Nishanth Sudharsanam

What is an Investment?

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0800

My wife was saying that giving my daughter a head bath did not have enough RoI because she was going swimming anyways.

And sure enough, my daughter who is the consummate questioner asked “What is RoI?”

Well, first I had to explain what an investment was to a 4 year old.

What is an investment?

Essentially, It’s something you do today so you can get something nicer later. Often its something you do not really want to do. But then I realised, sometimes the today’s stuff can actually be quite nice. So it’s not quite the same as delayed gratification.

How to build effective startup team

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0800

I believe startups are best built by high agency individuals focussed on a joint goal.

Why? The nature of a startup typically involves:

A market opportunity - a problem faced by some set of people that is not being solved at scale.
A non-obvious solution - although the founders are typically in a place where the solution seems somewhat obvious to them.

That means often the path to take is not exactly clear and the primary thing that determines a startups success is the rate of experimentation.

Shared myths - the foundation of society

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 23:28:00 +0800

One of Homo Sapiens’ most powerful skills is our ability to work together and strategize on a larger scale than any other animal. It is believed that this is what helped us edge out our other hominid competitors.

Why are we able to collaborate better than other animals?

It seems we have a unique ability to communicate abstract concepts using specialized language centers in our cerebral cortex. We are able to communicate concepts like possibilities, flow of time. For example “yesterday there was a lion near the river, and I saw it go near the mountain. It is possible you might encounter it near the hill today” vs “lion near river, dont go”. This way we can share more nuanced information and benefit from each other’s knowledge and coordinate better at greater distances and at a larger scale.

Shared myths

Sat, 05 Aug 2017 19:55:00 +0800

Wow, it’s been 3 years since I wrote. I want to practice putting my thoughts into words again, so here we go.

Let’s talk about shared myths.

The reason we, homo sapiens have been able to scale our societies so well (> 7B globally and almost fully interconnected) is our ability to create and believe in shared myths. It is what differentiates us from our ape ancestors, and it is the reason we have become the dominant species on earth (by being able to coordinate at unprecedented scale). This is one of the core ideas of “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari.

Slower

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 19:19:00 +0800

I usually take the train to office. Here is a breakdown of the state of my mind during the journey -

10 min walk to station, stand on the right platform - active
Less than 5 min waiting - mostly on auto-pilot
5 min train ride, mostly standing - active, looking out for the right stop
5 min walk to switch tracks - active
5 min train ride, mostly standing - active, looking out for the right stop

Faster

Fri, 04 Jul 2014 10:23:00 +0800

Sometimes, you do better when you increase difficulty.

I occasionally play Flight Commander when taking a quick break. It’s a simple game - direct aircrafts to airstrips by drawing a path and make sure the planes don’t crash into each other. Each plan landed gives you a point.

I was terrible at it, till I noticed the “»” button at the bottom. It doubles the speed of the game, technically making it twice as hard to play. I started using it to get through the easy initial stages, and slowed the game down again once there were too many planes in the air. I was still terrible at it.

Allowing people to change

Thu, 22 May 2014 08:00:00 +0800

Here is another gem from Derek Sivers. To extend his point, all our opinions, beliefs (and the meaning we give to life) are subject to change. If our projected meaning or beliefs change, our outlook changes, and our actions change.

In that case, isn’t it only fair that we allow others the freedom to change as well? To give people a second chance? To not pass lasting judgement based on one-off incidents?

What is the meaning of Life?

Sun, 18 May 2014 14:50:00 +0800

We know it’s 42, but what is the right question?

Here is some food for thought from Derek Sivers. Nice analysis, and I agree. He says,

“Life has no inherent meaning. Nothing has inherent meaning. Life is a blank slate. You’re free to project any meaning that serves you. You’re free to do with it, anything you want.”

The meaning of life, then is within you - not outside. There is no absolute / inherent meaning in life, only what you project onto it.

Open, Conscientious, and Disagreeable

Fri, 02 May 2014 18:58:00 +0800

I recently read that, of the Big5 personality traits, the ones that distinguish an entrepreneur are

- “Openness” (to new ideas)
- “Conscientiousness” (ie. willingness to work hard towards a goal) and
- “Disagreeableness” (willingness to not conform, and be ridiculed)

It struck a chord with me. I think these are nice “rules of thumb” to evaluate a startup culture!

The total time available in a day..

Thu, 01 May 2014 23:56:00 +0800

is directly proportional to the amount of work you do.

The Big and the Small

Tue, 29 Apr 2014 18:39:00 +0800

I just finished reading Malcom Gladwell’s random collection of stories*. It was an entertaining read and there were a few interesting take-aways.

Remote misses can be a big advantage.
When we encounter hard times and survive, there are 2 possible outcomes:

A near miss - we get hurt badly, are unable to get up, and are crushed. This is bad.
A remote miss - we get hurt, but somehow manage to overcome the difficulty and develop a layer of immunization. We might also develop strong compensating skills enroute.

There are always remote-misses in a large-scale disaster that allow us to bounce back as a community.3. Change your pond, if it is too big
We usually evaluate ourselves based only on the local population we are part of. When we feel like a small fish in a big pond, perhaps we should change the pond such that we are a big fish in a small pond! 4. Too much can be as crippling as too little.
The law of diminishing returns is quite pervasive. This means that

Decisions vs. Decision Processes

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 23:58:00 +0800

Following up on my previous posts, one of the key points reinforced in the book is to pay attention to the decision making process, instead of the decision itself.

I was discussing this with my dad when he shared 2 anecdotes -

1. When my uncle did really well in his high school, many elders / mentors suggested he move to a bigger city for better and greater opportunities. My grandfather wasn’t too keen (change is difficult - plus there were job perks associated with their current location), but grandmom forced the issue and it was to be Vellore or Chennai.

What do you watch for when you make decisions?

Sun, 06 Apr 2014 23:49:00 +0800

I just finished the fantastic book “Decisive” by Chip and Dan Heath. Here is my compressed cheat sheet. Do read the book - it is full of examples and useful nuggets on how we can build a better decision making process.

So, there are 4 main villains of decision making

Narrow framing
Confirmation Bias
Short term emotion
Overconfidence

So, how do you counter them?

Here is a list of questions to ask yourself when you are making a decision

If you must compromise, do so on the brilliance not culture

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:50:00 +0800

“Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men” says the unconventional title of the article a friend shared.

That sounds wrong, with all the talk of hiring only A players to build an A team. I found the article (written almost a 100 years ago) quite interesting though, simply because it went against conventional wisdom and offered an analysis to support the view. But it looks like the author completely missed the concept of a “Cultural Fit”

What affects our energy levels?

Wed, 19 Mar 2014 23:16:00 +0800

I have been observing what affects the level of energy I have to work on something, and how to optimize it.
My first “Equation” was that, we had a long term base level formed by good / bad habits (health, inner peace etc). Our “state of mind” then acted as a multiplier on short term modifiers like level of sleep, hunger, coffee and so on influence the amount of energy we had at any point. But after some discussion with friends and observation, I realized that this is only our store of “potential energy”.

What should you measure?

Wed, 12 Mar 2014 23:44:00 +0800

One of my thrusts this year is to understand myself better using data and objective analysis.

The way I am going about this is to collect whatever data I can, look for patterns, form hypotheses, and then try to verify them.

