lines.

From Bikram’s recent show, Ambarsariya.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnt). And I just added health a few weeks ago.

Book 2 – no action.

Yearly Plan – I dropped it a few weeks ago.

Health – The last week was ok. Not the best. And I know I need to be regular. So that. PS: I track my health updates here, in case.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. Was not the best. I fell off the radar. And had ups and down thru the week. I will give myself -1.

Meru. No large updates in this week. So, a 0.

C4E. No action from my side. 0.

Brand SG. No large action. Did a lot of chats with a lot of people. But no action to show for. So, a 0.

People. No action on this.
I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. No action. No time.
And I am not losing sleep over it. So a 0.

So the overall score is -2.

📊 The tracker from the last week

Here is the tracker for the week gone by.

From Week 34.

What trends do you see?

I see…

  1. A lot of reds in the sleep department.
  2. Consistecny with walks (8K+ steps each day)
  3. Tracked what I ate on most days.
  4. Ok on stress.

You?

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section some days ago. I am still discovering what to cover here. Let’s see how it goes.

I will start with updates on what am doing for health. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

So…

  1. Sleep
  2. Exercise
  3. Diet
  4. Community
  5. Crowdfunding my health.
  6. Movement (this should be part of exercise but I have a separate section)
  7. Meditation
  8. Some links: My food log, my daily health log channel.

Lets go…

1/ Sleep
This was not good at all. See the chart above.
Insta to blame.
I am removing insta from my phone.
Everything else I talk about health is moot tbh if I cant seem to fix this one thing.

2/ Exercise
No action on this apart from walking. I need to fix this. This week looks tough to be honest. I will try to include some workout for sure. Let’s see how.

3/ Diet
I track each thing I eat on my food log.
This week was bad for food.
I need to get back on the track. Which I will.
As we speak, its 5:30 and all I’ve had is a protein shake.

4/ Community
I love this the most. Just yesterady I met two new people – both because of the communty that I had created.

5/ Crowdfunding health
I had said that I want my 1000 true fans to help me get healthy.

This will be a bummer.
I had to be under 90 but as of today morning, I am 93 KGs. Talked to Dr H and she mentioned that I need to not worry about it at this time.

6/ Movement
Want to add to this (apart from just walking).
This is zero at this time.
The only saving grace is all the walking. See this chart…

I’ve walked 2 lakh steps since 6 Aug!

7/ Meditation
I want to restart on this.
Now that I will remove insta from the phone, I will replace it wiht Headspace. I will report back next week.

📖 Interesting Reads / Views from the last week

PS: I had added YT to my “reads”

Here’s a list of interesting things things from the last week.

  1. This thread from Rahul is goldmine. He talks about content, youtube and more. Do read this.
  2. This tweet has strategies for a good life. I love each of his advices. And I can see implimenting most. Thats another matter that am still poor ;P
  3. This post by Kavin Mittal on why he’s exiting India.
  4. This post by Yash on how to land a founder’s office role
  5. This link – https://trackthis.link/ – can bomb your ad networks and set random cookies. You MUST try this. But, please know that it will nuke your laptop!
  6. A rare post on goepolitics – here. Important to read and understand. Cos, well, we are in a new world order where rules are being rewritten as we speak.
  7. This post on work-life balance. I am working on a post of my own.
  8. This research proves that the shape of logos can dictate how people percieve things to be. Very interesting. Must read.

This is it from the week gone by.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

Again, skipping this. Will get back to it at an opportune time.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Busy.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Grind, Blur, Stress, Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Pooja Sahatiya

Pooja Sahatiya: The Creative Force Behind the Village at C4E

When I think about the people who’ve shaped my entrepreneurial journey, Pooja Sahatiya stands at the very top of that list. Not just as a co-founder of C4E, but as the creative soul who helped transform a simple idea into the village we call home today.

How I Met Pooja Sahatiya

It’s funny how the most important relationships often start with the smallest gestures. Rahul introduced me to Pooja Sahatiya sometime in 2021. From the first call, there was this infectious “hello-let’s-do-something-together” energy. And that became the foundation of everything we’ve built at C4E.

Pooja Sahatiya didn’t just respond to my eccentric ramblings on Twitter; she saw something in the chaos. Where I had vision scattered across early morning tweet storms, Pooja Sahatiya brought the creative clarity to make those ideas tangible.

Why Pooja Sahatiya Made C4E Special

Let me be brutally honest: I’ve worked with dozens of creative professionals over the years. But Pooja Sahatiya is different. She’s not just talented—though her creative vision is extraordinary. She’s not just hardworking—though her dedication is unmatched. Pooja Sahatiya brings something rarer: the ability to turn creative work into creative community.

Pooja Sahatiya’s Creative Philosophy

What sets Pooja Sahatiya apart is her approach to creativity. She doesn’t just solve problems; she builds bridges. When we work on client projects, Pooja Sahatiya consistently asks the questions that others miss:

  • “How does this serve the story we’re really trying to tell?”
  • “What would make this feel more human?”
  • “How can we make this idea feel alive?”

This is Pooja Sahatiya‘s gift—she sees the humanity in every brief, every campaign, every creative challenge.

Building C4E With Pooja Sahatiya

When Pooja Sahatiya and I started talking about creating something together, we quickly realized we shared the same stubborn belief: work should feel like an adventure, not a chore. Pooja Sahatiya helped shape the culture that makes C4E feel less like an agency and more like a creative village.

“We are the greatest set of hustlers gathered in a single place—intentionally,” as one of our team members put it. That intentionality? That’s Pooja Sahatiya‘s influence. She insisted from day one that we build something that felt purposeful, something that attracted people who shared our hunger for meaningful work.

How Pooja Sahatiya Shaped Our Creative Process

Working with Pooja Sahatiya has taught me that the best creative partnerships aren’t about agreeing on everything—they’re about disagreeing intelligently. Pooja Sahatiya challenges my strategic thinking with creative intuition. I push her creative vision with business reality. The tension creates something neither of us could achieve alone.

Pooja Sahatiya has this remarkable ability to take abstract concepts and make them feel concrete and emotionally resonant. When clients come to us with vague briefs about “brand transformation” or “digital presence,” Pooja Sahatiya translates that into stories that actually matter to real people.

What Working With Pooja Sahatiya Teaches You

If you’ve never worked with someone like Pooja Sahatiya, you’re missing out on understanding what collaborative creativity actually looks like. Pooja Sahatiya doesn’t just contribute to projects—she elevates them. She doesn’t just follow creative briefs—she interrogates them until they become something worth creating.

Pooja Sahatiya’s Impact on C4E

The most telling thing about Pooja Sahatiya‘s influence at C4E is how she’s shaped our entire team’s approach to work. New team members quickly learn that Pooja Sahatiya sets a standard: everything we create should feel intentional, everything should serve a purpose, and nothing should feel ordinary.

As I often tell people, Pooja Sahatiya helped us build C4E into “THE VILLAGE it takes”—the village it takes to build things, to build dreams, to build a life that feels meaningful.

The Future With Pooja Sahatiya

Looking ahead, I know that Pooja Sahatiya and I will continue evolving, both individually and as creative partners. Today we dont work together. But that’s the beauty of working with someone whose creativity never stops growing. Pooja Sahatiya keeps pushing our entire team to ask bigger questions, take bigger risks, and create work that matters more.

Our clients don’t just get Pooja Sahatiya‘s creative expertise—they get her commitment to making their brands feel more human, their messages more meaningful, their impact more lasting.

Why Pooja Sahatiya Matters

In an industry full of people chasing trends, Pooja Sahatiya chases truth. In a world of artificial creativity, Pooja Sahatiya brings authentic vision. In a business built on brief relationships, Pooja Sahatiya builds lasting community.

Pooja Sahatiya reminds me daily that the best creative work comes from the best creative relationships. She’s proven that business partnerships don’t have to be transactional, that success doesn’t require sacrificing authenticity, and that the most rewarding adventures are always shared.

Connect With Pooja Sahatiya

If you want to understand what modern creative leadership looks like, pay attention to Pooja Sahatiya. If you want to see how authentic collaboration can transform both work and relationships, watch how Pooja Sahatiya approaches every project in life.

Pooja Sahatiya isn’t just my business partner—she’s the creative force that turned an idea into a village, a vision into a community, and a professional relationship into something that feels genuinely meaningful.

Wk 33-25 – Weekly Notes

SG’s weekly notes and updates. For the week 33 of 2025.

Hello!
1 PM, 17th Aug, 2025
Versova Starbucks.

The week gone by was a moderate one. It was a week with a lot of chuttis and thus there was less chaos on the roads (except the one caused by Dahi Handi). Plus, it was after a while that I was in Andheri West for three days on a trot.

I did some work (at Meru we shipped our first thing). I played some (Krishna was visiting). I had some brainwaves (thought hard about where I want to be in life) and all that.

Overall, an interesting week.
Will talk more about it in a bit.

Oh, I am listening to this as I write.

.

Ok, let’s go.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

.

A/ AI and the creative business
I can talk about this from three lenses – personal, Meru (as a brand owner) and C4E (as a partner to brands).

As Meru, as we scale the business, we need to be able to do more things and fast. Faster than I can say fast. And AI allows us to do that. I know there’s halluciantion, mistakes and all that but I need to imagine that as a brand owner, where do I want the penny to drop – at speed, at quality, as perfection. So that.

At C4E, the team has to adapt fast. Not because it will question the survival but because it will enable to do more.

On a personal level, I can now become hyperproductive. For example, we started to train Heygen on my face and words. Here are the first two outputs.

PS: All the work on this has been done by Vishal. I merely recorded it. I know this is not perfect but we will get to it with time.

Lemme know what you think.

.

B/ Smart Folders on Apple Notes
Accidentally discovered Smart Folders on Apple Notes and I think my life will change!

For context, I use Apple Notes as my temp notepad (apart from a pen and paper based notepad) and each weekend, I clean my notes by adding things to my Roam. I also use Apple Notes to save recurring things for fast and easy access (I may not have my laptop with me all the time but I do have my phone).

So when I needed things, I would often rely on search and then waste time. With Smart Folders, I am able to sort of bookmark things that I need faster access to. And for someone like me who leans a lot on notes, bookmarks, tools and people for details, this was a godsend thing!

.

