Wk 06-25 – Weekly Notes

Notes from Week 6 of 2025.

10:25 AM
Starbucks, Versova
Let’s see how long do I take on this. I’ve started a Forest timer. Let’s see.
Update: Made numerous calls in the middle. Publishing this at 14:06 PM

So, this is my favorite time of the week. Where I am by myself. And I sort of journal what’s happening in my head. I do a recap of the week. I dump all that I need to get out of my system. Call it flushing. Some things make it to the blog. Some dont (the ones that dont, get to my Roam). The thing that I am most careful of is that I dont delve in the past. and I dont want to worry about the future. I am present. Thinking. Cataloging. Actioning. Just the act of sitting at one place and writing and publishing is nice. In fact, I often think that if I could just write and pay my bills, I will do that. But then, that’s alternate reality. I need to act on whats up today!

Oh, I am listening to this as I write.

Here are sections (I want to change this but I will do so at some other day)…

What I was supposed to do in the week gone by. And my report on the same.

A/ 2025 plan.
This has been open for like 2 months now. I met Neha last night and she mentioned that she’s been seeing make these plans for 3 years and no action. I am still poor, fat and all that. Vivek says the same.

But…

I remain a thick skinned person. This is my yearly ritual and I will not trade this for anything. So, at some point, I will get to this. Parking as sgp1 and todo.

The tracker from the week that went by.

Here’s the tracker from the last week.

I ate a lot. I walked some. I spent a lot. More or less the emotions were in control. My streak of daily updates is good too (I’ve moved those to @altsg). I had a REALLY bad day couple of days when someone shat on C4E on a public platform. But now that I look at this chart, apart from that one red and yellow window, I was mostly ok.

This is surprising. There’s a disconnect. My daily twitter posts reflect otherwise. May be I need to write my posts better? Or maybe I need to capture things better. Will be more mindful in this week.

In fact, J said that for someone who claims to be a Stoic, I am moved a lot by my emotions. She’s not wrong. Must be more mindful.

If you see this, please tell me what you see that I am missing?

Photos from the week

Here are some photos from the week gone by.

Oh, btw, I tried to find a way to embed Google Photos into WordPress. I found a plugin as well. But I was too incompetent to get it to work for me. IF you know wordpress well, would you want to do this for me?

Interesting Reads

Adding this section from this week on. The intention is to capture what left an impact on it. And have my people read these and debate.

  1. Triangle of Talent by Shaan VP. FUCKING EYE OPENING.
  2. Derek Sivers on How to Spark a Movement. I see this often.
  3. Imperfection by Dharmesh Shah. Loved loved loved it.
  4. This presentation by Paras Chopra where he makes a case about why India needs to build our own AI Model. I have my disagreements but he is the man in the arena. Also, Paras is inviting people to work with him to build those models. Some of you may want to apply. Going by his reputation, he will ensure that it reaches fruition.
  5. This piece on Atoms and Bits.

There are more links and things that I read. I share those on this group. In case.

And this brings me to highlights, reflections and notes from the week.

I will lean onto my Roam and Daily updates for this.

In no order…

A/ C4E – a LOT happened at C4E in the last week.
And here’s a quick summary.

  1. Reputation. I dont care about mine. I may live or die. But C4E is a village and I will not have ANYONE call us a scam or a fraud. I am ok to not meet your expectations or whatever. But I am not a scam. I will work harder than anyone else you may find. You know, more chappal than anyone else. But I am NOT a scam. The sad part was that apart from me, I dont see anyone else at C4E care for the reputation! I wrote more on my daily update here.
  2. Premium Pricing. I will restructure C4E to only charge a premium pricing. I may die hungry but I will not work for anything that I am not comfortable with.
  3. People Ops. I will ensure that we treat people better. We are mostly good but I want to take it up a notch. We HAVE to be the best when it comes to people.


B/ Health
I am at that age now there I am seeing multiple health issues. I have something wrong with my heart and I need to see more docs for that. Skin seems to be breaking out. My back hurts perpetually. I really need to fix my hernia. I need spects. I can go on and on.

I need to work on this. And I will. Starting today, I am changing my identity to that of a healthy man. I will do each thing that you expect a healthy person to do. Including working out.

And this will be more important as I go along with the startup that I am working on!