Online activity, Phone calls, location are some relatively easy ones. RescueTime can help you track your computer activity, phone logs can be obtained (with difficulty) from phone companies, and location data from foursquare or a similar API. Fitbit tells you how active you were. These require little effort, but might not give all the information you need to measure performance.

Pull or push?

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 23:39:00 +0800

I think there are 2 types of innovation - The pull, and the push.

Pull is more lean-startup. Look for the lowest hanging fruit, pluck it as fast as possible, and iterate. A consumer problem creates demand for a solution which pulls development of solution. Like Dropbox. And I think Amazon was pretty lean too.

Push, on the other hand is more like traditional research. Someone feels Solution X will benefit the world, builds it and pushes it into the market. Like Tesla, SpaceX.

The "Small Data" problem

Thu, 13 Feb 2014 16:23:00 +0800

I have written about the need to consolidate the crazy amount of information available at our disposal these days. In fact, companies like Google make their living from analysing and “understanding” the ridiculous amount of information they gather, and this has led to some pretty powerful techniques and tools being implemented.

On the other hand, there are also instances where there is not enough data to analyse. Or worse, there is partial or incomplete data. Two instances of this are the medical industry (we are working on this at Klinify). The other is personal information. Sure, there is enough information to track a person (and have everyone screaming about privacy), but if I want to objectively understand myself using data, do I have enough information to do it? There is a lot of focus on this and we are making progress with the surge of wearable technology, but the data gathered isn’t really enough. I think it is something worth exploring!

We are now a funded startup!

Tue, 04 Feb 2014 22:48:00 +0800

We just raised our seed round at Klinify (http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/03/klinify-raises-600k-seed-round-to-build-an-evernote-for-doctors-in-south-asia/). It has been in the works for a while, nice to make it official now!

So what has changed?

1. I can stop freelancing / borrowing / begging to pay my bills and focus full time on Klinify. This happened a while ago, and it is very liberating to be able to put all your brain power into the 1 big thing you are building.

Stress is in the mind

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:51:00 +0800

http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.html

This is very interesting. She says the effects of stress depend on how you think about it. I completely agree. I believe our mind has a way of controlling and influencing our body. A lot of these responses are unconscious but it is possible to reprogram it to our benefit. Stress is a beautiful example.

I am sure we have all had scenarios where a little bit of stress has increased our performance dramatically and also helped us feel better. At the same time stress has also crippled our ability. The difference is in our attitude and how we think about the stress - which is very much in our control even if its seems difficult to tame at times.

Taking stands

Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:48:00 +0800

To continue on the previous point on black and white, consider this announcement:
http://open.bufferapp.com/introducing-open-salaries-at-buffer-including-our-transparent-formula-and-all-individual-salaries/

Buffer has decided to be completely transparent about their salaries. This is pretty extreme. We do not know what the repercussions will be or whether it will pay off in the long run.

But what is inspiring is that they took a stand and took it all the way! It shows their commitment to transparency, and it will attract more people who value transparency and further strengthen their culture.

Black, White and Grey

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 16:46:00 +0800

The world is almost always grey, is it not? Events are relative, opinions are relative, and Einstein says even the most basic “facts” are relative. So, is there any use of having strong absolute opinions?

I think the purpose is to trick our brain. Absolutes lead to conviction. And conviction, I feel has led to greatness. A lot of people who dramatically changed the world were completely convinced of their ideals and approach and this gave them the push to change the world. If they had doubts, they suppressed them. Or convinced themselves that the doubts were unwarranted.

Making open offices work

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 16:49:00 +0800

Seems like “studies” show that open offices don’t really work.

From my experience playing around with our open office structure, they promote spontaneous interaction and help generate ideas which can be quite important in a small company.

However, precautions need to be taken to maintain balance and avoid disruptions, especially to people in the maker’s schedule.

Strategies that worked for us:

Passing the cost of disruption to the disruptor. Post-it notes passed on with a “Need 5 mins for X” do this nicely. The “disruptee” can then attend to X when convenient.
Split offices, one for each kind of schedule (we are beta testing this). Interaction needs to happen in other ways though. You don’t want to completely separate your team.

If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong!

Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:42:00 +0800

A beautiful description of the scientific method:

He doesn’t say, “if it agrees with experiment, it is right!”. He says, “If it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong!”

We make this mistake many times - finding some pattern in the world that matches our hypothesis and then accepting it as “proven”. To gain true understanding, we ought to look for patterns that go against our hypothesis.

120 words, thrice a week.

Wed, 15 Jan 2014 11:29:00 +0800

I want to become better at evaluating and consolidating the information I consume. And big goals require effective processes to support them

Hence I have started a series of blog posts. The rules are:

Post length is limited to 120 words (to make me think and consolidate),
Every post expresses 1 idea / view point.
3 times a week to create a habit.

Let’s see how this goes!

Wisdom from Elon - Part II - SCurve and Prediction

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 11:25:00 +0800

Around minute 34, he mentions the popular “S” Curve of technology life cycle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_life_cycle#The_four_phases_of_the_technology_life-cycle).

What I thought was an interesting angle was how that affects estimates. By default, we extrapolate trends linearly. And that has an effect on our predictions when the rate of change is changing. We underestimate new technology and over estimate mature technology. Something to be mindful of!

Wisdom from Elon Musk - Part I - Conviction

Fri, 10 Jan 2014 11:24:00 +0800

I saw this very nice interview between Elon Musk (Tesla) and Sal Khan (Khan Academy)

The first thing that struck me about Elon Musk is his conviction.

He wanted to be at the forefront of humanity’s technological progress, so he identified areas where the biggest progress would take place. This part is not hard.

And then he just went all out. That conviction, in my opinion made all the difference. Fear of failure usually holds us back - but I feel that, given the force of his conviction, even if things hadn’t worked out so well, he wouldn’t have fallen too far.

Do or do not. There is no try.

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 15:26:00 +0800

I changed my new design to the first of blogger’s (new?) templates. Definitely feels simpler and easier on the head. I am trying to be more aesthetically conscious these days you see..

I also dropped my “pseudo” (I used to be a pseudo geek, now I am a geek. Yay!). Because Yoda told me to.

I like the ostrich though, so that stays. It’s kinda goofy and reminds me not to take myself too seriously.

How do we accumulate knowledge?

Tue, 31 Dec 2013 10:08:00 +0800

Since the internet exploded, much of our combined knowledge is available to the average person with internet access. But it is not just about availability though. Information is fed to us [emails, facebook, blogs, news articles] at an unprecedented rate with most of it random, subjective and noisy.

The sheer volume of incoming information means that we hardly have the time to make our own evaluations. So we outsource it. Consolidating information and making it consumable is becoming a big business these days and the loudest (not the best) information gets most attention. Is this healthy?

Working with processes and goals

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 21:34:00 +0800

I read this article recently - http://jamesclear.com/goals-systems

In my view, processes and goals have a much closer relationship. Effective processes

Convert big fuzzy goals (become better at writing / write a book) into smaller, easily digestive chunks (write 2 articles / week). The smaller goal needs to keep refilling itself to provide enough momentum to read the goal.
Form habits by tapping into the unconscious mind. After a few weeks of writing articles, it will start coming naturally to you without having to think too much.

Goals provide fuel for processes, processes are the vehicles to achieve goals.