C/ Notetaking workshop
Oh, and I took a notetaking workshop for a couple of young kids who’re gonna join college soon.

I didnt want to do this (I think that old methods of taking notes are no longer valid) but one of my seniors from MDI insisted and I couldnt say no to him.

While I did that session, I realised that I love to teach people. I just wish I was able to earn a lot of money doing that. I mean I can earn. I can charge a lot. But then my ethics dont allow me to charge from the ones who can’t pay. And the ones who can pay wont probably need me.

So that.

.

D/ Krishna
Krishna was in Bom for a couple of days. Each time I meet him, I am left inspired to do more. The guy literally went from being a cloth trader to a full-stack developer! A remidner that I must surround myself with more doers and people who want to stay with the times.

And I must become someone that a Krishna would like to hang out with.

.

E/ Off Insta. And failure.
I had decided that I would be off insta for a few days.

I could stay away for all of 2 days.
The addiction is real!

To solve for it, I’ve asked AK to loan me the spare iphone that we have at C4E. Let’s see how it goes.

.

F/ Meditation before a meeting / Grounding 
In one of my coaching sessions with FOXO, the person asked me to do a one-minute grouding exercise to get into the mindset for the meeting. I find it funny cos when I come into a meeting, I come with 100% intention.

But then, Hemant recommends this as well. And I want to follow each thing that Hemant says. So, thanks to reinfrocement by the session, I will start doing this. A one minute breathing / grounding exercise before each meeting.

Lets see how the experiment goes.

.

G/ Punjabi MC
Listening to this as I write.

.

I really want to posture that Punjabi MC has to be one of the greatest artists of our time. Each time I need some energy, I put on something from Punjabi MC. Shinda, Mundeya tu bach rahi, Punjaban, Morni and many many more. I just wish I could dance alongside. But then I have two left feet.

.

H/ SG’s Braintrust
I have this WA group where I only add people who I…

  • have personally met (IRL or online)
  • respect
  • want to stay in touch with
  • am inspired by
  • want to learn from

Right now, this group is admin only. Very little chatter. I mostly use it to share things to get inputs, seek connections, throw ideas to see what sticks and other such things. This group has people across ages and locations.

I want to now expand this group. If you know me, lemme know and I will add you.

.

So, this is it for this week.

I know there should be more. Like I said, this was an easy week but the action and words and updates don’t match. Will fix this as we go along!

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 33. The highlight photo has to be…

I dont know the source. This came on one of the whatsapp groups that I am a part of. And yes, I know this is technically not a photo.

Not too many pics to be honest.
Was one of the weeks where I just didn’t have enough to save or share.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnt). Last week I added health.

Book 2 – no action.

Yearly Plan – I dropped it a few weeks ago.

Health – I had a fairly ok one on health, except yesterday when I fell off the radar. I track my health updates here, in case.

.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. I did ok on most departments except workout. Yesterday was bad. But I can ignore it. A 0.

Meru. We finally shipped the first iteration of the first product (of the many in the pipeline). It’s live at elevate.merulife.com. So a +1.

C4E. No action from my side. 0.

Brand SG. No large action. But like I mentioned, I did do some experiments with Heygen, thanks to Vishal. You can see here and here. So, a +1.

People. No action on this.
I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. No action. No time.
And I am not losing sleep over it. So a 0

So the overall score is 1.
Finally in positive after a while!

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

Here is the tracker for the week gone by.

.

What trends do you see?

To me, this looks like a regular week in the life of a regular man. Some good days, some bad days, some good food, some bad, some walks and some not so walks. Guess this is the point of life? No?

Random update. Listening to some Afro-Techno Mix. This one.

.

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section some days ago. I am still discovering what to cover here. Let’s see how it goes.

I will start with updates on what am doing for health. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

So…

  1. Sleep
  2. Exercise
  3. Diet
  4. Community
  5. Crowdfunding my health.
  6. Movement (this should be part of exercise but I have a separate section)
  7. Meditation
  8. Some links: My food log, my daily health log channel.

Lets go…

1/ Sleep
The week gone by was fairly ok. I have realised that I get 6 to 7 hours of sleep and most days I wake up without an alarm. So that’s ok.

Plus, on a day-to-day basis, I want to make my sleeping environment better. I cant fix the noise (I literally live on the road) but I can manage other things. And thus I am iterating with those. I cleaned my humidifier yesterday. I may not need it as long as it’s raining. Will play with it over the next few days and see how it impacts sleep over the next few days.

2/ Exercise
I still can NOT work out.
I tried yoga but all I got was 1 Surya Namaskar before I decided to quit.
However I’ve been fairly consistent with the walks. See 6 below.

3/ Diet
I track each thing I eat on my food log.
I think I am eating better (except one or two off days – and I need to stop with these). But the funny thing is, my weight is not reducing!

I’ve been consistent with walks (and these are deliberate walks) and I eat in moderation (at least the last few weeks) but the weight is not changing. Sigh!

4/ Community
I seem to have found some friends and colleagues who I can hang out with whenever I want to and however I want to. I dont have any pressure of dressing up, drinking up, going to a certain kind of a place or doing whatever. I can be at my weirdest extreme and I am accepted.

No, I dont want to jinx it. Will work hard to preserve it.

5/ Crowdfunding health
Last week I said, I want my 1000 true fans to help me get healthy.

And I have two backers already. Both of them have committed 10K for 3 months, starting September, if I can show them that I can be under 90 KGs in this month. But, we are beyond the H1 of Aug and I am 92! Sigh!

6/ Movement
I am walking more than 8K steps everyday. Since the 6th of this month! See this…

.

7/ Meditation
I want to restart on this.
Specifically after I got that lesson in grounding aLets see when I get to.

.

Apart from these, I will talk about what I am thinking specifically about health

A/ Streaks is a powerful thing
If I’ve walked approx 1.4 lakh steps since 6th Aug, it’s only because of my want to keep the streak going. I think if I can implement this streaks thing at more places in life, I would have a better one.

The other thing that has worked in my favour is that there is this community (almost all are strangers) who’re pushing each other to walk more. I see updates from others and I want to walk. And that’s insane!

B/ Papad
I need to find a way to stop having Papad 😀

C/ Proximity to Kachra
When I am at work at Meru, we are all snacking non-stop all the time.

Ok that was exaggeration but you get the drift. There are 10 people in the room and each person gets hungry at a different time; and since we are a small team, each time someone is hungry, they offer what they’re eating to everyone else. And thus, I find myself eating all the time. And since most of these are snacks we order via Qcom, these are chips and all. Even “healthy” chips are made with oil and all.

While at home, I dont stock any snacks anymore. I have infact some leftover protein bar that we made last week. So, I am snacking better when I am home.

I can clearly see environment in action. And I need to fix this. Let’s see how I do this.

.

📖 Interesting Reads / Views from the last week

PS: I had added YT to my “reads”

Here’s a list of interesting things that caught my eye. TBH I’ve not read all of these (had a randomly busy week) and I’ve added these to my TRL. I am dividing this section into two – one where I’ve read those (I will add a context) and the ones that I havent.

So, I’ve read…

  1. This piece by Samarth Bansal. Very honest, very vulnerable. More than anything else, it makes me want to join TWT and work for them. Jokes apart, each “leader” must read this. Very very interesting. And very well written. Like I said on X, if there’s one thing you read this month, let it be this. PS: If you do read this, please share what you learn from this.
  2. This post by Sahil Bloom. My number 1 takeaway was that most people don’t know what they want.
  3. Bigotry of Low Expectations. Read here. Mihir told me about this in a meeting. When I heard it and thought more about is, I saw my mind bend!

Here are others that I’ve not consumed but have opened a tab for.

  1. Tim Urban’s Last 6 Years.
  2. Rahul’s tweet on how OTT is killing India’s ₹12,000 crore cinema industry
  3. Gurwinder on how social media shortens your life
  4. MFM on chasing a billionaire’s morning routine. Here.
  5. Harnidh’s piece on Taste. Here.
  6. Charlie’s 12 Rules of Life. Here.
  7. Impact of Internet on OCEAN. Here. PS: Take OCEAN, Big 5 Test for free here.
  8. Niraj’s list of things to do to reduce risk in India. Here.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

Again, skipping this. Will get back to it at an opportune time.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Grind.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Blur, Stress, Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 32-25 – Weekly Notes

Notes, thoughts, reflections and more from Week 32 of 2025. By Saurabh Garg.

Hello!
9 AM (of Sunday)
Versova Starbucks.
Finishing this post at 9 AM on Monday, the 11th August.

So, today, I am gonna make protein bars for myself. Yes, I wanna start with this. And this is monumental. For many reasons. For starters, I dont like my kitchen being used for cooking. I cant live with the mess it makes. And then second, I’ve always felt that cooking is a waste of time. And thanks to folks at FOXO, I am more mindful. And thanks to Abhinav, am walking!

Update from the morning of 11th – AK and I did it. More about it in the next week. Also from here on, I will go back to assuming that I am writing this on Sunday.

And as I write this, I am listening to this on loop. The mixing on this one is da bomb!

.

I wish I could rap. I loved a lot of Gully Boy (ya ya, the rap purists, please dont come at me). And understand more raps. And probably write it. And probably perform it. Sigh.

Ok, let’s go.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

A/ Overthinker and Overcommunicator
I am the last person to ever give advice on relationships but I have a strong belief that an overthinker must be with an overcommunicator.

Like most things, I would have seen this on some insta reel or something but over time I have come to have a 100% belief in this one. And this is true not just in romantic relationships but also in other places (say, work).

Think about it.

PS: If you are an overthinker, please do see this video and this photo.

.

B/ Linkedin Amplification #sgSunAmp
Since the last couple of weeks, every Sunday, I’ve been posting a tiny update on my linkedin where I talk about people and projects that more people need to know.

I dont know how long will I continue with this but I want to do whatever I can do to push more people to do more.

Here are those posts – 0, 1, 2 (today).
You can use this link to find other similar posts.

.

C/ Cheap
Spotted this on twitter.

I saw it and I realised that each person in life MUST proudly announce the prices that they will work at. It could be a business, a freelancer, a company, an artist or whatever. But you MUST talk about what you want to charge for your time or services.

And it’s ok to discover that

Also see, E.

.