C/ Farheen 
Spoke to this lady. She’s all of 23 and WOW. My gut says that she will do a lot in life and go far. But let’s see. She offers social media marketing, SEO and allied services. If you are on a lookout, you may consider chatting wiht her

D/ Dubey Ji at Marine Drive
Just yesterday, I was at Marine Drive and I did what I do each time I am there. Get a massage. And of course got talking to the masseuse. And he told me about this person – Dubey Ji. Apparanty, he’s the guru of most of the masseuses on the Marine Drive. The important part is that Dubey Ji is now retired and each of his shagirds give him a tiny sum each day! I would love to be that where all my kids are doing well and I am merely living vicariously thru them!

E/ I got a new phone.
And I dont feel any emotions towards it. It was important to capture. As a young person, each time I got a new phone, I made an event out of it. I realised that it was no longer the case.

F/ AKs website is up after a month!
So cool! The world needs more of her. Here’s the link – akforthevibe.com

G/ C and Krishna
If I were to make a list of people who believe in SG, Krishna and C will probably top the list. And I have been unkind to both of them over this week. And I need to fix it.

But…

I don’t know how. I know both of them will read this post and both of them will say, “its ok”.

H/ Took a loan
I had decided that I will not take a loan again. But this month I had to. And by the looks of it, I will need to take another one. I dont know when this cycle will end. Let’s see.

I/ The AI Fomo
I talked about it last week too. And its getting all the more real. TBH, since last week, I have made some progress. I am more aware. I have read more. But I still dont have enough to give me comfort. I need to find that.

J/ Worth Living For
Prof Kavi Arya mentioned this in a conversation. He said something on these lines… “Most people tend to think about things that they want to die for but this approach was refreshing – what are you willing to live for?”

This opened by eyes like nothing else had!
I am willing to live for a lot of things. And no, these things don’t mean leisure or pleasure.

K/ Other things that I want to capture but I may not spill too many words on those.

  1. Updated my Work With Me Page. After I got the inspiration from Hardik Pandya’s page.
  2. Gokul NA. Each time I speak with him, I am inspired to do more with my life. I REALLY wish I could drop everything and work FOR him. He’s a rare person that I want to work FOR. And not WITH.
  3. May get to work as a marketer on a project at IIT Bombay. I am not getting paid a lot but I would like to get the experience of being at IIT often. Maybe know more students and all? Oh, on my previous visit to IIT, I bumped into Mayank Pareek! Talk of serendipity!
  4. Films business. I HAVE to do something about it. I will have to restart from scratch now that I am out of TRS but I will do it.
  5. I have a crush on a 51-year-old!
  6. I’ve been missing Steve Jobs.
  7. Made some tough calls that I was avoiding for a while. Some more tough calls need to be made. Will do those in the coming week.
  8. Met Arun Kedia for a coffee. One of the best meetings in a long long time. More notes in my Roam.

Ok that.
Phew

One large takeaway from the week?

In one word?
Money.

Last week, it was People.
This week, its money.
I don’t want to write more here (context is on my Roam). In case someone wants to know more, you know where to find me.

PS: Reminds of KWAN – love, respect, community AND the dollars too!

PPS: Now that I am on films and trailers, I saw this and it brought a lump to my throat. Happens each time. And then I saw this.


Ok!
This is it!
Lemme know what you think.
Gotta go.
See you around.

Oh, here are the previous editions: Wk 01, Wk 02, Wk 03, 04, 05

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

Untitled – 27/28 Jun 2024

As always, I dont know what to write but I feel like sharing. I started writing it on the 27th but I was unable to finish it. Continuing today.

Let’s go.

1/ Money

I am close to the month’s end. And that means I have started to get jittery about money. I need to pay my people. While it is a feeling of bliss to pay people who choose to work with me, often it adds to random chaos in my head.

This time it will be especially stressful as we haven’t been paid by all the clients (and of course that shouldn’t matter to others) but I have to pay folks on time. And I am at the end of my credit line. So I dont know what to do.

Let’s see. I’ve learnt that life often finds a way. I am sure it would find this time around too.

2/ Marketer’s Responsibility

Yesterday day before I was dinnering with some friends and we were seeing music from Moosewala and Gurdas Mann and Rabbi Shergill and the likes. I lamented that the music made by these people was to push a narrative (I dont have an opinion if they were right or wrong), educate, inform and all that. My generation grew up on that. I wouldn’t know about Bilquis Bano unless I heard it in a Rabbi song. Indian Ocean back in the day made me curious about Rewa even though they didn’t talk about its significance. More recently, listening to Moosewala made me aware of Sec 295.