If Peter Thiel Calls, follow your heart

Sun, 06 Oct 2013 23:39:00 +0800

A friend shared this article with me today - http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130926030101-29380071-adult-supervision

Here are my thoughts:

Peter Thiel’s structure is not for everyone, but doesnt mean it is wrong. It is meant for a people who have the urge to do something and university can sometimes stifle them. And the first company that a person starts is rarely bound to be successful. However, it is a fantastic learning experience and that is an important consideration.

Install latest distrubutions on EC2

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 14:55:00 +0800

EC2 typically has slightly older version of software (Amazon AMI, i use that most often. Other linux distributions are likely to be similar but the repos folder is likely to be different). I like to be cutting edge, (but not so much bleeding edge).

Here is how you can use external repos to install the latest distributions. Most of the LAMP stack stuff is available in this repo.

cd /etc/yum.repos.d

Add variety and force quicker results to keep your elephant happy

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:41:00 +0800

After the initial novelty of jogging wore off, I started looking for ways to keep the elephant inside my head interested in the 20 minute repetitive process that my rider wanted done.

One of my learnings was that I needed an immediate sense of progress. First I tried counting steps, and then counting squares and even cubes in sync with my steps. Then I realized the most important part of a jog was actually the breathing, and not the running. So I started counting breaths. Paying attention to my breathing ensured better control and I was able to run longer and faster. But ofcourse I got bored. 20 minutes was too long a time to be counting breaths.

Create processes before you delegate.

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:15:00 +0800

“You need to be 10 times as good as the person you are delegating to - unless you are bringing an expert on board.”

I got this advice recently from an entrepreneur, and I tend to agree in principle. For me it’s not about being better, but about practice. Delegation allows you to scale and practice help you create the process which provides the foundation on which you scale. So I would rephrase it as “Do it 10 times yourself before you delegate.”

Painkiller, vitamin, candy, crack

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:48:00 +0800

The lean startup model has a huge emphasis on solving pain points. It is a customer centric model, where you go talk to the customer first, identify the biggest pain points and then offer a solution for that. While this is very helpful in de-risking your business in most cases, some businesses by default dont solve a pain point and yet see huge success.. take any gaming company for example.

Hire people not based on achievements but on situations

Wed, 08 May 2013 22:56:00 +0800

“How will you measure your life” is a wonderful book.

Clayton Christensen (also the author of Innovator’s Dilemma and Innovator’s Solution) plays strong emphasis on context. Any solution / theory is of value only if the context is defined. If the context changes, the theory is not relevant and needs to be reformulated.

Among other things in the book, there is a section on building your career. And when you are looking for a role (or looking for someone to fill a role), the context is your experience. Your chances of success depends not on whether you have accomplished what the new role seeks to accomplish, but whether you have been in a situation similar to what the new role demands.

Personal feedback is generally useless, we need a trigger to change.

Tue, 07 May 2013 06:37:00 +0800

Great article by Mark Suster:

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2011/12/07/why-id-rather-err-on-the-side-of-direct-feedback-than-pleasantries/?utm_medium=bothsid.es-facebook-share&awesm=bothsid.es_q3D&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=awesm-publisher&utm_campaign=

My personal view is that feedback is good if it is directed at an object (presentation, company, pitch) but almost always useless if it directed at a person (you should to be more understanding, you should not be so lazy etc). Unless the person is willing to receive it, you can try all you want, the other person might even nod in agreement but it will be forgotten. People need a strong trigger to change and feedback is a lousy trigger.

Look for changes if you "feeling that something is wrong" but aren't sure what.

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:38:00 +0800

A lot of times we have a feeling that something is wrong (with ourselves or with the group), but we cannot pinpoint what it is.

The first step is ofcourse to recognize that feeling and make sure you dont ignore it. I ve found that my instincts are generally right on these things.. and very often things have blwon up because I didnt listen to these feelings.

Now I notice it more, and dont ignore, but if I cannot pinpoint what exactly is causing it, what do you do?

Crappy alternative a force people to think of better ones

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:20:00 +0800

We were thinking of new names for our company because .com is taken for doctree and that doesn’t bode well for our global domination plans. WE have been sitting on this for a while, and I was suggesting a string of different names to promote discussion. They werent particularly good (I was Ok a couple of them but them I am generally less picky than the average person), and my cofounder was rightly rejecting them. But I was little miffed that he wasnt offering any suggestions either. That’s when I came across this article

Challenges are opportunities to create processes

Wed, 01 May 2013 07:34:00 +0800

I was reading the book “How will you measure your life” by Clayton Christensen, and he suggested a very neat model to what a person / company would make decisions.

The idea is that we have resources (money, skills, labour) and we use processes to convert them into products / solutions according to the priorities ingrained in us. To refer back to my post last week, processes and priorities are what maketh the company blueprint.

Climb mountains, not so the world can see you but so you can see the world

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:55:00 +0800

A friend shared this quote with me and I thought it was quite profound!

Fact is, most of the world wont be able to see you if you stand on top of the tallest mountain in the world. Maybe noone will be able to see you. But if you look carefully, you can definitely see more of the world than you have ever seen before.

Entrepreneurs build companies. Companies build products

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:25:00 +0800

It was something that stuck to my head from the early days of jfdi. And i ve felt a need to remind myself of this every once in a while as It’s something easily forgotten in the rush to build a product and release it.

A company is a group of 3 or more people. The job scope of an entrepreneur is to build a framework or a blueprint which guides this company of people to run a business. And if the framework is built right, the company becomes scalable.

Focus products on the situation - not the customer

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:09:00 +0800

I have just started reading the Innovator’s Solution - and this was one of my big learnings from the first 3 chapters.

Taking the example of a cafe serving chocolate milkshake - the authors illustrate how focusing on the situation (When job does the chocolate milkshake product do for people and how can it do this job better?) rather than the customer (Who buys chocolate milkshake and what kind of milkshake do they like?) can make a big difference in how you target the product.

Infinite scrolling and assumptions

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 09:26:00 +0800

You must have heard of infinite scroll (http://pinterest.com/ , Google is a good example. See how there is no pagination). I always thought pagination was stupid when you could do something as cool as in infinite scroll.

Looks like Etsy did an A/B testing on infinite scroll.. So how it works is they roll out infinite scroll to a section of the users and stick to the old pagination for the rest of the users. And then they collect all kinds of relevant data like clicks, purchases etc of each user group and compare statistics to see if there is any significant difference in usage pattern.

And so it goes with God

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:54:00 +0800

Firstly, Spoiler Alert. If you havent watched the movie / read the book, please do. It is worth it!

Secondly, thank you Rohan for pushing me into penning this down.

So I have been thinking about realism ever since I saw that movie.. It was one of those moments when all the chatter in your head gets silenced for a bit and you feel liberated afterwards.. similar to when I watched Forrest Gump. I think it is pretty close to the feeling of “elevation” that Jonathan Haidt mentions in the Happiness Hypothesis.

Always ask / find out what the other person wants..

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:09:00 +0800

And put a lot of effort into finding out where you can add value.

Gives you a negotiating edge and lets you tailor your pitch accordingly.

Seems quite obvious eh? As I learnt recently, it tends to slip our mind when we get too caught up in trying to get our idea across.. which we tend to do when we are really passionate about something.

So when you are really passionate about something and want another person to join you, make sure you actively slot in some “listening time”. (Not so obvious now perhaps? :) )

3 things

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:22:00 +0800

A good friend has taken to asking people on their birthdays as to the 3 things they would like to do over the course of the next year. I thought it was a good idea, and would be good to put it on record.