D/ Uni-dimentional thinking and life
I was going through the reading list of the week. And I realised that my greatest influences come from tech-bros, startup folks, business leaders, hyper-successful businesspeople, famous artists and others of the ilk.

While there is nothing wrong with this, I would love to get more variety. I dont know where to look and what to do. Any inputs?

.

E/ Hiring process
Prak posted this on her linkedin. Very very pertinent. And I have a lot of thoughts. I even went out of character and made a comment. I am willing to die on the hill that till you build a fanbase (or 1000 true fans), you will HAVE to bow down to CV, assignments, in-human things etc etc.

Also, this post from Prak made me realise a few things. Here’s a list.

  1. I must write more. I struggled to articulate my thoughts in 1250 characters. This can only get better if I write more.
  2. I must work harder on my personal brand. And each person I know has to do the same. If you do, you will probably not need to take up assignments. I remember there was a time when I was looking for work and I could say that I dont have a CV. My name is my CV. Everyone else must be in this same boat.
  3. Whole of point D above.
  4. Each person MUST read 1000 True Fans by KK everyday till the idea gets drilled in the head.

.

F/ SoG
I HAVE TO GET BACK TO THIS.
And I dont know how.
Sigh.

.

G/ Bad News ASAP
I learnt this at Meru.

If things are going ok or going well, I dont need to be informed. But if there’s bad news, I want to be informed as soon as possible.

For many reasons. These are personal (not Meru’s).

  1. I can plan for contingency.
  2. Same as 1 but if I know the bad news, I can try and figure the repercussions and prevent the next-order effects.

Also, most people dont like surprises because they dont know how they react to bad ones. I am ok in this department tbh. I continue to operate from problem-solution-action triad.

And to be able to do this, I know I must give enough comfort to the ones around me that the bearer of the bad news will not be shot at!

So if you work with me, always give me the bad news first.

.

H/ Ask for EXACT timelines.
This is the second lesson from Meru in the last week.

When someone says they would work on something for you, you MUST request for an EXACT timeline (and not a vague “next week”). I was practising this already in life, but thanks to time spent at Meru, this has become a second nature. Must do this more often.

.

I/ Futility of action.
See this.

The biggest lesson from this one is that while there is merit and effort and pain and reward in the action, the end result is often… nothing. It’s the act that is important.

Reminds me of Naval where he talked about how all you have is your present and intention. And everything else is immaterial.

Also reminds me of a question that Dr H and C asked me. Here’s my attempt to rearticulate. While I am eternal optimist and long on hope, how do I remain divinely discontent?

The answer is simple. On a day to day basis, I spend my time and attention and intention of the task at hand. And while I do that, each day has to nudge me towards getting better.

.

J/ Feedback and change.
Lesson three this week from Meru. When you give input to people, do they change and try to implement the feedback?

If they try, they are good people. If they dont, you ought to move on.

To be honest, this is a tough one for me. I’ve lived my life as a people person and this shift to project person is proving to be harder than I had imagined. Even though I have seen mentors, friends, colleagues, clients talk about it. I know everyone says its not personal but I am finding it hard. I know the answers are within and I need to work on myself.

.

K/ The underachievement mountain at 42
See this tweet.

I will not copy-paste. Just that the meeting made me realise that I seem to be the only one who’s not saved for the rainy day. And if I have only people to show for my life and time here, I need a reality check.

Reminds me of that dialogue from F1 – You are not a “has been”. You are a “never was”.

Oh, the other quote from the film that I love is, “hope is not a strategy”. Must get this tattooed on me. #superQuotes

.

So this is it.
A lot was unpacked in these words.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 32.

The highlight photo has to be…

.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnt). Last week I added health. I am moving that section higher as I want that to become the priority as we go along.

Book 2 – no action.

Yearly Plan – I dropped it a few weeks ago.

Health – I have been actually good on this one.
I track my health updates here, in case.

.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. I did ok on most departments except workout.
I need to get going on that.
But I can give myself a 0. Yay!

Meru. Was busy.
No large outcomes to show for. So -1.

C4E. No action from my side. 0.

Brand SG. No action.
And no action does not mean 0. It means a -1.

People. No action on this.
I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. No action. No time.
And I am not losing sleep over it. So a 0.

So the overall score is -3.
Same as last week. Lol.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

Here is the tracker for the week gone by.

.

Look at those steps!
w00t!

And yes, look at that state of emotion.
Will work towards that.

.

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

Last week, I added Health as a key section. I am still discovering what to cover here. Let’s see how it goes.

I will start with updates on what am doing for health.

I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

So…

  1. Sleep
  2. Exercise
  3. Diet
  4. Community
  5. Crowdfunding my health.
  6. Movement (this should be part of exercise but I have a separate section)
  7. Meditation
  8. Some links: My food log, my daily health log channel.

Lets go…

1/ Sleep
I am ok on this department. I sleep well. I am trying to make my sleep environment better. I live on the mainroad and thus its very noisy at all hours. I use earplugs when I sleep to drown the noise. I will start using a humidifier. I have an ok mattress.

2/ Exercise
This is my Achilles Heel. I can NOT work out. I will find some alternative.

3/ Diet
This was my second largest problem. But thanks to FOXO and some awareness, I am doing better on this. I choose to avoid bad things. This is getting expensive to be honest but I can optimise other spends and ensure that I only put in good things into my system. I track each thing I eat on my food log.

4/ Community
This is the best across all counts. Even though I have quirks and all that. Dont want to jinx it. Will work hard to preserve it.

5/ Crowdfunding health
I thought hard about it. And I came to the convenient conclusion that the way you support your creator friends with money, commission, work and all that, I want my 1000 true fans to help me get healthy.

And I have two backers already. Both of them have committed 10K for 3 months.

And having said that, I dont want this early support to make me complacent. I want to earn it. And thus I’ve promised that by the time August ends, I would be 89 KGs (I am 91.3 as of today). So lets see.

Oh, I update this daily health log channel.

6/ Movement
I need to join something that makes me move. The week was good in terms of walks. I have averaged 12719 steps! I hope I continue this momentum.

7/ Meditation
I want to restart on this. Lets see when I get to.

.

Apart from these, I will talk about what I am thinking about.

A/ Mindful Eating
Since I’ve got FOXO membership, I am very mindful of what I eat. I am not perfect but I am better for sure. And I need to do a lot more before I reach my ideal levels. Let’s see when.

B/ Making my own Protein Bar
Along with AK and C, I will make my Protein Bars today. Lets see how that experiment goes. Am doing this because no protein bar in India offers a gluten-free, dairy-free option! Plus it’s been a while since I did something new for the first time!

I will report on how this goes.

Update on Monday, the Aug 11 – we did it! We are taking orders. Shipping free ;P

C/ Money needed to be healthy
I am realising fast that it’s incredibly expensive to try and be healthy.
Must earn more.
Lol!

D/ Whoop Age of 46
So, I am 42. And Whoop tells me that as per that, my age is 46. Not that I didnt know. But seeing this on the app, in front of my eyes was, well, eye-opening.

.

📖 Interesting Reads / Views from the last week

PS: I had added YT from last week onward. Cos a lot of my “reading” now happens via podcasts / YT videos that I consume while in commute.

Here’s a list of interesting things that caught my eye.

Oh, this week onward, I am making this a tad different. I will also write a tiny note on what am taking away from this piece.

1/ SHL on high-value jobs – here.
My biggest takeaway from this post is that it’s ok to invest time to get the things done if you know you are onto something valuable.

I saw another chart the other day where they talked about how it took Figma 3 years before they had a viable product or something.

2/ Paul’s essay on Persistence.
Spotted this on Vinod Khosla’s X.
I had read it a few months ago and re-reading was so refreshing!

My takeaway?
Dont bet against the Collision Brothers and Sam Altman 😀

Jokes apart, the takeaway is in this line – “The persistent are like boats whose engines can’t be throttled back. The obstinate are like boats whose rudders can’t be turned” and “The persistent are attached to the goal. The obstinate are attached to their ideas about how to reach it.”

3/ Balaji on AI. Here.

A lot to unpack in this seemingly simple list. To be honest, I loved all 10. But points 2 (verification part), 3 (the concept of amplified), 4 and 8 stood out. I specifically want to talk about 4. I am afraid of the time when there are no experts cos all of us will have trained via the LLMs. We are staring at a huge circle jerk!

Oh, point 8 opened my eyes about crypto. I see myself thinking more about it in the weeks to come.

Anyhow.

Let’s see where the future takes us.

4/ Kunal Shah’s Delta 4 Theory. Here.
See this in combination with Brian Chesky’s 10-star Experience video.

Both of them talk about almost the same thing – the importance of building something that the customers brag about.

5/ Tom Goodwin on Longevity. Here.
I dont want to write more – there is enough comments and chatter there.

.

And here are some links that I havent had the time to think deeply about.

  1. Samarth on Craft vs Cash. Here.
  2. AML’s next in her series of India’s Tier 2 and 3 manufacturing. Here.
  3. This piece on comfort zones. Here.
  4. MFM with Tim. Yet to watch. Here.
  5. How to make friends and… Here.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

Again, skipping this. Will get back to it at an opportune time.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Blur.
This is the second time in the recent past when I felt that week went by very fast. So that.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Stress, Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 31-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from Week 31 of 2025.

10 AM.
Versova Starbucks.
AK’s spot!

I dont know how this came to be called AK’s spot. Like most things, it would have started with me sitting at one specific place, and then my people finding a place around me. AK being AK would’ve picked one opposite and then like each thing, this became a habit.

So, am AK’s spot. And here is my recap of what probably was one of the most stressful and yet exciting weeks in a long long time. For starters, see this…

Screenshot of Whoop data from last week.

Ok, I am still listening to Ray.

Today, it’s this version. On loop. I encourage you to play this while you read the rest of the post. Can’t stop thanking Starbucks for introducing me to this voice and track.

.

I must find a way to do these unplugged gigs. You know, like NPR’s Tiny Desk, Sofar, David Letterman’s and all that.

Anyhow. Let’s go.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

A/ WTF to write?
So, letting you all in on a secret. I copy-paste the secions an headings and content from the previous week’s post. Then I edit ALL the sections execpt this one. And then I take my time to go thru my notes and lessons and and all that and I add those here.

