I am back!
After exactly a month.
The last post here was on the 22nd of Feb. And in the last 4 weeks, a lot has happened. I’ve travelled to Dubai, Delhi, KL, Singapore. There is a war in the Middle East. Some inkling of the idea (in terms of what I want to do) seems to be taking shape. And as always, a lot of thoughts and observations. Lets see how many of those can I capture here.
But then I havent written a lot lately and I think I the writing muscle needs some sort of a booster. Maybe this post is that.
Lets go.
Wait, the track of the week is this.
I used to hear this track a lot when I was younger. And I had forgotten about it. And then I meet a friend and he reminded me of it. And I love it. I can not stop grooving to it!
PS: Here’s a post about the friend. And a photo I took.
Any how.
Let’s go…
💭 Highlights, reflections, updates, notes and thoughts from the last few weeks
As always, these are not in any order.
1/ The world becomes kinder when you’re seen as a success
If there is one lesson that I’ve learnt in the last 15 days, it is this – the world will reward you more if it sees you as successful.
Nothing surprising about it.
The entire theory of evolution is about natural selection of the strongest. The Selfish Gene says that whatever has the highest odds of propagating, will survive. Success is the independent barometer reading of your value to the world. And the world will reward the ones that they see are already successful. We see this play out a lot around us beyond the books and in real life.
Founders with IIT-IIM pedigrees get funded more. The success indicator is the school they went to. Actors that do well tend to get offered better films. And apparently in Dubai, if you dont have a Rolex on your wrist, you are not allowed inside certain places. The car your drive, the place you live at, the clubs you have the memberships to indicate a lot about your success.
And that begets you more opportunities!
So, its imperative that you are a success if you want to deliver on your destiny. I’ve been the kinds to never chase the worldly markers of success. But I am learning it the hard way that I must. And it will need a large change in my personality to do this. Let’s see if I can choose this discomfort as I think about the next things in life.
And like that maxim goes that its expensive to be poor, there’s another that I want to tattoo on my backside – you’re a failure if you dont succeed.
Lol!
Maybe need to come up with better ones.
2/ The concept of Karma is theoretical at best
The other thing I learnt while I was on the road is that Karma is overrated. It’s the softer pillar that you lean on to tell yourself that you are doing good and as a result, good will happen to you.
Same as religion but milder.
With religion, the idea was to create some guidelines that would serve the rulers and create some semblance of order with those doctrines. And then with time it became degenerated (or maybe evolved) as a way to control people and wield power.
With religion, the rules of conduct are set by old books and their keepers. With karma, you set the rules, you want to be good, hoping the good will circle back.
With Karma, you dont serve one person’s agenda but you limit yourself. And then you stay in the boundaries. However, IRL, I’ve seen boundaries diminish with such ease that I am often left wondering, were there any in the first place.
So that.
Wont write more.
I am hoping that my readers are smart!
3/ Life in other countries is very relaxed…
…if you can do you own dishes and clean your clothes.
Jokes apart, I think the day to day life is a tad better out of India.
I travelled to three countries and lived with friends for more nights than I slept at hotels. And that means I could see life up close. And I realised that daily friction of living is so less in other countries that I am left wondering, why is our life in India so screwed.
The landlords dont bother you if 5 people come in.
The neighbors are not pesky.
You dont fight over petty things with folks around you.
The strangers are generally helpful.
No one is cutting queues.
You are offered space.
There is overt politeness.
Everyone seems to be helping each other.
The two countries that I spent most of my time in, there was no large display of religious disharmony (one is an extremist nation and the other has very hard rules against such).
Of course its expensive to get the army of domestic helps that we are so used to in India. So if you can afford, it would be even better. If you can’t afford, you ought to find your balance. But am more convinced that one must not live in India!
PS: If you do choose to live out of the country, you also have the option of finding your kinds (other Indians) or you can learn to chat with folks from other nationalities and expand your knowledge. I specifically write about this because I saw a lot of my Indian friends make friends with other Indians!
4/ Dar ke aage jeet hai!
Read this “jeet” as…
making cold calls,
making small talk,
taking shots beyond your comfort zone,
sales
etc.
Most people I know are unable to do these because, well, fear.
I am the same.
I have a hard time initiating a conversation with someone. I have a very terrible self-image. To a point that Kunal shared some notes and ideas on how to fix it (I tried but I havent been able to fix). But I do know that folks that are able to overcome their dar are indeed great!
And I I have to say this, in bold.
That if I could turn back time and re-learn life from scratch, I would learn the art of sales. Really. I just dont know how to sell. I often sell myself short. Or I push myself way too much.
5/ Claude Code
I am claudemaxxing for last two three days and I love it.
I have this spring in my step.
I am giddy with possibilities.
I can build up these worlds that I live in.
I love the idea of being able to control my future and do larger things.
And I know I am like a child – I am not sure of the risks and pitfalls and everything looks full of hope. So that!
Oh, with Claude, my friends and I have tried to work on a nutrition supplementation app, a screenwriting support tool and I dont know what all! I know none of these are production quality, none of these have users but as they say, hope floats. I will keep updating here.
Here’s an update from Sunday evening…
6/ The return of Travis
This was one of the biggest news of the tech world in the last few days. And no, I am not untouched by it. I have conflicting thoughts on Travis. On one side, he built a company and took it global and created impact. And on the other, he’s not a nice person. So that.
Anyhow.
Do read Travis on Atoms.
And Om on Travis on Atoms.
While you are on Om, also read Om’s piece on storytelling and Symbolic Capitalism. This is something that I want to push at C4E!
7/ Stripe Press
Spotted Rohit’s piece on Stripe Press.