So 3 things -

1. Work more intensely

Not in terms of time spent, but with high productivity. Once of the hardest things to do as a self employed person is to have a cut-off. It is so easy to keep working all day and then work becomes life. I need clearly defined baskets within which I work with full intensity on 1 thing.. I am starting to experiment with a bunch of ideas toward this goal, will keep a note of it here.

Lactose tolerance

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:07:00 +0800

I always wondered why I was seeing so many lactose intolerant people.. it seemed natural to me that humans should be able to drink milk. The thought of it being a mutation definitely crossed my mind.

Looks like I was asking the wrong question! http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolution/2012/10/evolution_of_lactose_tolerance_why_do_humans_keep_drinking_milk.single.html

Quick wins and giving structure to fuzzy ideas

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:23:00 +0800

Here I am again after a nearly 4 month hiatus.

I generally come back to write if I have something to say.. there are usually many things, but 1 consolidated BIG idea stands out that compels me to share it. The idea has consolidated in my head over time and I know more or less what it is that I want to say. So its just a matter of writing it down, and it is not so hard. Once it is done, I go back to the world of fuzzy ideas and unclear thoughts. Occasionally I think of writing something but I need to consolidate first and the extra step creates enough inertia that I dont write anything till my next BIG idea moment.

The 6am routine

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 07:44:00 +0800

So, I had another of my bi-monthly urge to write a blog post (and I suspect I ll write a few more before I hibernate again)

Why? I woke up at 630 and I felt happy. Satisfied. At peace.

I had written before about being a producer in the morning, and I did follow up on it. I have been tracking my wake-up timings almost every day since November ‘11, and I have been steadily pushing them towards the 630 mark. It was very nice to see so many 6s and so little 8s.. I was exercising regularly in the morning, so I felt healthy. I occasionally took an afternoon nap, but usually I got some momentum going before lunch and I was quite productive in early June.

The game of life

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:01:00 +0800

I lead 2 lives these days.. It has been helping a lot with bringing structure and sanity into my days..

First life (lets call it “work life” or WL) is roughly between 10-6 every weekday. Responsibilities include working on my startup. Building website and other miscellaneous stuff that keep popping up.

The second life (we ll call it weekend life or.. oh that wont work, so we ll go with “Second life” or SL) happens every weekend and during evenings on weekdays. Weekends in particular, where

The hegemony of Apple

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:27:00 +0800

It is funny how Apple can do anything they want and get away with it. They have stomped on my nerves twice in the last 2 days..

All I wanted to do was to test my iPhone app on a real phone.. because I heard there was a bug in the emulator where you might not be able to edit a TableView.

I had an iPhone 3GS updated to iOS 5.1, and I had the new-ish XCode (4.2) i had paid for sometime back. Should be no problem, right?

Wonderful quote!

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:29:00 +0800

‘Variety may be the spice of life, but monotony provides the groceries.’

Thanks to Rohan @ http://www.alearningaday.com/

Being a producer

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:54:00 +0800

I have been struggling to wake up before 8am. The days I do wake up, I usually go jogging before I have time to think about going back to bed. Or I have important work to do, and I get right down to it.

I have tried going straight for my phone to check email to get my brain ticking. It has worked reasonably well, because once my brain starts ticking, it knows I must not go back to sleep. But then the days werent as motivating as the days when I went jogging early / did lots of work early.

The tale of the three fish

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:40:00 +0800

You might have heard this story from the Panchatantra (Translates to “Five Principles”. It is a very insightful ancient Indian collection of inter-related animal fables) in one some form or the other. If you haven’t, here it is:

Three fish lived in a pond. Their names were Anagatavidhata (which in Sanskrit translates to “future maker”), Pratyutpannamati (translates to “ready minded”) and Yadbhavishya (translates to “whatever happens”). We ll call them Future , Ready and Whatever for simplicity and humour. ;) Anyway, back at the pond, some fishermen were passing by and wondered aloud, “Hey, we have never seen this pond. It seems to be full of fish. It is now evening. Let us come at dawn tomorrow and bag as many fish as we can.”

Lunar eclipse and misinformation

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:48:00 +0800

Be superstitious. I am no one to judge. But please dont spread wrong information about things you know nuts about to justify your superstition.

Today evening, there is a lunar eclipse and I am at my grandparents house. As will be the case in any typical south indian brahmin household, there are umpteen number of rituals associated with the lunar eclipse. Interestingly, today is also Karthigai, (one of) the supposed birthdays of Lord Muruga. He is important in south India. So, there are the usual sweets and rituals that also have to be performed.

Receiving help

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 23:26:00 +0800

I am bad at receiving help, especially if I didnt ask for it. I instinctively reject it. The rationale being, I dont want to owe anyone anything if I can help it.

Not all help is bad. Of late, I have found that helping someone unconditionally (without any expected returns.. even implicitly) gives me maximum satisfaction. I think it would apply to most of us too. And that satisfaction is further enhanced by a thankful receiver. So for me to help and be satisfied by it, the receiver should accept it. He/she plays a big role in the process.

The world is amazing!

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:04:00 +0800

It is really funny the way he says it, but he has a very very good point.

(Got it from here : http://sivers.org/sharing - great blog. I love his simple style! :) )

Last class..

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:42:00 +0800

Yesterday, I attended my last class in university without even realizing it.

It was the Chinese oral exam. Well, that was not strictly a class, so lets see.. it was the Chinese class 2 weeks ago. (I stopped attending other classes).

And today I will be finishing my last assignment!

A close friend of mine graduated 6 months ago and left for the US to work. He was feeling.. sad I guess and emotional. The way you feel when you leave your parents to come to a foreign country. It was rather unusual of him but this was his first home away from home, and he would be leaving the place, the environment, friends… indefinitely for quite sometime. He was starting a new life. This was not an exchange. When he came back, he wouldnt be the carefree student, but a responsible worker!

Rescue time..

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:21:00 +0800

A friend/lifehacher introduced me to this neat little app called RescueTime. I have been using it for a month now.. it sits in the background and observes what you are doing. then your activities are categorized into -2 to 2 points. -2 being very distracting and +2 being very productive. Then it shows neat little graphs on how your spend (waste) your time every day.

My biggest learning from the exercise was how much time was wasted in email. I knew I was spending more time that I should.. but when I saw I was spending close to 4hours per day at the email, it gave me quite a shock.

Geek joke! :D

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:53:00 +0800

Person 1: What’s the integral of 1/cabin?

Person 2: A natural log cabin.

Person 1: No, a houseboat you forgot to add the c!

24 hours

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:07:00 +0800

We just had a 24 hour marathon at work, since we realized we were moving waayy to slow for a startup.

It was 3 of us - 8pm Fri night to 8pm Saturday night. I realized immediately that for the whole thing to work, some structure was required.

So this is what I tried.

1. We sat in such a way that all of us could see each other’s laptops.. ie noone could goof off.

To share or not to share, that is the question!

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:28:00 +0800

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHopJHSlVo4

We have generally been told about the peer pressure factor that pushes us to achieve a goal. A lot of apps exists and a lot of productivity techniques revolve around that. Why, even my last blog post was based on making a public commitment.

But then I think he has a point. Take for example, the last time I told someone I was going to jog 3 times a day. I did do it for a while, but after a point, I had proved half the point, and failing wasnt THAT embarassing so I stopped for whatever reason.. noone noticed, and I quietly swept it under the carpet.