Today when I opened my notes, I realised that this week was so busy that I was unable to capture a lot of things. And that means that I dont have a lot of things to write here.

But we shall prevail and let’s see what I write.

.

B/ Linkedin Shoutouts
Starting this week, I will give shoutout to at least 3 people each Sunday on my linkedin.

This week, I gave a shoutout to Nikunj, Roohi and Nipun. See here.

In case you need me to talk about you, you know who to reach.

.

C/ Hard things that don’t scale
I am often reminded of doing things that don’t scale and now that I am in the middle of doing things, I am learning the deeper meaning.

Things that scale need time to put rails and then, well, scale. The things that dont scale are built to get to the market the fastest.

And that nuance is what makes a LOT of difference.

And no, I am not advocating one over another. You gotta pick what works for you and what you want to work on.

.

D/ Raanjhanaa’s alt ending
The neck of the woods that discusses films is going berserk about how the producers have used AI to recreate the ending of a film.

There are notes from people about how the director was not consulted, how the nostalgia induced by film now seems cheated, how the consumers deserve more. Etc etc.

Before I write more,

No, I havent seen the film.
No, I dont care about the fandom.

But what I do care is that AI is here.

And especially in disciplines like filmmaking that have been gatekept for long. After code, this is the one that needed disruption and is getting disrupted. I love that I am around to see this revolution. I just hope I was bang in the middle of it.

Oh, and couple this with Shekhar Kapur’s Warlord. And with attempt from C4E folks of doing a feature with TNKS (see this). And while editing, just saw this.

All I can say is that change is coming. And either we embrace it. Or we die a slow, painful, agonising death.

.

E/ Founding Creator Roles and JDs
In this video, Balaji talks about why EACH startup needs a Founding Creator. And wow, eyes opened. I’ve remained on the sidelines for too long. And I need to now advice the same to all my younger friends.

This is one of those life changing advices that need no more words to be split. I’ve been guilty of remaining a private person for too long and I need to change that. I wish I was more adaptable while I was younger!

.

F/ F1, the Film
I havent had the time to write about F1 yet. I will probably sit on it today.

.

G/ New kids to learn from
I am starting to feel the need of finding new people to learn from. In a different era, this was SoG (see this). But with time, that got faded. And now I have no one.

SoG and my life’s work

.

Thing is, lately that supply of new, fresh, young talent has dried down. I need to build another group / cohort or something that I can be a part of, to learn new things.

If I had more time, I would teach (each teaching session requires a lot of prep). And since I dont have that, I want to rather build some group. Any ideas anyone? How are you doing this? How do you think others are doing?

I do have some groups that I run where I overshare. Here’s a list.

  1. SG’s Braintrust
  2. TIL
  3. 2025 Mentees (private link)
  4. Taste for Makers

And I am sure there are more. But I need this structured manner in which I can learn from young ones.

Come on, universe! Help me! tw

.

H/ Safe Word.
Was reminded of this. See this. And yes, inspired by Simon Sinek.

.

Ok, so words are not wording. See A. And see this. May be next week.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 31.

I would love to highlight this quote from Om, from this post about Meta’s MSL.

.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnt).

Book 2 – no action.

Yearly Plan – I dropped it a few weeks ago.

And starting today, I am adding a new large life objective. Health. More in the next few lines.

.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. More awareness. Tiny actions. I am also building a new section on this weekly review. But the metrics remain off the chart. So, a -1.

Meru. Was busy. Did some things that showed outcomes! A 0. Yay!

C4E. No action from my side. 0.

Brand SG. No action. And no action does not mean 0. It means a -1.

People. No action on this. I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. I started with poker. So a step in the direction. But a 0.

So the overall score is -3.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

Here is the tracker.

.

Ya ya.
Far fewer greens.
I will fix it. Especially cos health seems to be a recurring theme here.

I need to find the cause and then eliminate that.

.

📖 Interesting Reads / Views from the last week

I have added views as part of the reads from this week onward. This is cos a lot of my “reading” now happens via podcasts / YT videos that I consume while in commute.

Here’s a list.

Oh, while each of these links is interesting and important, I am highlighting some.

  1. Microsoft Research’s note on what jobs are in demand and the ones that are gonna go out. Here. If you are the one who thinks will get impacted, please talk to me and I will try to help.
  2. The Philosophy of Sridhar Vembu (of Zoho), according to Notebook LM. Via this.
  3. Om’s MASTERpiece on Meta, Zuck and MSL. Here.
  4. Balaji talks about why EACH startup needs a Founding Creator. Here.
  5. This is a very interesing post on Reddit about how to build wealth as a young person. Here.
  6. Cheaper by the Dozen. Here. Funny that English language paperback version is not available. The Marathi edition is.
  7. An interview of Brian Chesky where he reflects on his IPO conversation. I love him! Also, I love the quote – “your culture is often forged in the darkest moments”.
  8. This thread by Tim. On investments and money.
  9. Taleb on Stoicism. Here. I love the guy. Sad that he’s blocked me on X. This video reshaped how I thought about stoics. I realise that I have much to learn! In fact, you must subscribe to Picking Nuggets – one of THE best channels on YT.
  10. Mahesh Murthy’s interview. TBH, I havent watched this in full and I know he may not carry the cleanest reputation. So that.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

So, I’ve been skipping this for the last few weeks. I am skipping this week as well. Havent had the time TBH to work on this. Again, this week is tough but I will get to it soon.

.

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

Today on, I am introducing a new categoery. Health.

I will track it here as a seperate section.

A/ So few things that are at the top of my mind.
I am 42. And probably with a body of a 50-year old. And thus I need to work on it.

I am not getting younger and since I love the idea of living, I really want to do something about it. See this photo that a friend sent me.

I’ve been tryin to be 31″ since 2012. We are on the 31st week of 2025. 13 years. And I was supposed to have climbed Mt Everest by 1 Jan of 2026. I cant climb my bed most days.

So that.

B/ sgHealth
I plan to share some updates about my life and all on this WA channel. You are welcome to join. Here. Expect frequent updates. At least once a day.

C/ Crowdsourcing my health
I’ve often said and believed that getting healthy is easy for rich people. And I’ve never had the money. So, I could stand on the sidelines.

And I can no longer do that. So, to test my thesis, I approached some friends with an offer. Give me 10K each for 3 months. If I can get tangibly better (health wise), I will goto even more people!

While the two people who’ve agreed to help me can pay 10K today, I’ve told them that I will have lost 2 KGs by end of August (I was 91.3 while naked) on 30th July. If I am 89ish, I will take their money for OND and see how it goes.

D/ Use of AI
I wrote this following query to help LLMs help me with my food.

Hi, you are my food ordering guide and companion.

Each day I will give you places where am hanging out at. I need to know what should I order there which is low in calories and high in protein, with high satiety. 

Please note…

1/ Give me a list of gluten free, low carb, no daily, no oil foods that I can eat as someone living in india.

2/ Please know that I am a diabetic, lactose intolerant.

3/ I want this to be made without oil. Not even ghee, no butter.

4/ Please know that I am gluten intolerant and I am lactose intolerant.

5/ I dont eat non-veg. I can eat eggs, though. 

Here are more details..
a/ Cooking methods: I dont want no oil. I am okay with steamed, boiled, grilled (dry), or tandoor-cooked items.
b/ Nuts and seeds: I am okay with almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc
c/ Legumes: I am comfortable with dal, chickpeas, black beans, etc. but I will try to give you more details as we start.
d/ Sweeteners: complete avoidance of sweeteners

When I give you a restaurant name, please browse the internet, find menu from reputable sources, analyse macros of promising menu options, find 5 most suitable menu options, and suggest a reasonable 1 line simple request for each which I could convey to the waiter or chef to either lower calories, increase protein, increase satiety of that particular menu option

For each meal, I want to eat portions that are at max 400 grams. And I want a lot of fibre and protein. Followed by fat. And then if in case, carbs. I am ok with spicy.

Finally, before recommending, check your recommendation against the 5 things that I have told you.

Also, I will tell you what I fianlly ate. I will also upload the photo. keep a tab of the time am eating, whwat am eating, macros and all that. And then give me a weekly report.

Ask me any questions that may help you do your job better.

Thanks!

Let’s see what comes out of it.

So, that.
Let’s see if I am any better.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Stress.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 30-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from Week 30 of 2025.

Jul 28, 2025, Monday, 8 AM
I am not in the best of health but I have to write. Am trying to be consistent. And since I couldnt write yesterday, it had to be done. Also, if I dont write now, I will not be able to and that means I will have to skip. And that’s not happening.

So, lets go.

As always, some sections that I will talk within.

Oh, and listening to this. On loop.

.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

.

a/ Anshika + the muscle to ship.
Read this.
See this.
And I wish I could show you a 100 things that AK shipped in the last few days. I need that energy around me. The kid has been so good with juggling all balls the last two weeks. It’s incredible. She’s eating healthy, going to the gym, showing up and all that.

That’s it. Nothing more to say.

.

b/ Session at IIM Mumbai
Took a session for some folks at IIM Mumbai. These folks are from some MSME board and this was a continuation learning program for them. I didnt really enjoy taking the session but I think it was interesting for them. I could see that they were engaged. Just that it was tough to get folks to open up and talk.

Oh, I showed these two videos to the participants.

Also, I realised that I love teaching. And for more than anything else, the questions that come my way are the ones that I cherish more than anything else. This slide from Vishal Khandelwal on Dr Feynman defines the why and how…

.

I need to find more opportunities to teach. But then I dont want to not work either. So, the conundrum. Sigh.

But I would love to teach nonetheless. Come on, universe.

.

c/ Chatter on longevity
Since I got myself a FOXO membership, I’ve been reading and thinking about longevity. Plus I read this long piece on Bryan Johnosn. And this online chatter on twitter. See two tweets.

It’s incredible that all it took was one person to literally spawn so much chatter. It’s probably these unreasonable people that move moutains and push us forward.

I need to learn how to become unreasonable like that. Any clues anyone?

.

d/ Poker
Have put about 2000 bucks on online poker the last few days.

More than anything, I find it insanely enjoyable. If there was no chase of largeness or greatness, I would just do this! I’ve played micro stakes cash games and some micro stakes tourneys. I continue to suck at cash games. In tourneys, I’ve got to ITM a few times.