Compare it to what people are listening to today.

The top 10 tracks in India today include the likes of Jhumka Gira Re, O Maahi (I dont even know what this is), Sajni and more.

Nothing wrong with these.
Each must be a fascinating piece of art.
But are they stirring my soul?
Are they making me think deeper as a human?

No, I am not sure.

So that’s it.

PS: I know I am cherry-picking a few tracks to make a case – both from my time and from the time of today. And there may be musicians and artists in this day and age who are making people aware but it’s not reaching me.

Now, extrapolate this to communication and marketing.

Which was the last campaign (not just an ad) you saw that made you take note of what’s happening around us? Which piece of communication from a brand last stirred your soul into doing more? Which brand has taken a solid stand that you believe the world needs? No, I am not talking about token activism by brands around Mother’s Day, Pride Month et al.

I can think of Share The Load as a campaign that made at least me aware of how certain kinds of work have been gendered. For my life, I can’t think of any other campaign at this time.

I know that as marketers we ought to think only about selling our wares better. But we have the blessings of a marketing budget. And that’s an opportunity to push the narrative needed by the times! I believe we have a FAR larger responsibility than we imagine (of selling only our wares) and I see fewer and fewer people even thinking about things. Especially in this day and age when one smart-alec piece of communication is on-purpose designed to “go viral”. I mean look at the latest piece from Tanishq. I wish they had dug deeper.

Anyhow.

So, while I am appreciative of the great art and craft and thought used by these brands in their communication, as a marketer, I am disappointed that we are not building conversations and communication pieces that nudge the culture.

Phew.
Rant over.

3/ Fitness

I dont know why I am unable to work on my fitness. I just dont have the discipline. And I will change that from today. This is the millionth time that I have promised myself and the world that I would work on my fitness. Let’s see if I can manage.

I plan to start with some yoga. I dont know how to carve time in the morning. I dont have time during the day. And at nights I am too tired. Old age, you see. But I will find time. Maybe I will wake up super early – like at 4:30. And then get some work done before 7 AM and then do it? I don’t know. I will see. May be I will NOT travel for the next few days and then see if I am able to get a schedule in.

I will also change my diet from today. I ate Suraj Lama Momos for like 100th time last night. No, they are not that good. Just that they deliver super fast. Like in 10 mins. Faster than instamart.

I will go on a lo-carb, high-protein diet. I will try for a few days. If I can’t sustain, I will find myself a cook. So that.

4/ Baarish

Yesterday it rained. And it poured. And it was windy. And it was relentless. And I was in it. At the C4E Sunset Club. And it was fabulous. Oh, while I was in the rain, I was on a call. And I loved each minute that I was there.

I wish there were more rains and more opportunities to get wet and more ways to enjoy it. I wish I lived in a house that was near the beach so that I could go there more often. I wish the monsoon was not a two month phenomenon. I wish I have less and less places to be so that I could be at the Sunset Club, under the rains.

Bas itna hi.

5/ Action

The last night I was talking to an acquaintance. She asked me how I was. And I gave my usual answer. Here’s a screenshot from the conversation.

Let’s park this as A. I will come back to this.

Last night (while getting drenched in the rain), at the C4E Growth Session, I encouraged each person at C4E to list their values. I also tried to list my values. I’ve done this a million times but I thought I would do it again.

Here’s a list. Let’s call this B.

Now, when I marry A and B, I realise that life has become monotonous. There is no action, no movement, no fun.

I may say that I’ve become stoic (after all, I am stressed that I dont have the money to pay my people, I can be sad that I dont have a romantic partner, I could be fucked in the head about my inability to steer C4E in the way I want to and many more things). Or I may accept that I’ve become lazy and dependent on others for things. Funnily, in my life, I was never this. I was always atamnirbhar. I was always the go-getter. Always the kind to do things by myself. And if the events of the last few months are anything to go by, I need to operate from the place where I am all alone. Everyone leaves. It’s not if. It’s when.