Not being lazy

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:05:00 +0800

A lot of people have asked me to continue my blog. They told me it was nice. I didnt share my blog with them, nor did I speak about it in any way. It was entirely self-initiated on their part. The least I can do is to show them my appreciation!

But first, why havent I written anything for 3 months?

We all have our excuses! I list them here for your (and my) entertainment (and reflection)

The champion falls..

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:29:00 +0800

But real champions remain champions even in defeat.

Your legacy will live on, Roger Federer!

And hats off to you, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That was definitely inspiring! :)

The next karate kid

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:25:00 +0800

Its an old movie, but I just watched it on TV. Its a simple story about an impatient girl and her old caretaker who teaches her to get focussed through karate, and helps her stand up for herself.

There were however, some very memorable quotes

“Fighting not good. Somebody always gets hurt”

“Ambition without knowledge is like a boat on dry land”

“The answer is important only if the right question is asked”

BigV and X

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 22:09:00 +0800

One of the best things about home are the long chats I have with dad! We discussed this on the way to buy vegetables.. I felt it was worth sharing!

Now consider this large village BigV. Lets say 200 sq.kms big. It has a variety of resources and can generally sustain itself. Now, in BigV a certain item X is very important. It is a religious/cultural symbol and every household in BigV is expected to have X. As BigV grows, it needs more and more of X and there isnt enough X within BigV.

Vibes

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:16:00 +0800

When you are minding your own business, and others near you are minding their own business, things are not as disconnected as they might seem. Vibes get passed around, and these vibes impact everyone.

It is not important to be positive only when you are interacting with other.. it is important to be positive when you are interacting with yourself. It does make a difference to the environment around you!

Calvin (of the Hobbes fame).. such a mood lifter! :)

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:05:00 +0800

If you are feeling disillusioned / annoyed / frustrated / depressed, go to http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/, keep reading. Calvin’s devilish innocence is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Calvin is definitely my favourite comic (followed closely by Asterix). Both are witty and satiric in a way, but Calvin is much more. It is a celebration of the child in every person, of innocence and of unbridled imagination - all three being one of the few sources of pure joy! No wonder Calvin puts a smile on my face everytime I meet him.

Do you own copyright to work you do in your spare time?

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:45:00 +0800

Looks like in the IT industry, its not the case..

Nice article:

http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/19422/if-im-working-at-a-company-do-they-have-intellectual-property-rights-to-the-stu/20136#20136

Synthesized Happiness..

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:07:00 +0800

http://lifehacker.com/5719077/avoid-added-stress-by-just-deciding-and-moving-forward

Interesting! Also makes sense in a way :)

Truth

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:03:00 +0800

“Na ayam pravachanena labhyo. Na medhayo, na bahunaa shruthena.”

Truth is not attained through lectures, through academic degrees, nor by group discussions. It is attained when we will to attain it. That is when it reveals itself to our joy!
- mundakopanishad

Another profound one..

The universe..

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:02:00 +0800

“Om eesaavaasyam idagam sarvam. Yat kincha jagatyaam jagat.”

Every moving object in the universe, including the moving universe, is indwelt, pervaded, enveloped by it!
-Isavasya upanishad.

This was written at a time when they didnt know about the solar system.. when the earth was at the center of the universe… they didnt know about galaxies, red giants, the big bang, curving spacetime or blackholes.. particles, atoms, photons, quarks were unknown.. It was looong before even calculus was developed. And yet, they were able to imagine the concept of infinity soo beautifully. And come up with concepts that increase in relevance with each passing day as our knowledge “grows”.

Sunk cost

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:09:00 +0800

Just because you have something, doesnt mean you have to use it even if it decreases productivity.

It is a common trap humans tend to fall into.

The question is, given r0 resources and utility function f(x) [measures the amount of benefit you derive from x resources], what is utility that can be derived? The key point to note is that f(x) is NOT always increasing.. which means, the answer is not f(r0) but the maximum of all f(x) where x <= r and then find the maximum. It is likely that this is achieved at r1 < r0. This would especially be true when there are say N resources x1,x2,x3…xN. These could refer to internet, phone, number of chairs, food, lights, furniture whatever. And in this case, the utility function would be f(x1,x2,x3…xN). And f(r0,a2,a3…aN) is not necessarily > f(r1,a2,x3..xN) (where x2, x3 etc are kept constant at a2 a3 unless they vary with x0) if r0 > r1. So we get the feeling that r1-r0 is “wasted”. But no! We care about f not x, ie. the output is more important than the input. If you are getting more out of less, we should use less, even if more is available. Even if we paid for the more. The cost of r0 is a “Sunk cost” and it should have no part to play in how the resources are utilized.

Why is it so hard to install eclipse on linux?

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:23:00 +0800

Harder than anything I have installed. Not nice.

Let gooooooo and you will flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :D

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:41:00 +0800

The trick is to make yourself as close to weightless as possible… you can do that by letting go of all the weight you carry (Duh!!). And you will keep flying as long as you dont worry about falling down. Fear is pretty heavy, you see!

Just keep gliding.. and enjoy the view! :D

Perfection.

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 02:38:00 +0800

That beautiful state of bliss where nothing else really matters… :)

Change

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:14:00 +0800

People change. Life changes. You change! It cant be avoided. Just learn to adapt and live with it.

So much to learn..

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:57:00 +0800

so much to understand. No time to waste! Not a second!

To the quest for complete knowledge!

True appreciation...

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:37:00 +0800

Money follows hype. Recognition follows hype. “Success” follows hype. No, they don’t follow excellence.

The truth is that the world has become too big (although we say it is shrinking) for excellence to thrive on its own. There is too much going on that it needs to supported by a good dose of marketing / hype. And the interesting thing is, mediocrity supported by hype will be more recognized because most of us have lost the ability to evaluate something (or even someone) on our own. The “shrinking” world has increased information density tremendously and since there is so much competition, to make information stand out, it is constantly being processed and repackaged. And we fall for the packaging like sitting ducks. Because it is too much work to evaluate something independently, see? And since we are busy taking in more processed information, lets us just outsource the thinking part. In essence, we are hiring someone else to THINK for us.

Slow down.

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 21:59:00 +0800

You dont have to keep going forward. Every once in a while, it is wise to take a step back to check your bearings.

Otherwise, you will mindlessly be running all over the place.

Star Trek

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 16:19:00 +0800

In my endeavour to graduate from being a pseudo geek to a real geek, I have been diligently watching Star Trek

Apparently, according to my friend “You are not a geek if you haven’t watched every episode of the star trek series and the movies atleast twice and can recite the Klingon alphabets in reverse.”

Sure, he was exaggerating a bit but I hadnt watched ANY movie or ANY episode of star trek at that point so I was like “What the hell is Klingon?”. I didnt say it to avoid getting disowned ofcourse but I was determined to pass this (hopefully) last test that prevented me from calling myself a geek in front of other geeks.

Advice

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:59:00 +0800

I lovvvved this post! I think it pretty much sums up all I wanted to say:
http://www.pluginid.com/stop-taking-advice/

To add on though, this is also relevant when we GIVE advice. Very often we feel our advice makes a lot of sense and are annoyed when the other person sees things differently. Well, it perfectly natural. Try as you might, it is impossible to be another person. We don’t have the technology (brain surgery?) to do that yet. The most helpful you can get is to share your experience, share experience others’ experience and share your perspective. And remember, as “right” as you might sound to yourself, you might sound equally “wrong” to the other person and there is nothing contradictory about that.