Oh, I also trained a chat on chatGPT into becoming my poker coach. No, its not helping. Cos I’ve lost most of the 2K I had put in : D

.

e/ Events
Wrote this on Twitter.
Reproducing it here with minor edits.

.

Overshare coming.
I’ve had one of the most transcendental moments of my life.

Last time I felt like that, it was in 2021 and I was en route to the Everest Base Camp. The sight of the sun rising from behind the clouds, mountains, early in the morning left me awe struck.

Coming back.

I normally dont cry.
I escape.
If I have to, I walk in the rain.

But today, since I woke up, I’ve cried twice. Both to the music of ARR. I dont know if it’s caused it or it was the last straw on the camel’s back. You know, causation or correlation. A lot’s been happening lately, and just say whatever is happening is not routine for me, and I know a lot is bubbled inside of me.

So, this happened as I stepped out of the shower. I had put on some music. And the algorithm of YT played ARR’s Berklee piece. And it played Kun Faya Kun.

.

The first time, I was listening to the aalap about Ali (see from 6:28 for about a minute). The aalap is followed by one of the greatest lines ever written about spirituality, bhakti, devotion, submission, ask, request or whatever you want call it.

It goes, “mujh pe karam sarkar tera, araz tujhe, karde mujhe, mujh se hi riha”

This “mujh se hi riha” is like the epitome of self-actualisation. I dont know if I will ever be there. But in those few seconds I didn’t have pain, didn’t have a want, dint have a worry, dint even probably have a self. I was probably what they call “the one”. I will never know.

The second time was when YT played Vande Mataram after a bit. And this happened around the lines, “tu hi zindagi hai, tu hi meri mohabbat hai, tere hi pairo me jannat hai, tu hi dil, tu hi jaa” etc.

This time, the lines were not important. Important was the way the two performers looked at ARR.

See this first.

.

These ladies looked at him not once, but probably for all the time they shared the stage.

In their eyes and body language, and the entire being, I saw awe, devotion, respect, want, love, submission and everything else that you can imagine. All for ARR.

When I was growing up, I’ve always wanted to have that North Star to submit to. To guide me home. Or a large super nova to suck me towards it (astronomy nerds, please tell me what is the strongest force that pulls you? Black holes? Supernovas?). Never found one.

Rather, I took comfort in many many stars, all shining bright, and I navigated through those. I still do. I am glad and grateful that I have many folks who’ve agreed to be my guiding lights. You know, shoulders of giants. I am nothing without them. I would have never seen what I’ve seen if I didnt have their shoulders to stand on.

And as I grow up and start to think about the meaning of life and the universe and my life of potential (jiska aachar bhi nahi dal raha) etc etc, I realised that I have this insane need to help others see the light.

I dont know why.
I dont know if I am capable.
I dont know if I am good.
I dont know what it even means.

But that.
Phew.
Glad I wrote.

Oh, and no I dont think I let out 100%. I will need more such sessions. I dont know when it would happen next time. The last one was almost 4 years ago when I was in a different funk (life’s much better now and I am thankful for that). But I know I need at least one more such outpouring.

And yes, I am ok.
100% there.
I haven’t lost it.
I still want to make a billion dollars (should upgrade to trillion) and impact the lives of a billion people. And I still want chaand taare and all that (thanks, SRK, Abhijeet and others).

.

f/ long term games
C read TNKS and reminded me about the thank you page.

And it stuck me that the page dates back to 2013 or 2012 or something. And even though it’s been 10+ years, I am still in touch with a lot of those folks that I’ve credited in the book! Talk about long-term games. Naval would be proud of me.

.

g/ Gravity Crew. Mrs Mohan. Anna and others.
Recently, Anna’s son got married. And the team from Gravity went to attend the wedding. While I was aware of it and had seen some pics, I was amazed to see a pic of Mrs Mohan and Anna on Roshan Abbas’ insta!

I have nothig but fond memories of the kindness of Mrs Mohan while I was there. She operated with grace, took care of the entire mad house and was one of the glues that kept the “greatest force known to mankind” ticking.

.

h/ what ChatGPT / Claude thinks about me.
The other day, I asked some LLMs what they thought about me. Here’s what they had to say. Here – Claude. Perplexity.

I am embedding a few things…

.

.

.

i/ the second screen
So, I use a second screen at home. And I think, the additional monitor is game changer. To a point that I am thinking that I will get another monitor (so, two extra screens).

But then, I dont work from home. Or may be I will start to work from home? Actually, the thing is, more than work or home or screens, I dont want to be tethered. I dont want my things to end up owning me. So, I want to take a hard look and rethink. The easy answer is to avoid attachment in case I have to leave. But the investment and the thinking that goes alongside.

.

So that!
Ok, moving on.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 30.

I would like to post the following photo on the blog. This is the homepage of a website. 100% marks for the copy. Thanks to Nimchan for letting me know about this. I love that my community tells me about things that I need to know about.

.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

Book 2 – no action. I will not drop this. I know I am gonna be busy I think I love the feeling of writing things. So that.

PS: Dropped 2025 Plan a few weeks ago. This is after probably 10 years that I dont have an yearly plan!

.

☑️ What did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. No action. I will give myself a -1 on this. I am starting a new regimen from today. Let’s see how is the next week.

Meru. Was busy. But I dont think I moved the needle as much as I would have liked to. -1.

C4E. No action from my side. 0.

Brand SG. No action. And no action does not mean 0. It means a -1.

People. No action on this. I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. I started with poker. So a step in the direction. But a 0.

So the overall score is -4 yet again for this week.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

I did not fill this in this week.
So, no updates here.
Not even sharing the blank one.

.

📖 Interesting Reads from the last week

Few interesting reads.

  1. From Seth Godin. Here.
  2. From AK. Here.
  3. About Bryan Johnson and pursuit of immortality. Here. Oh, I want to do such long-form, deep-dive interviews. May be on The Optimist’s Manifesto?
  4. This from DHH on life and death. Here. A quote from in it, “That life is long enough if you spend it well, but spending it well requires embracing life’s shortness.”
  5. This from Jason. Here. On craft. On fulfillment. On meaning.
  6. This is not a read per se but I see this video often.
  7. This tweet from Erik. Here. I love this line, “My favorite relationship advice is to do whatever it takes to become more secure and positive-sum.”

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

So, I’ve been skipping this for the last few weeks. I am skipping this week as well. Havent had the time TBH to work on this. Again, this week is tough but I will get to it soon.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Numb.

This went past by too fast. There was a lot of work and very very long days at Meru. Need to find a way to streamline those.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28, 29

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 29-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from Week 29 of 2025.

Jul 20, 2025.
Sunday.

I normally start writing this on a Friday evening. And by Saturday I have a vague draft in my head. And then by Sunday I polish it. Today, I am sitting on this at 7:15 PM on a Sunday. So, I will not be able to do reviews and edits. And thus, if you spot any errors or bugs, you know what / who to blame.

Also, this week has been the fastest since the beginning of time. Days blurred into each other and it came to a point where I lost track. I wanted to take a breather on the saturday (very unlike me) and I planned for it. But I couldnt. So, I havent had the time to reflect.

Without further ado, lets dive in.

Oh, am listening to this – Forever My Friend.

I discovered this at a Starbucks. Far cry from the world of Terence where says, and I quote…

Parker’s a young kid, pretty good on the sax, gets up to play at a cutting session, and he fucks it up. And Jones nearly decapitates him for it. And he’s laughed off stage. But the next morning, what does he do? He practices. And he practices, and he practices with one goal in mind: Never too be laughed at again. And a year later he goes back to the Reno and he steps up on that stage and he plays the best motherfucking solo the world has ever heard. So imagine if Jones just said “Well, that’s okay Charlie. That was alright. Good job.” Then Charlie thinks to himself “Well, shit. I did do a pretty good job.” End of story. No Bird. That, to me, is an absolute tragedy. But that’s just what the world wants now. People wonder why jazz is dying. I’ll tell you, man – and every Starbucks “jazz” album just proves my point, really – there are no two words in the English language more harmful than “good job”.

Anyhow.
I heard it.
And I love it.
And here it is for your viewing / listening pleasure.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

1/ The F1 Film
I am yet to watch this film. VG has told me to see this a 100 times and I havent been able to find time to do so.

Each person I talk to seems to be raving about it. And I havent had the time to see the film. Let’s see when.

.

2/ The #TNKS film
Staying on films, its a well known secret that I want #tnks to be adapted into a film.

I’ve even written a script. I shopped it around a bit and I realised that no one is as interested in it as I thought they would be. Plus I didnt want to invest time, energy or effort into chasing and pushing. So, the project went on a backburner.

But lately, with AI, I think it may be possible!

Naman and Vishal have taken my bait to accept it as a challenge and work on it. They’ve even made a teaser. See the teaser here.

What do you think?

I’ve given them a 6 month window to see if we can make a film out of this. The best case scenario? We would have a film. The worst case? They would learn.

So that.

Ready. Fire. Aim. FTW!

3/ Walking has been a challenge.
I have said this multiple times and I say it again. Mumbai and India is not built for walking. I know people who do it despite the dust, heat, strays, traffic and all that. And no, I am not those people.

While in a different country, I can easily get 10-12K steps in. Here, despite all the concious effort, I cant get more than 6-7K.

I know folks in Bangalore and Pune and Goa and the hills find it easy. But again, I am not there and I dont see myself there either in the forseable future.

But then I want to be fit and till I snap out of my slumber to start lifting weights, I need to start walking. Any tips / ideas anyone?

4/ Figo Mag
Balram showed me a copy of this magazine (see it here – Figo Collective) that a couple of people put out. Love it.

Reminded me that I’ve wanted to create something tangible that people can touch and feel and play around with. Brought me to another point that I told C while walking around. People who chase one singular passion all their lives end up creating things that move you so much that you start questioning the meaning of your life and all that. Just that while you are in the questioning zone, you are comparing your life of a generalist who’s going wiht the flow with someone who’s chased things with a singular passion!

I have three images for this. Here.

.

.

.

5/ AI experiments
I tried to learn n8n and I found myself struggling with it. And, its not a great feeling. to bes honest, I dont want to learn how to code but I want to be able to take advantage of things. Especially these tools that are now lot more accessbile to us. The things that enable us to do more!

.