Saw this couplet by Faraz on Instagram and I was amazed that some poets can capture emotions so well. This is EXACTLY how I feel on most days. He says,

बुझी नज़र तो करिश्मे भी रोज़ो शब के गये
के अब तलक नही पलटे हैं लोग कब के गये

करेगा कौन तेरी बेवफ़ाइयों का गिला
यही है रस्मे ज़माना तो हम भी अब के गये

मगर किसी ने हमे हमसफ़र नही जाना
ये और बात के हम साथ साथ सब के गये

अब आये हो तो यहाँ क्या है देखने के लिये
ये शहर कब से है वीरां वो लोग कब के गये

गिरफ़्ता दिल थे मगर हौसला नही हारा
गिरफ़्ता दिल हैं मगर हौसले भी अब के गये

तुम अपनी शम्ऐ-तमन्ना को रो रहे हो “फ़राज़”
इन आँधियों मे तो प्यारे चिराग सब के गये

Faraz

The couplet in bold and underline is what caught my attention the most.

So that.

Coming back.

Maybe I need to be a lot more hands-on.
Maybe I need to be a lot more particular.
Maybe I need to push myself more.

I dont know the answer.

Let’s see.

Chalo, work beckons. Enough for the day.

180821 – Morning Pages

A quick note about things on the top of my head. I talk about moving on from this house, relationships, music, life and death!

6:24. This one is going to be short and sweet. I have to be on the road at 7:15 tops. Have a meeting at Worli and I need to find a Starbucks for that. And then have another meeting at 11. There itself. And then another meeting at 1 after that. This day shall be spent on the road. And in talking. Much like a large part of yesterday. Sigh. No, I am not enjoying this. But theek hai. This is where we are. This is what I have to do till I figure the next steps.

The thing with the f2f meeting is that I need to wear pants and shoes. The two things that I have come to hate more than anything else. Especially since the lockdown. I will of course carry a pair of chappals in a bag that I will wear as soon as I am out of the meeting. Thank God I dont have smelly feet. So that helps.

Today’s post has no structure. I will merely dump things that are on top of my head. Let’s go…

A. Have started to pack the house. I am now in that stage where I have accepted that I am moving on. I have accepted that this place is a thing of the past. The problem-solving mind in me has taken over and now I am thinking of the best way to pack and move on. I could choose cartons. Or I could choose suitcases. Or bags. I need to optimize for sturdiness, convenience, cost, and more. So I settled on those big Ikea bags. Have ordered a few of those (and some more things). Let’s see if I can pack when they come. I am also making stacks of things that I need to send to various people – one for SG2, one for PM, one for SJ, one that needs to be given away, and then some more for more people. If all goes well, I will move my effects by this weekend.

I am thinking, will my life be this organized when I finally move on? You know, all things stacked neatly in bags / cartons? No spec of dust around. Whoever walks through my effects would be amazed to find that I was always this planned. Oh, btw, the other day I starting making a sheet of all the things I own. So far I have just touched the tip of the iceberg and I am already tired. When you live, you dont spot those things but when it comes to making a list, you realise how much you have. Need to reduce drastically. For the ones curious, the sheet is here. Do lemme know what you think of this.

B. Good part of yesterday is that I went to the beach and sat there for a bit. While I was there, I reaslied that for all the stoic things I read, I am probably as un-stoic a person as they come. I am attached to people. I expect things without expecting them. I crave their attention. I seek their validation. A lot of my misery in the last few days is a direct result and outcome of this very thing. You know, on one side, not expecting. And on the other, expecting a lot. I am trying hard to detach. I have started with things. I have moved on from most people. Need to move on from whatever handful I am left attached to.

Another lens is that till about 6 months back I was thinking about how would I make ends meet. Now that that’s not a problem, I am now at a higher-level problem. Of belonging and all that. Maslow, you bugger!

And thus the snafus in my head. More on this someday.

C. I want to now come to a point in life where I dont need a laptop. I should be able to merely get things done from a phone. You know, I dont want to do. I want to manage. Which I was, for the most part when I did events. But since I pivoted to marketing / content, a lot needs to be done. By me. You know, quality. So that’s one of the things I am working towards.

D. Day 250. This is the 250th day of a non-stop streak of writing morning pages. I have not missed these even one day! I think I am incredibly proud of this. I dont think I have shown this much rigor, this much attention, and this much perseverance with anything ever. I hope I can continue this till the 16th of Sep (when I go for my annual break). The bigger challenge would be to pick this up once I am back. Because once that rhythm is broken, you know how it is.

E. Anne Reburn. I am hooked on this cover of Country Roads. By an artist called Anne Reburn. She is so good! The track has a tiny twist. Do see it.