Giving unconditionally

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:44:00 +0800

Recently, my friend and I were talking about giving unconditionally.

Caring about the next person is one thing, caring about the next person without expecting ANY form of future returns is quite another.

What do I mean by unconditional?

You are not giving because you believe that good karma will come back to you in the future. You are not giving to build a relationship. You act of giving is not driven at any level (not even subconsciously) by possible future returns.

Joel on Software

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:38:00 +0800

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/

This was recommended to me by a close friend.

He said “Read ALL his articles. Yes, he is THAT good”.

And yes he is THAT good so I want to share it with you. If you are remotely connected to the software industry in any way (and in today’s world, there is very less chance you aren’t), please go read.

Slowing down...

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 12:37:00 +0800

Very nice article!
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/manager/2010/09/20/stories/2010092050590600.htm

Dont ever quit.

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:29:00 +0800

Only shift priorities when necessary.

There is nothing you cannot do. It just a matter of time and effort. All you need to decide is whether the effort / time is worth it.

In other words, if you truly want something, you just have to go and get it.

Invictus

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 10:45:00 +0800

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

Hmmmm

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:33:00 +0800

Life is full of interesting experiences. Some are fun, some are not so much fun but most are interesting if we look at them the right way. And most have potential opportunities.

And well, it could definitely have been worse. :)

I want to write this again.

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:50:00 +0800

Prepare hard. Be sincere. Stay true to your heart. And just do it.

What has to happen, will happen :)

Something tells me this is all I need to internalize to be truly happy and satisfied.

Chef Nishanth's number threee

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 07:13:00 +0800

Fried Rice. Tasted as awesome as it looks! :P Had plenty of help from Decembermist and lots of guidance from dearest mom ofcourse :)

Just do it.

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:32:00 +0800

Prepare hard. Be sincere. Stay true to your heart. And just do it.

What has to happen, will happen :)

Hello dal!

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:21:00 +0800

Take 3 with lots of veggies (including some obviously oversized carrots)

Tastes like dal too! :D

Next up, is rasam.

Dal - take 2

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 07:59:00 +0800

Blurred because my hand started shaking due to the heat. But it is starting to slowly resemble dal. I think take 3 will make it

Oh and remember, dal takes forever to cook. You can never underestimate its uncookability.

"Dal"

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:07:00 +0800

Well, almost. And well, its my first time! :P

Will remove the quotes soon enough haha

Spreading happiness..

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:19:00 +0800

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/08/02/8.sites.brighten.day/index.html?iref=obinsite#fbid=dWScOQHwenb&wom=true

Friendship day

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:25:00 +0800

I think the whole concept is hilarious. Just 2 months ago there was a “Best friends day”. Blah.

You think I am your friend? Awesome! It is a privilege to have your support. Thank you and please continue being one.. I really appreciate it.
You dont need to wish me on some random day decided by some random dude so he could sell more greeting cards. And if you send me sms spam / email spam / facebook spam about some friendship day, I consider it very unfriendly and insensitive.

Banker to the Poor

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:16:00 +0800

I have recently taken a keen interest in microfinance. And considering that, at Credit Mobile, we are planning to start a company that would use mobile technology to help the rural popor, I felt I had to become an expert on the needs of the rural poor.

And I felt the best person to seek advice from was Muhammad Yunus.

“Banker to the Poor” is the autobiography of Muhammad Yunus, a Economics professor from Bangladesh who was so moved by the poverty that followed the Bangladesh famine (1974 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_famine_of_1974) that he started a new branch of economics called microfinance. And no, he didnt just teach it to his students, he implemented a revolutionary concept and started the Grameen bank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grameen_Bank) which has spread its wings in 80000 villages over the world both in developed and developing countries alike. It had a turnover of USD 93 million in 2009, and 7.41 million members.

Hello, my dear Culicidae

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:36:00 +0800

I am back. And I want blood.

So do you.

My electric bat and highly developed brain vs your annoying proboscis and admirable zest to procreate.

Let the fight begin!

Time and again, I am proven right.

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:33:00 +0800

Yet, it is taking me so much time to believe 100% in myself and go with what I think is right.

I guess it is part of a process and I believe it is a positive process.. Slow and steady..

Too much of a good thing is bad

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:05:00 +0800

Suppose you wanted your techie friend to help you set up a website. How would you proceed?

Instinct would probably say
Go to friend, say “Hey can you help me set up a website? Thanks so much” and friend helps.

Most self help books would say “You don’t just keep asking people for help.. you should always look for a way to compensate. Or you try to find out what is in it for them”

Red ants and home food

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:24:00 +0800

They love my laptop. I have no idea where they come from but they come.. near my laptop. Strange bedfellows.

Home food. Is awesome.

Thank you!

undefined

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:04:00 +0800

“My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it serves our country well… I’ve worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mispricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate’s distribution of long straws is wildly capricious.”

Warren Buffet on gold..

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:03:00 +0800

It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.

[Chapter 3- The first walk]

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:50:00 +0800

The walk was nice. I managed to find a map. And I decided to walk around.. take in the awesome weather with the cool air and a touch of sunlight. It was a pretty curious place. There were these quaint 19th century buildings. and there were these little “potti kadais” (roadside shop) tucked inside. Sometimes there were even supermarkets hiding inside those buildings. And there were these occasional teenagers who would hand you a flyer and say something in Polish. You would stare amused at the letters on the paper, play a short game of “find the vowels”, give up and throw it into the nearest dustbin.

Problems -> Solutions

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:12:00 +0800

I have been getting bogged down a by problems lately. Getting stuck. Complaining. Looking for a way out instead of forcing my way out. I am becoming myopic. I feel myself devoid of the freedom I used to be proud of.

And it is amazing how quickly things move when your mental make-up changes from the caged nature of “Oh no, there are so many problems - this cant be happening to me!” to the freedom of “Assume the worst - solve the problem - move forward.”

Dziękuję Warszawa, Dziękuję Microsoft! [Chapter 2 – Hotel Microsoft]

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:56:00 +0800

I reached Zurich in the morning on the 2nd after witnessing the beauty of the Alps from above. I had 3 hours left my connecting flight, so I decided to step out and inhale the cool Zurich air with Alps providing a tranquil backdrop as I set foot for the first time on European soil. I roamed around for a while, checked out the airport mall, ogled at the German signs and the prices in Swiss Francs, realized I didn’t have Swiss Francs, and finally ended up back in the airport. The departure area was a single long corridor dotted with plenty of chairs and door on either side taking you down to the respective gates. I sat on one of the chairs next to my door (this was 40 mins before departure) and saw just 5 other people. But by the time I had grinned at the lady near the door who checked my ticket and said “poittu vaanga”, 50 passengers had appeared out of nowhere. And so I sat in the 4-seats-row-flight, chatted for a while (yes, I had wifi inside the aeroplane :D), and had the vegetarian sandwich offered after take off.

Dziękuję Warszawa, Dziękuję Microsoft! [Chapter 1 – Departure]

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:23:00 +0800

I just returned from my first ever trip outside Asia – an all expenses paid outing to Warsaw, Poland for a week. It was, as you would expect, a really amazing experience and I felt it deserved a nice long account for 3 reasons.

To consolidate all that I learnt and experienced in the trip so I can chuckle over it on my 35th birthday.
To have a readymade link that I can point people to when they ask “Hey, how was the trip”?