6/ Speed and Urgency
Life is anything but predictable. So, sooner you do things, better it is. And I am unable to rally people around me to run with a certain speed. Even when I push for things, I’ve seen that I am unable to bring about a change. I need to learn how to be more convincing.

.

7/ Writing Cohort
As part of Meru, been running something for active seniors where am assisting them in writing their biographies. I have one person right now and its a brilliant place to be. Each interaction teaches me new things, makes me challenge my existing notions and at the same time enriches the repotoire of my awwareness.

One of the lessons from a session was to not hoard books. I was told that since there’s only little time, you will probably not re-read some of your favorites and thus its better to give those away and help people discover your favorites.

Today, I met Parth for lunch and gave him a couple of books.

Oh, fun fact, when I met him, I told him that I was once fascinated by Kurutoga pencils and I could see on the Amazon page that I bought one in 2018!

PS: In case any of you wants your elders to write their biographies, please let me know.

.

8/ Health.
Multiple concerns.
More spots. More headspace.
Seem to be forgetting a lot. See this.
Unable to control what I eat. Wont talk more.

.

9/ Personal Brand
I have to find a way to build my personal brand. I think in the times we are alive it has to be in shape of video. And may be text. For someone who’s hated his face all his life, this is a tough one.

With Adulting, I have started to release some of my words. I need to now accelerate it. I want to start doing things like MFM where they routinely get to talk to interesting people. I have the machinery and the meachnism and all that to manage the release. I just need to shoot!

Come on, Mr Garg!

Maybe I will ready fire aim at this and record some. The only times I have is towards the evening, post office hours. I want to cram in workout, reading, experiments and all that in it. I will have to find a way to record these too. Adding to my TDL for the week.

Let’s see when.

.

10/ Three Cups of Tea
Datar told me about Three Cups of Tea.

I will save you the effort of clicking. From wikipedia…

The book’s title was inspired by a saying Haji Ali shared with Mortenson: “The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family…”

The point is, recurring games with recurring people.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 29. The one I want to post on this blog is…

Source: Twitter

.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

Book 2
ISTG I want to pick this again.
I dont know how.
I have way too many things happening to think about this.
May be I will drop this as well?

PS: Dropped 2025 Plan a few weeks ago.

.

☑️ What did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

PS: I have skipped this for the last few weeks. I HAD to bring it back this week. So, things that I work on (in order) are…

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. No action. And I’ve not had the best last few days. I will give myself a -1 on this.

Meru. Moved the needle a bit. However it is not enough. I need to do more. I will give myself a -1.

C4E. No action from my side. But things seem to be ok there. All credits to folks at C4E. So, a 0.

Brand SG. No action. HAVE TO PUT IN A LOT MORE EFFORT HERE. At this time, I will give myself a -1.

People. No action on this. I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. Nothing. So, a 0.

So the overall score is -4 for this week. Need to buckle up.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

I missed this last few weeks. This past week I have been deliberate in filling this in. Here we go…

The first couple of days were good. I slept well and had great recovery. And then life happened. And then work took over. And then it went downhill. I’ve also had many more days in the red / yellow zone compared over others!

.

📖 Interesting Reads from the last week

Couple of reads.

1/ Seth Godin on Terms of Service.

2/ Naval on Arena. He says, “So the right way to learn is to actually go do something, and when you’re doing it, you figure something out about how it should be done.”

3/ From Sahil Bloom -A very useful list of things that you could immediately act upon, especially if you are young.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates. I will also add these to SG’s Office.

Skipping this week as well. I will get back to this next week.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Blur.

This went past by too fast. There was a lot of work and very very long days at Meru. Need to find a way to streamline those.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 28-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from Week 28 of 2025.

12:28 PM
Jul 14, Monday

I am writing this on a Monday (and not on a weekend). In an attempt to ensure that there’s continuity. I really want to be consistent and even if I am late by a day, I want to be der aaye, durust aaye.

Also, this will be a little different from other weeks – simply because I am short on time. I have given myself a 25-minute window to talk about this. And I will lean on to my notes.

Listening to this as I type this. And this.

Let’s go.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order. And for this week, not in any particular structure either.

.

A/ The best and the worst of humans and our behavior is visible not in our day to day. But in adversity. And on flights. The entitlement, rudeness, want to cut queues and all that.

While on it, I want to mention that EVERYone MUST see Love Actually. And this scene. The monologue is probably one of the best pieces of writing ever. I wish I could write like this. Hats off, Richard. Oh, fun fact. Richard Curtis also wrote Notting Hill, apart from other stellar films.

.

B/ I havent used my laptop at all in the last few days. To a point that am making typos and having a tough time type. Which is ok, tbh. But still. I can’t even remember how I start my day. I dont know the apps I open on a day to day basis. I dont remember the bookmarks that I want to open each day. I dont know which shortcuts do what. Grrrr.

.

C/ Remarkable is not remarkable at all.
Saw a couple of people use it. And I was not impressed. I liked the form factor and the thinness and everything. But I dont like it enough to buy. I love the e-ink. I love the conversations that it can start. But I dont find the utility and price point marriage to be a good one.

Here’s the thing. This is one of those products that I wouldn’t buy even if I had the money.

.

D/ Each time I am abroad, I think to myself, why am I not living in a different country? I know the world is talking about how India is the future and all that. But I also know that I want to experience another life in an alien environment.

And, I know that I am firmly on ground, in India for another 24 months at least (if not forever) but I really have to be not here for a few years.

To be honest, it will remain a want from what I can think of.

.

E/ Walked an average of 10K steps over the last week.
Ate in moderation (I think).
Sleep was all over the place.
And I still gained weight!

Recovery over the last week.

Steps from the week gone by.

So, I would say it was a pretty good week in terms of effort.
But outcome was zilch.

Oh, and I need to lose like 25 KGs. 

.

F/ Need to become a lot more atmanirhbar
This trip I realized that the ones you can count on, even despite their assurances, will not come thru.

.

G/ Paid for quality and reliability.
I was working on a project and I realized that if you pay for quality and reliability, you may end up making less but you would sleep better and you would be happier.

I thus need to ensure that I find a way to pay top dollar to top talent and then get them to do top work. And while they do that, add the layer of reliability in that. And life can be good.

The only challenge would be when the outcome and quality is subjective, as it happens a lot in the kind of work I do. So that needs to be seen. Let’s see when and how.

.

H/ Projects business 
Realised yet again the goods and the bads of the life spent working in a projects business. Will probably do an adulting podcast with AK on this.

.

I/ Filmmaking and AI
AI can now help do films FAR faster and maybe this is the time to scale up that piece. At least the TNKS bit.

.

I/ The want of Apple’s AirPods.
God knows how long I’ve wanted to get myself a paid of AirPods. And God knows how tough the last few months have been. And thus I havent been able to get myself one. And I dont know when this toughness will end. So that.

Reminds me of that old-age Mumbai adage – how do you know you are doing well? You start to live towards the South and start to occupy large spaces. On the other hand, am moving northward and moving to smaller spaces.

So that.

.

J/ Tesla in India
Tesla is opening their showroom on the 15th. And I am not invited. Sigh. Must work hard to get to a place where I am invited to better parties.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 28.

The one I want to post on this blog is…

Source: Unknown.

.

☑️ What did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on things I got done on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

This week I dont want to update this. I didnt really do anything tbh.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

No tracker this week. I will be back next week.

.

📖 Interesting Reads from the last week

No reads.

I will be back next week.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates. I will also add these to SG’s Office.

Skipping this week. I will get back to this in the week of 14th July.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Fast.

That’s the world I would use for the last week.

This was probably one of the fastest weeks of my life.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 27-25 – Weekly Notes

Notes and thoughts from Week 27 of 2025.

Morning!
Of afternoon. Or evening. Or whatever time you read this at.

This week and the next week’s edition will be not as detailed as I would like them to be. I am on the road and may not be able to carve time to reflect on how I spent time. But an edition nonetheless. You know, progress > perfection. So, yay!

So, the H2 of 2025 is here.

This has been one of the most “interesting” years.

Interesting from multiple lenses.
Exciting.
Challenging.
Full of changes.
One of the rare years when I didnt do my regular yearly plans.
But then I went with the flow and learnt a lot.
I even saw a large change in my personality and decision making (you know, from people person to ideas person). I am sure there is more.

While I want to write about this year, today is not the time and here is not the place. Right now I want to publish this weekly note.

Oh, I am listening to this as I write. By Twin Strings and Raghav Chaitanya.

.

Ok, lets go!

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

1/ Mann Ko Bhaya to Accha, Na Bhaya to Aur Bhi Achcha
I saw this first as a status message of Hareesh Sir. And then I read more about it and reaslised that this is by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Salute to both the men.

Over time I have started to try and internalise this. And I think I am successful to some extent. And it has been one of the most liberating ways to live life. I no longer think about the good or the bad. I think of things without attaching any emotion. Guruji from Vipassana would be proud.

Of course I am yet to build that in to daily practise but I try on a day to day basis. And I am lot more about not attaching the emotion and outcome.

PS: Lol, Mr Garg. See point #9.

Oh, if Marcus was the kinds to write Hindi poetry, he would’ve probably written this.

Any how.

The point is, mann ko bhaya to accha, na bhaya to aur bhi achcha.

.

2/ From Chaand Taare to Kutumb
If you’d had met me a few years ago and asked me what my trip in life was, I would have said…

Saari daulat saari taaqat
Saari duniya par hukumat

If you live under the rock, this is from this song.
And if you dont know, in one of the shots in this track, SRK is actually passing by what would eventually become Mannat.

But lately, my want of taaqat and hukumat has changed to…

Sai itna dijiye, jaame kutumb samaay,
main bhookha naa rahoon, sadhu na bhookha jaaye

This is by Kabir.
And this has been the cornerstone of my life and decision making in a while.

This implies that rather than having all of it, I want enough to take care of myself and my village. This also indirectly implies that I will reduce my wants (not needs) and I will try and help my people to do more.

Oh, and this epiphany happened when I was meeting AP. More on our interaction in a bit (point #8). But this is what defines me now.

Make of it what you will.

.

3/ Its expensive to be poor
I read this somewhere once that its expensive to be poor and I have now seen this in action. If you are rich, you can “buy” time and use that to do whatever.