I have to meet Anne at some point in time in life and I will probably request her to play this for me. #lifeGoal. Of course, the keyword is “request”. As an artist, she chooses what she showers on me. In fact, this is the shift that has happened in my head. Rather than “demanding” from people that I adulate, people I am in awe of, people I admire, people I take inspiration from, I now “request” them to give me whatever they can spare. It is no longer about “taking” from them. It’s about “learning” from them.

Guess this is about it. It’s 6:51. I need to be out of the house in less than 15 mins. Over and out.

I know this is a short post. But I am glad I got it in. Had a lot on my head. Phew!

Here’s streaks…

  • OMAD – 0
  • #book2 – 0. Streak. 000
  • #noCoke – 160
  • #noCoffee – 3
  • #aPicADay – 0
  • Money spent – 4647
  • Killer Boogie – 0
  • 10K steps a day – 0
  • Surya Namaskar – 0. Not doing today either. Unless some miracle happens.
  • 10 mins of meditation – 0
  • Minimaslism Counter – -2
  • Morning Pages / Meditations – 250! Yay!

Day 2 – Humans vs Robots

A tiny home-improvement decision that I think I will take as I move to a new house in the next week. Part of my 30 days of writing every day for 30 minutes project.

This is the second day of this new project where I try and write every day for 30 minutes. As I start writing this, it is 9:09 PM (ended at 9:56 PM) and I do have this one thing that I want to talk about. Let’s see how long I take to write it.

So, in less than a week, I move to a new house. Like all the other houses that I have lived at, this one is also not mine and that means I am reluctant to acquire things that make the house a home. I mean I don’t put no pictures, no photos, no posters, nothing that resembles a place that is lived well. Even the furniture, I don’t acquire it. I don’t like the idea of material possessions (while I do have a bagful of memories – photos, postcards, tickets, hand-written trinkets and all that), I try and not attach myself to things.

There are multiple reasons for that. Lemme make a list.

A. In the past, when I did have things that I could attach myself to, every time I’d move the house, those would break and I’d get sad about em. So, to avoid disappointment, I decided against acquiring things.

B. Thing is, I like finer things (you know, expensive, made with love, limited edition, by artisans) and I have this big child ego (I either want the whole world, or nothing) and I have never had a lot of disposable money to be able to buy all the nice things. So, I trained myself to overlook these material things and not pine for those. I would of course continue to spend money to get some of these for friends. These gifts are voluntary – I can choose to get those or I could not get any at all. However, if I get addicted to better things, I would start pining for those and I know I can’t afford em. So, detach.

C. Continuing with the thread of detachment, I am trying to have minimal attachments to material things. This means I am embracing minimalism, Buddhism, Stoicism, Mary-Knodoism, Hagge-ism, and every other such -ism that tells us to be simple with our lives.

Of course, do get emotional when I have to change the house. I do not like to be around when I move. I rely on my friends and handymen to do so. Like they say, truth, is weirder than fiction 🙂

D. I saved the best for the last. I love space. And the kind of houses that we have in Mumbai, we have anything but space. Even with minimal furniture and furnishing, you sort of keep bumping into the walls all the time. So, I try and avoid stuffing the house with things!

***

So yeah, I have lived my life in a certain manner (like a robot) and I think it serves me well.

So, why this post?

Well, as I said, I am going to move to a new house in the next week. And as I get ready to make the move, I am thinking that I will change it! Thinking. Not doing it. And I will list those reasons as well here.

Let’s go.

1. I want to look at life on the other side. The side where you get emotional about things. I am after all an experience junky. To a point that I want to pack a thousand lives into this tiny one that we have. And I’d love to see things from. the perspective of the vain ones.

2. I want to assert my personality. When I had a business that was well and alive (prior to the COVID shock), I could project myself via my work. Now, I cant. So, I need to find something that allows me to. Even if it’s a simple wall in one of the rooms where I post things that are important to me.

3. I have always been a public-place person. I cant spend time at home. I feed off the energy of others and that means I love places like cafes and offices and worksites where I can see others working. Thanks to this WFH thingy, I know that I may not be able to get back to an office anytime soon (even though I have been going to a Starbucks every day for a week now). So, I need to convert the new place to resemble a bright, cheery place. That means I will have to get home those yellow lights, ambient speakers, the aroma of the coffee, and more! music systems and all that. And that means I will have to set up a few things that make my house, well, home, and start living like a human!

Robot. Human. Get the drift?

That’s it for the day.

With this, its over and out. See you guys tomorrow!

If you like this, spread the word. Help me get an audience. I know these essays are cool 😀 Older posts – 3010.