RealAcad Learning..

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:17:00 +0800

‘Bitter-sweet’ strategy: Remember the story of how the wise master stopped his apprentice from complaining?

Tired of constant complaints, one morning, the wise master sent his apprentice some salt and asked him to mix it with a glass of water and drink it.

‘How is it?’ the master asked.

‘Bitter,’ spat the apprentice.

He then took him to a lake, poured the same amount of salt in it and asked him to taste the water.

Polska!

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:13:00 +0800

I am sitting in my room Warsaw (or Warszawa (spelt warshawa) as the people here call it) for the final round of the Imagine Cup 2010.
Tomorrow, we present.. There is plenty of work to be done…
I have been going around the city - quaint would be the perfect word to describe it. The place still has stone carriageways in many places and 1900s style buildings. There are trams as well, and the occasional malls. Plenty of cars.. quite a few cyclists. A huge tower stands in the city center - a gift from the Russians (that the citizens not to blow apart). The city was 80% destroyed by the Nazis and it is indeed amazing how they have rebuilt it.
As I enjoy a Microsoft sponsored week in luxury, I think the following “imagine"d conversation sums up the Imagine Cup part of things..

Smile :)

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:06:00 +0800

And keep smiling :)

If you want to be happy, be. :)

undefined

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:31:00 +0800

“Keep adding value to people till they take you for granted. If they don’t, try harder. As these are the people who matter.” - Eric Blumson

undefined

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:23:00 +0800

It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. - Dag Hammarskjold (from Rohan’s blog)

Trivia:
Dag Hammarskjold (Swedish) was the second secretary general of the UN. He died when he was in office in a place crash when he was flying to negotiate a ceasefire in Africa.

Go FedEx!

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:30:00 +0800

Number 7 awaits you!

Trust, and other random thoughts

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:56:00 +0800

I paid $150 to slow down the greying of my hair a little. Felt it was completely worth it!

But now, it looks like I will enter into another mess I thought I was out of. I didnt set up proper communication channels I guess.. Did I trust too much maybe? Trust is a game I am naturally not very comfortable with.. but something I am pushing myself to develop. What is it that I am so scared of losing anyways? My reputation I guess.. hmmm. Buffet says thats more important than money, and I d agree.

A glimpse of hope

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:06:00 +0800

♫ A glimpse of hope..
faded away just as it came
Left me to grope..
‘cept the darkness was ne’er the same.

Rest

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:30:00 +0800

One 7 hour sleep.. totally unintended.. but changed the entire game!

From “Phew its its Friday, and I still need to work all weekend!”, I became “oooooh its Friday! I have 2 full days to work on credit mobile!”.

Was totally worth it. It’s good to put important before urgent. Sure, you screw up the urgent stuff but what’s life without a few screw ups? ;)

Grace

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:45:00 +0800

Under pressure is what separates leaders from the rest..

From rohan’s blog on Monday.. felt it was a good time to remind myself..

Be graceful! :)

I am working hard..

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:32:00 +0800

I haven’t slept properly.. I am hungry and I have lots of work to do.. my irritably is perfectly justified.

That may be so but
1. It is still your choice.
2. That doesn’t justify why someone else should be dragged into your pit of irritability.

So stop being a jerk and smile. :)

It's is good to push yourself..

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:23:00 +0800

But pushing yourself without thinking is the pinnacle of naivety

Dorakuna Itu Vanti Seva?

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:20:00 +0800

Seems apt as I look into the clouds immersed in the song in Raaga Bilahari at 630am.. A cool morning breeze blowing gently.. bread in hand. Just happy. Thankful for all I have. And so much to look forward to.. Not worrying about the list of tasks to complete in the 1 odd hour left before I leave for work.. (and hopefully reach on time! )

Life is beautiful! :)

Dorakuna Itu Vanti Seva? -“Will it ever be possible to have the blessed privilege of such a Darshana?”

Intense day..

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:03:00 +0800

7 learnings..

Working hard does mean you starve. Yes, you are eating food as normal but for some reason, you stomach is screaming out that it is starving. SO EAT!!!
Caffeine can keep me awake yes, but I get a feeling I am abusing it. I feel unclean. And I dont even like coffee. Well it tastes ok with Milo, by why should I consume 2 - 2.5 spoons of coffee a day? I must stop.. Coffee cannot substitute sleep. If I am drinking coffee, it means I am not managing my time well enough to get good sleep. It is important to recognize this and work towards instead of thinking everything is hunky dory because I got 13.5 points.

Weekends

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:29:00 +0800

I am slowly starting to realizing their beauty.

I am also understand what “Monday morning blues” are. Except its Sunday night.

But my week begins early - on sunday night.

I need the unwinding on saturday and sunday. It’s worth it. It recharges my battery. Makes Monday-Friday worth working.

And I love this go all out on weekdays and relax on weekends concept. Both complement each other - and make the other all the more satisfying! Although you wish the weekends were just that little bit longer, I guess I ll get used to it.

Check mail in PGP - without bunking work.

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:12:00 +0800

Its a Saturday. Office is closed. And its vacation time. There is no cluster leader during vacations.
And there is a power shutdown (not that it matters in this context, but still, no food, no nanyang supermarket, no LIFT, and no desktop. and no fan. and no light in the bathroom. and no lot of other things we are so shamelessly dependent on.)

And you want that account statement you think is in your mailbox. But you obviously dont have your mailbox key because you didnt think it was a smart idea to take half-day in office just to get the mailbox key from the extremely helpful people at admin office who are available strictly from 9-5 on weekdays only.

Good day!

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:27:00 +0800

Had review session at work. People are very happy. Which is boring - but suits me now. I need to simplify non-CM parts of life.

Microsoft seems to have agreed to pay. Need to focus on CM. Really focus. Obsess over it. There are just 2 weeks left.

Sorry

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:37:00 +0800

Dear body,

Sorry for abusing you like this. I promise to make it up to you.

Please understand and cooperate like you always have.

Thanks!
Nishanth

Phew!

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:11:00 +0800

This is turning out to be a intense week! Last couple of weeks were also tight but I managed to mostly stay afloat.

Now, I am slowly beginning to get pulled under from different sides and it is forcing me to rapidly prioritize, plan and execute to keep things moving. Which is tiring but very exciting. So far it has been great fun but it is ever so easy for things to become spin out of control. And this time, I was so determined to stop that from happening that I was able to turn the crisis switch on earlier than usual. Crisis mode is always fun - but I hope there isnt much damage done this time around. Cannot compromise.

Perspectives

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:27:00 +0800

I am a strong believer in perspectives. Perspective changes everything.

Yet, some perspectives are ridiculously hard to achieve. Like the one where you look at yourself as an outsider. Maybe I can step back - but can I look at myself as another person would? No, I cannot. I am restricted by me. The assumptions I make about myself. The curse of knowledge. Knowledge about myself.

I have always maintained that the person who knows you best is yourself. I still hold on to that. But then, I realize it is a biased perspective. To see that knowledge in its raw form objectively is very difficult. It is too complex. So we have checkpoints. Abstractions. Assumptions. Axioms. Call it what you want, but it is biased.

Look before you leap!

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:59:00 +0800

Especially when you angry. Anger tends to make your view myopic.

I was totally exhausted..

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:43:00 +0800

and half way through convincing myself to dump my work and go to sleep.