Here’s an example – say you have to travel between Mumbai and Delhi. The poor (aka middle class) will probably take the train and invest 15-18 hours for this. If you are better off, say me, you would take a 2-hour flight. You may spend another couple of hours to reach the airport and check-in and all that.

Just because you can afford the flight, you saved 13 hours.

Now, thats where the imagination of most people will end.

Indulge me a bit more.

Imagine you were uber-rich. I am talking SRK level rich. You could take a private plane and save another two hours.

And then if you are even more rich, say Ambani rich, you can question the very reason of travel and call whoever you want to, to, to your place and save all the time.

Now, extrapolate that for everything. Food you eat, healthcare you have access to, people you meet, education you get, opportunties that come to you, access to private deals and everything else.

Get the drift?

.

4/ Posture
I’ve realised that I need to fix my posture.

I have this lingering pain in my back all the time. I think I can blame it on sitting hunched over my laptop for like 42 years. I really want to fix this.

So, from today on, I will ensure that my back is ALWAYS stuck to a support structure. Or it is straight. As I write this, my lower back hurts and I have some giving me a backrub!

And as I edit this, my back is hurting but I am resting it against a backrest at a cafe that is blasting AC air on my face at 18 degrees. Wow!

.

5/ WSOP
WSOP is on as we speak.

I REALLY want to get the ME Bracelet some day. And I know that I dont have a lot of time left. A, age. And B, AI. I mean its probably a matter of time (unless already) before AI-enabled and coached people come in and with superhuman intelligence start to whoop asses of poker players.

In fact, it would be interesting to see KidPoker take on some AI bots. Has this been tried? Adding to my #todo

.

6/ Aadmi Ka Zeher by Srilal Shukla.
It’s after a while that I’ve read a whodunnit.

And I enjoyed it. Buy here.

Looking forward to a Jeffery Archer that I took from Ankit last week.

.

7/ How to write your autobiography
As part of learning more about active seniors (for Meru), I’ve been running tiny experiements.

This week I started with a small one – to help active seniors write their autobiographies.

Now, this is tough.

For a simple reason – I have not lived the experiences they have. Plus I know that I am not the most effective communicator. And I know that I have not helped other write an autobiography. Yes I have ghostwritten a few. Yes I’ve written a lot of books. But I have never “taught” anyone to write an autobiography.

So, lets see how that adds up.

But then, this a also new thing that am trying and I am very very excited about it! I’ve had one session so far. Let’s see how the next one goes.

.

8/ Akanksha Pandey (AP)
I know of AP for a while now.

I first met her to see if we can work together. At the time we couldnt make it work. But she is one of the smartest young people I know. And I had to stay in touch. And we did.

So, I met her in the last week. And I realised that AP’s great IRL as well! Here are some notes from our meeting…

  1. I asked her to look at “couples” like [Bonnie + Clyde], [Shilpa Shetty +Raj Kundra], [Donna + Harvey] and others. The point? Large things get built when you are with someone for long and have shared madness for things.
  2. The Godfather and his principles of living life – loyalty, frienship, winning people.
  3. 1000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly
  4. Sex and the Cash Theory by Hugh
  5. Kunal Shah’s Forbes interview

I know these links without nuance and context wont be of much use to people reading this but I wanted to share here. And I am sure there’s a lot more but these are what I recall from the top of my head (and from my notes). Maybe some day I will edit this and add more.

But meeting AP has to be one of the highlight of the week so far.

.

9/ Respect
This week, two of my fav kids crossed lines.

In two independent places.
At two different times.
Now this is a tough one to write and I will not.
But I want to catalog it here. More on my echochamber.
Also see point #1.

.

10/ Deepak Ravindran (DR)
Lemme start with a disclaimer. I dont know DR personally.

However, he’s recently started a new startup (Kirana Pro) and it’s been all over the news. But this post is not about that. This is about how he’s running his personal brand. You just can NOT miss it. The corner of the internet I spend time at, I get to see and hear a lot about him. A lot means, A LOT.

And naturally, like most people I am enamored by and want to get to know, I followed him across socials. And then I reached his WA group where he and his buddies chat with each other.

And, O.M.G.!

The group opened up another dimension in the brain. A lot of chatter there is techbros nerding over the new things. I am unable to understand a lot of things there but the rare things I can fathom, I love it. Each post there is a lesson (to a point that a lot of saves in the photos from this week are from his group). Each chatter there is about building (some are delusional as well, but well…).

Ok, the point is, I need to surround myself with more people like that.

Bas itna hi.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 27.

The one I want to post on this blog is…

.

Made me think hard.
To a point that my head hurt.
Or may it did cos I was on a long flight. Lol.

I dont know what my myth is. But I know what my myth is not. And that’s a good place to start. I need to now work towards finding it.

.

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

Book 2
No action.
I am thinking, should I drop this?

What do you think?
PLEASE let me know.

PS: Dropped 2025 Plan a few weeks ago.

.

☑️ What did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on things I got done on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

I may not have a lot to add this week (and the next) but here is a report nonetheless.

At this point, the following things are important to me and these are IN ORDER.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. No action. 0.

Meru. Same as last week. Tried to move the needle. But not as much as I would have wanted to. So, a 0.

C4E. No action. 0.
Next week on, I will remove this from this tracker.

Brand SG. No action. 0.

People. No action on this either. I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. Nothing. So, a 0.

So the overall score is -1 for this week, like it has been for the last 2 weeks.

Trends from the previous weeks: -1, -1, 3, 0, -4, 0, -4, -5, -5, -3, -2, -1
The max I can get is 7 in a week. Let’s see when I get to it.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

This is the tracker for the last week.

All the amber is becuase I am on the road.

The week was better in terms of steps, sleep, food and recovery. But was terrible in terms of mood. Hope the coming week is better.

.

📖 Interesting Reads from the last week

No large inputs here. I did read a few things but I dont have the time to update those. I will get back to this section once am back on ground.

In the meantime, the best place to get these updates is via my TIL WA group. It is inspired by Sunanda’s fabulous book, TIL, and on this WhatsApp group, I aim to post VERY VERY VERY frequently. Like MULTIPLE times a day. About things personal (rants, overshares, thoughts etc), what I read, what I want to think about, what I need help on etc. Join here.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates. I will also add these to SG’s Office.

I will skip this section this and the next week. I will get back to this in the week of 14th July.

From previous weeks, here are things that I want to remember. And no, this may not be a comprehensive list. In categories…

  1. Long term
    • Professional pool / snooker / poker. No action.
  2. Health
    • Kitchen setup (incomplete)
    • Gym membership (incomplete)
  3. C4E things (Will stop tracking these)
    • C4E Base
    • Design
    • Borderless agency
    • Adding films
  4. Shauk / Personal
    • Use of money to buy time – doing this already.
    • Better dressed – lol
    • Find love – lol!
    • Demand more from life
    • Speak better!
  5. Money (adding this on Jun 29)
    • Passive income

In case you know me, lemme know if I have missed something.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Uncool.

That’s the world I would use for the last week.
Wont talk too much here but it was not the coolest week. The good thing is that this happened after a long long time!

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 26-25 – Weekly Notes

Weekly update from the 26th week of 2025. This has Saurabh Garg’s notes, thoughts, reflections and everything else.

9 AM, Jun 29
Listening to this as I write.

The halfway mark to the year is here. Normally I would do some sort of analysis on how the year was, where am I on my goals and all that. But this time I did not work on the year plan and thus I dont know where am going. I do know a few things – that I was supposed to be a billionaire by end of this year. And I was supposed to have climbed the Mt Everest. And I was supposed to have impacted a billion lives. I am FAR from all three. My networth is negative. I am the unfittest I’ve ever been. And lol on impact.

However if I look at it from other lenses, I think I am ok. In fact I continue to be divinely discontent. I am ok with what I have. And I would love to have a lot more. I am surrounded by family and a few friends who continue to wish me good. I live life on my terms (a lot of it, if not all). I believe I make a meaningful contribution to the ones around me. And I think I’ve made progress as a human being as well. I am still guided by the seven vices but I think I am more aware and I see some action on the right side.

Ok, let’s go.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

1/ Meditation
I want to restart with it. There was a time when I could do upto 60 minutes each day. I think it was around COVID when Naval asked folks to do 60 minutes of meditation each day as soon as they woke up. I am not sure. And no, I dont want to go back in the history and check. The point is, I want to build this again. I will start with 10 minutes of Headspace and then see where it goes.

.

2/ Justh’s new track
Here. No, I am not a big fan. Unless the track grows on me with time.

PS: It was important to capture it here cos I am a fan and I want to support.

.

3/ Saw a play about Manto’s three stories around friendship
I love Manto as a writer. So much so that I even produced a podcast (thanks to Mudit and Anamika for lending their voices). So when I saw this poster, I had to go see it. And am I glad that I saw it. The highlight was the story of Mammad Bhai.

Multiple things happened while I was there.

Here’s a list.

3a/ Made me reflect on my friendships.
I spoke to Vivek about it. And I realised that the root cause of my inability to seek friends is the Heen Bhavana I have deeply embedded in me. I dont know an english equivalent of this. But that defines me. In fact, as I was reflecting on what Vivek told me, I could pin point a time when this Heen Bhavna got stronger. It was a rainy evening where all my friends were hanging out at some place in Powai. I was going through a VERY tough time financially and I wanted to avoid meeting (why spend). But I was emotionally blackmailed into going. The dinner that was to happen at home was moved to a random restaurant and I had to tag along. Lot of stupid alcohol and food was consumed and after paying for the bill, I didnt have money to even travel back home. And I walked for 2 hours. I know this must be life story of a lot of people and I speak from privilege. But this day broke me. And I am still trying to recover from that. So that.

3b/ Saw Naseer Saab in the audience.
Was reminded me the time when I actually sat in his drawing room, trying to make a film with Anshul, Smita and Shikha. Ofc that never panned out. But I do wish I had taken a more proactive role in how I managed things back then.

Also, I was unable to walk upto him and say hi. I know he wouldnt have remembered me – he meets a million people each day and my interactions were very limited and happened a few years ago. The lesson for me is that I ought to have a personal brand that makes a Naseer Saab come walk to me. And no, I am not coming from a place of pride. But from a place of having more opportunities and better experiences. You know, like Naval says, if you are famous, you get invited to better parties.