I have to start a Stripe Press clone! I’ve been thinking about it for too long. And if my latest manifesto (to spread joy while i make money) is to be believed, I would love to do something in the publishing space. I do have a few friends in this space. There is Prak. Just that I havent had the courage to do that. Plus the money situation in the publishing business sucks. So that.
Lets see what I end up doing.
And while we are on Stripe, here’s advice from Patrick to folks who are between 10 and 20. Read. And truth be told, relevant to even people my age!
8/ Mobile free in April. Can I?
I want to spend the whole of April without a smart phone. Is it possible?
Especially when I plan to be in a different country for a few days. Let’s see. I mean I can use my smart phone dumb (assistive mode) and live with it.
I dont know.
Time shall tell.
But today, on Sunday the 22nd, I plan to not use my Smart phone.
I am carrying a feature phone.
Let’s see how that goes.
You may also want to see this daily YT live that I do…
9/ Lessons from last few days
I will make a linkedin post on this but I want the content to have originated here.
Like I said, the last few weeks have been interesting. I’ve been about town and met people (old and new) and learnt many lessons.
I wanted to capture all those even though its humanly impossible to do a good job, even with notetakers and all that. So, here’s one line lesson from some folks I met. And like in most one-line pieces, a lot of context and nuance will get lost.
Anyhow.
In no order, let’s go…
Aastha taught me how to think big. And not give up. And be at it. In fact, Aastha has to be one of the top 10 people I’ve met and been able to befriend in the last 5 years.
Pritam taught me that a true general will never leave till he wins. And if he is forced to, he will not leave without his team. Pritam is also a top-10 person.
Bux and Puspesh taught me in different words that the market needs to validate the idea by paying money for it. The validation of ideas is NOT in research or in reports.
Puspesh also taught me how you find your space in this world. And even if you choose to be stubborn about what you want to do and how you want to do, the world will often give you what you seek.
Sharan taught me that consistency can be easy. Thing is, this has been my Achilles Heel. I am not consistent and I want to learn more from Sharan.
Aanchal taught me how is it to be focussed and driven and yet have a good time. She and I share a common last name and I want to be better friends with her.
Mahesh Sir taught me how to build and support a village. And how to put your money where your mouth is!
Swathi taught me what courage could look like, especially in the face of battles on all fronts – work, personal, health, etc etc.
Ajeet Sir taught me how to build networks and bring people together. And be compelling when its the time to sell.
Bhaargav taught me how is it to acknowledge that you were on a wrong path. And then course correct. And keep at it.
Ankesh taught me yet again that I need to be fearless. And he also taught me that it’s ok to acknowledge that you may not know everything. Also, Ankesh is another top-10 person.
Krishna taught me how to change my opinion and look beyond things that I am convinced about.
Rohit taught me young hustle. And dream. As I write this, the boy from a tiny village (literal village) is in SFO and building his dream.
Ayush is another young hustler and he taught me how to focus.
Varoon taught me grace. On this one, I will have to give context. He’s been a client on two projects – on one, we did a kickass job and on the other, he fired us. And yet he remains accessible and helpful and polite and graceful.
Aoenha taught me how to be a bossperson and chase an idea that no one can even fathom and do it with so much passion and energy that the world has to line up and give you what you seek.
Samriddh taught me three things on my last meeting. I will only talk about one. To not give a fuck. While I hear this from many many people, I am not left inspired. In Samriddh’s case, his journey has been nothing short of incredible.
Phew!
ISTG, there are more.
But I am tired of writing and remembering.
I need a better system ;P
10/ $50 from NeoSapien
This honest review of NeoSapien Neo 1 that I wrote a few months ago seems to be ranking high on SEO. And I have made some 50 dollars thru it! I love free Internet money!
In case any of you has any consumer tech products that you want me to review, am here! Lol!
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🈺 Photos from the past few days
Here are some.
Not too many. Especially cos I was not in India. And I’ve been thinking about shutting this anyway. So may be, from next week on, I will shut this.
.
🈺 Trackers…
I dont have trackers.
I was unable to track while I was on the road.
No one to blame.
So skipping these for this update.
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🈺 Action on LARGE objectives for the year
In this section, I will capture my progress on large objectives for the year.
In 2026, I plan to do the following three things…
- Book2
- Human Flag Pole
- Save a million dollars
No action in the last week on any of these goals. I do have a vague thought on what I want to do in terms of work. But that doesn’t count on these at this time.
So, no progress and no update.
.
☑️ So, what did I get done last few weeks? And what will I do next 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.
Like last section, no update over the last few weeks. Just been on the road and terribly busy with it.
So, this year, I want to track the following…
- Health. I will work on sleep, food and movement.
- C4E / Work. I want to shortlist some idea that I want to work on.
- Brand SG / Distribution. No action on this. I remain away from social media.
- People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc).
- Book2. I want to start with this.
- Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc).
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🏃🏻♂️➡️ Health
I added Health as a key section last year. 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.
No action again. I mean I didnt track or actively think about it.
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🧠 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.
A few things.
Start a podcast with C and AK. This remains open and will probably get shut. I dont see the excitement in the three of us.Closing this. Couldnt make progress.- Update C4E’s Culture Book. This is still WIP.
Storytelling presentation for the session on the 7th March. I missed this. And I will do this in March. Maybe on the 28th or the 29th? I missed this again. I dont think am doing this. So closing and moving on.
These few come to mind as I speak.
I have a suspicion that this will grow and will become unmanageable in a few weeks. I will find a solution when I get to it. For the time being, here’s a sheet where I track my actions.
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🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?
Movement.
And that’s why I was not that active on socials!
The other words for this year have been: Regular (again), Regular, Easy, Journey, Downtime.
—
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. Previous editions:
PPS: Please do point typos.
PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.