So that.

.

4/ Conversation with Rimjhim
I met Rimjhim as a potential colleague. I want someone to work with me and help me do more. Someone recommended her. We talked. But we realised that we may not be a fit for each other. Nonetheless, I decided that I want to stay in touch with her. And then we decided to do a podcast.

I recorded it yesterday. And I LOVED how she managed that conversation. I wish I could ask questions like that. She REALLY made me think about a lot of things that I would otherwise not think. I am so so glad that I did that chat with her.

Must find more people like that.

.

5/ Definition of Good Friends
The last two-three weeks have been tough. Because I’ve had to let go of some people. And in most cases these were friends. And I was unable to explain to myself that if I love them, why would I let them go.

And then I realised that the job of a good friend is to not just mollycoddle people. But show them the mirror, however harsh it may be. And then help them get better. I want to practise radical candor in each of my interactions. And that.

Also, this is far-cry from where I have been in life – that all your mistakes can be forgiven. I want to get to a point where I am an ideas person (and not people person). You know, family over sports team over village.

And yes, I am WIP and it’s important for me to capture this for my people. Afterall, the only people I have are the ones from work.

.

6/ Middle of my own storm
Someone sent me this and I was BLOWN by it.

.

7/ Reading
Prak would love this 😉

So, I was at Ankit’s place last night.
And he said that he was gonna give his books away.

This is the man who’s got THE BEST taste when it comes to reading and all that. So, if he’s doing a giveaway, he would probably have a great collection to part ways with. I may or may not participate in it but he gave me two Jeffery Archer paperbacks.

Once I was home, I read a chapter of one of those. And I am wanting to go back to it, even though I am writing.

.

8/ Abundance with Food as reflection of insecurity
The other day I was talking to someone about why I always order more than needed and I want to always have some stuff to eat at home. That person, lets call them A, told me that it is probably because when I was growing up, I dint have enough food on my plate.

Now, this is factually incorrect. My parents ensured that we had enough food on the plate all the time. I mean, comparatively. We didnt live in luxury but in our middle-class home, there was everything we wanted, just that we had to wait and make choices.

May be A was hinting at my mindset. I’ve grown up wanting things that are out of my reach and all my actions are inspired by that chase.

9/ No Swiggy / Zomato
Staying on food, I have deleted online ordering apps from my phone.

No, not to save money. But to avoid snacking.

I want to make it hard for me to snack. I want to make it hard for me to eat random things at random hours. I will hate it for the first few days but I think I will get to it.

And I want to pick my food from places that I know will do a good job of making it (none comes to mind as I type this). I will make the effort to walk to a place to eat.

And I will work towards getting my own food. No, not cooking but getting someone to help me. Multiple people – Rohilla, Sonam, Ashi have volunteered but I just dont like the idea of a functioning kitchen at my home.

Lets see what I do over the next few days.

.

10/ Saurabh Shukla
The number of people who’ve come to me and told me that I look like a fitter version of him is incredible. I hope to meet him some day.

.

11/ How to get ahead in life?
This has been a recurring theme of questions that I’ve got from a lot of folks over the last few days. I think the answer is in being reliable, choosing action (over words) and thinking long-term.

I dont know why am posting this here. But came into my head as I was writing this.

.

12/ CynLr on WEF
If there’s one highlight of the week, it would be this.

CynLr is a startup based out of Bangalore where they are reimagining what manufacturing could be like in the future. I’ve spent a lot of time working for them. While I dont work with them anymore, I continue to be a cheerleader and supporter. In fact, CynLr continues to be one of the stickers on my laptop.

Gokul and Nikhil are irrational, hardworking, focused and forces of nature. I love them!

So, Gokul had told me YEARS ago that he will be on WEF at some point in time.

And he is now!

Even though I had literally nothing to get them to this place, this feels like a personal victory. There’s nothing more I love than seeing people I care for win.

.

13/ Kevin’s ideal end state.
I am in awe of each thing Kevin does. A few months ago he posted about Ideal End State. I read it and I decided to make a document for that. I revisited it and it reminded me why I started what I started. Made more notes. So that.

.

14/ Freedom
Enough said.
If there’s one word that I want to stand for, it would be freedom. In conversation with Rimjhim, many words came out – freedom, adventure, curious, people-chaser, movement (harkat) and more.

If I had to pick one thing that would define me, it would be this. Freedom.

.

15/ PD’s birthday
If there’s a second highlight of the week, it’s PD’s birthday.

I can never explain my relationship with her but I know she’s an important part of my life and personality.

.

16/ Yatin Sangoi‘s show on RD Burman
Saw Yatin’s show. This was the second time I was seeing it. And like the first time I saw it, I was amazed. To a point that I am inspired to help more people build shows of their own. Let’s see when.

But there are many more takeaways. Here’s a list.

16a/ Anil Kapoor, Robin Singh, Saurabh Garg.
In many of the tracks that Yatin showed, there were Anil Kapoor and Jeetendra. Now, when someone makes a list of most successful actors of their times, Anil or Jeetendra would never show up. But they were consistent. Always. In fact, these folks are what they call, mild success.

Same for players like Robin Singh. He would never make it to any list. But he was consistently there. Read this (I wrote this a few months ago). Again, mild success.

Same with me. I will never be on any list. At least from the things that I’ve done so far. But from a lot of metrics, I am a mild success.

And I want to change that. I no longer want to be one. I would do whatever I can to be a wild success.

16b/ Fandom (for RD and others)
Yatin’s entire life seems to be dedicated to taking RD’s work to masses. I met Harshit there. A large part of his life is to take Hindi as a language to more people. Palash has a podcast where he talks about obsessive passion of people and how they take large risks. The Manto play I saw seems to have done by someone who’s passionate about the work of Manto.

The point is, some people get so obsessive about some things that that becomes their raison d etre. And that I think helps them build world class things.

In my case, I dont know what am obsessively passionate about. I am interested in way too many things. I like experimenting. I like the chase of the new. I love exploring. And may be this is why am a mild success at best?

Ok, moving on.

.

17/ Saw M for a bit yesterday.
Yay!

.

18/ Micro-Drama
I think the rules of filmmaking and storytelling are being rewritten by this new format that seems to have find new audiences. I will explore more on this in the next few days.

.

19/ Life Straw
Got myself a Life Straw Go 2. Get your’s here.

Added it to my tools of trade page.

Yeah, am at mid-life crisis where am buying random expensive things. The next thing will probably be an On shoe. And yes, I already have All Birds. Even though I dont wear them.

.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 26. The one that I would like to plaster on my blog is…

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

Book 2
No action.
I havent had the time.

Meru is taking LOT more time than I had anticipated.

PS: Dropped 2025 Plan a few weeks ago.

☑️ What did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on things I got done on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

I may not have a lot to add this week but here is a report nonetheless.

At this point, the following things are important to me (I know too many but…) and these are IN ORDER.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. No action. 0.

Meru. Moved the needle a bit. Not too much though. This has been the status for the last few weeks. 0.

C4E. No action. 0.
I think I am ready to remove this from this list. I don’t do anything large here anymore. I think I am ready to hand it over to C and AK as my heirs. On the work front, C and F run the show on the day to day basis. AK is in that liminal state. Let’s see when she decides. But more or less I think I can move on from it. Just that I didnt make it the Wild Success that I wanted it to be.

Brand SG. No action. 0.
I did record a podcast. But that’s too little.
HAVE TO PUT IN A LOT MORE EFFORT HERE.

People. No action on this. I’d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. Nothing. So, a 0.

So the overall score is -1 for this week.

Trends from the previous weeks: -1, 3, 0, -4, 0, -4, -5, -5, -3, -2, -1
The max I can get is 7 in a week. Let’s see when I get to it.

📊 The tracker from the last week

This is the tracker for the last week.

Compared to the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve done much better on tracking at least. I need to fix what I eat though.

📖 Interesting Reads from the last week

I have a lot to share TBH but I may not have the time to write about all of those. So, I will get to those in the next week’s update.

The best place to get these updates is via my TIL WA group. It is inspired by Sunanda’s fabulous book, TIL, and on this WhatsApp group, I aim to post VERY VERY VERY frequently. Like MULTIPLE times a day. About things personal (rants, overshares, thoughts etc), what I read, what I want to think about, what I need help on etc. Join here.

So, some links that I want to share…

  1. Chamath’s Annual Letter. Here. The best quote from there is, “Taste is judgment. Discipline is strategy. Stamina is alpha. In a world without free money, survival is the product.”
  2. Mammad Bhai, by Sadat Hasan Manto. Here.
  3. Kevin’s post on Ideal End State. Here. I’ve spoken about this earlier as well. But it’s worth a revisit.
  4. This list of lessons from Tim. Here. The ones that have stayed with me are, “26. People who are always joking are hard to take seriously so they rob themselves of opportunities” and “6. The wealthiest people have a psychopathic sense of urgency.” among others.
  5. This by Seth on using words. Especially in this post-AI world. Thanks, Prad for sharing.
  6. This concept of Levered Beta. Incredible read. In Hindi, we often say, “seat pe rumaal rakhna”. This is the closest equivalent to that.
  7. Mike’s Build. Mike is quickly becoming my favorite Internet person. And while you are at it, read advice.
  8. This NYT piece about one of the things in Grief Tech.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates. I will also add these to SG’s Office.

Here are things from the past few weeks that I want to remember. And no, this may not be a comprehensive list. In categories…

  1. Long term
    • Professional pool / snooker / poker. No action.
  2. Health
    • Kitchen setup (incomplete)
    • Gym membership (incomplete)
  3. C4E things (I will at some time stop tracking these things and have C do these)
    • C4E Base
    • Design
    • Borderless agency
    • Adding films
  4. Shauk / Personal
    • Use of money to buy time – doing this already.
    • Better dressed – lol
    • Find love – lol!
    • Demand more from life
    • Speak better!
  5. Money (adding this on Jun 29)
    • Passive income

In case you know me, lemme know if I have missed something.

PS: Adding a section of things that I talked about that I need to do in this post and the last ones…

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Disappeared.
That’s the world I would use for the last week.

The week literally disappeared. I need to be more in touch with reality and all that.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25

PPS: Please do point typos. Grammarly is not working well and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.