And my lovely sister had this on her status:

When life gets you down you know whatchu gotta do? Just keep Swimmin’! Just keep swimmin’!Just keep swimmin’ swimmin’ swimmin’ What do we do? we swim swim.

I asked her why so much excitement and she sent me this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxB_TemN1pc

Gave me that little extra firepower to last the night!

Preliminary analysis

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:56:00 +0800

Judging people is never easy. Yet, your brain often jumps to conclusions using half-data. A quick preliminary analysis using stereotypes and probability.

This ability of our brain is not a bad thing.

For instance, we were interviewing our country manager ( and ex-finance minister of the philippines) today. He was talking about his biggest take-away from Harvard Business school other than the network he developed - How to make decisions using partial information. It is an important skill to have because in the real world, our information is hardly going to be complete. We usually have information with varying degrees of accuracy, reliability and completeness. Yet we need to take a call with what you have! If we wait for the full information, the decision might become irrelevant.

Starting fresh! :)

Sun, 30 May 2010 22:51:00 +0800

There is no right. And there is no wrong.

Sun, 30 May 2010 11:44:00 +0800

Hence, there is no doubt.

Ha! 8:57.

Thu, 27 May 2010 08:58:00 +0800

Not that hard, was it?

Wake up!

Wed, 26 May 2010 19:32:00 +0800

Overconfidence kills.

And follow the code. That means you don’t go late for work without informing even if you stay there till 12 midnight.

I seem to able to extract a weird kind of inspiration..

Mon, 24 May 2010 06:20:00 +0800

by listing the time remaining to a predefined deadline as my gtalk status every now and then.

Its like shouting out to the world - “This is my commitment. And I am writing it down - so you can hold me to it!”

Should use it more often to get work done. :)

And the week begins..

Mon, 24 May 2010 05:49:00 +0800

Here is to an intense week of clean ups and exploring new boundaries! A week after which I will come out 10 times more peaceful than I am now.

Trust.

Sun, 23 May 2010 16:41:00 +0800

Disappointment. Frustration. Anger.

The culprit as always, is lack of communication.

Nothingness..

Sun, 23 May 2010 08:20:00 +0800

Well, if you exclude the copius amounts of sleep, laundry and cleaning room.

And a good movie..

Well rested, invigorated by the music of the morn, it’s time to seize the day!

Carpe Diem!

Important vs. urgent..

Wed, 19 May 2010 22:02:00 +0800

Picking the important one is a tough call to make.

And it usually causes you a lot of pain in the short term..

But somewhere deep inside, you know that you are doing what you want to do - and not what you have to do. And somewhere inside, you also know that things are going to get better because of those choices. And that satisfaction makes it worth it. :)

Carpe Diem!

Wed, 19 May 2010 21:59:00 +0800

Lunching with fellow interns..

Tue, 18 May 2010 23:15:00 +0800

Much more energy and optimism.

Young, eager and innocent kids with high hopes and big dreams.. untouched by the cynicism that sometimes comes with age and experience. Hahaha..

Lunching with colleagues..

Mon, 17 May 2010 21:54:00 +0800

Listening to them talk.. was pretty interesting. It is fun to silently observe. :)

There was this one guy.. was gossiping about others.. telling me not to work so late… I found it very amusing! :)

He sits right next to me and I sensed a feeling of dissatisfaction in him from the beginning. And he is not exactly proactive about it.. want someone to change his life for him! I doubt he ll survive very long..

Wonderful day

Sat, 15 May 2010 00:18:00 +0800

WIth MBTI analysis and cooking. Very professionally done. Very insightful. Then bonding via cooking session.. very unique and innovative. Great team! Great environment!

Thank you Credit Suisse.. you have really blown me away in just 1 week! :)

Occams Razor

Fri, 14 May 2010 08:58:00 +0800

Don’t try to over optimize :)

When life is good..

Fri, 14 May 2010 07:46:00 +0800

Work hard! And enjoy it!

IF you are enjoying just kicking the ball around… the goal isnt that important. As long as you strive to keep getting better at kicking the ball.

N.B When did I start talking in football-tongue??

My Code

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:44:00 +0800

In the end, it may not matter.

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 05:38:00 +0800

But the process does.

You've got to get to the stage in life where

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:07:00 +0800

..going for it is more important than winning or losing.

Arthur Ashe

Alone.

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:55:00 +0800

So much fun. So much laughter. So much life! There are people all around. So many thoughts.. So much to talk. So much to share.. This is just.. amazing!

“Heyyy Vinod! How are you? Its been a such a long time! Heard you got married! Congratulations dude.. Introduce me to your wife sometime.. Anyways, what are you up to these days? Still working for that packaging company?”

Indeed it has been such a long time since I saw Vinod. I have so much to ask him.. so much to talk to him about. We go back to our school days. Now, when was the last time I..
“Oh Hey, MJ! My God, you have changed so much!”. Indeed she had grown plump. Not fat. But plump. But ofcourse, you can’t say that to a girl. Not that this one would care… Her name was Nivedha. Everyone called her MJ. She had nothing to do with Michael Jackson though… But somehow, the name had stuck…. Everyone used it, but few of us knew what it meant… Fun memories!

The same thing can appear different

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:53:00 +0800

depending on where your focus is.

It could change opinions radically!

Been a while...

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:42:00 +0800

And I have been wondering.. Why do we do what we do?

To take a small example - After the initial excitement of everyday posts, I have only blogged when I felt something significant.

Why?

It is an unprejudiced question. There is no blame or guilt involved. It merely tries to observe human nature. And I would be the easiest subject to observe… Or would I?

Well, easy or not, the process is definitely very interesting.

The importance of the first follower!

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:27:00 +0800

http://mydd.com/2010/2/12/the-shirtless-dani

Find your first followers and build them. Even at the cost of ignoring everyone else. As long as the first followers stick to you, the rest will follow..

It is very true. What is also a great point is that being a first follower is not easy. So, be proud if you are one! :)

Cliched - but very true.

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:56:00 +0800

You dont realize the true value of something till it is taken away from you :)

Value your time.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:00 +0800

There's no limit to what a man can achieve...

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:03:00 +0800

if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.- Laing Burns, Jr

What happens when you have too intimidating an alarm?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:38:00 +0800

You are so focused on switching off and going back to sleep - so, though it serves the purpose of waking you up, it does not help you stay awake.

It might be a good idea to follow it up always with a softer one which will remind you that the objective is to keep awake and not switch the annoying alarm off :)

A different prespective -

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:19:00 +0800

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” - Oscar Wilde

Beyond a point,

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:07:00 +0800

money has no value.

In fact, it shouldnt.

If there is no such point for you, you are in deep trouble.

Milestone

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:36:00 +0800

100 days of managing finances! A rewarding system.. :)

To an organized future..

When you make a choice...

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:14:00 +0800

Pause and think about why exactly you made that choice.

The observations are very insightful! :)

It is much easier to criticize...

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:26:00 +0800

Than it is to appreciate.. but that would be missing the point.. there is always scope for improvement.. but that’s not the point.. the point is to appreciate the beauty - and you can always find it if you look hard enough - of the current state. To enjoy this beauty. Then, you can go about improving it.. not because you don’t you don’t like the current state.. but because you love what you see in it and want to make it so much better.

undefined

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:51:00 +0800

Practice what you preach.. but preaching what you practice may not always be a good idea.. even if you are convinced your practice is a sound one..

The BIIG picture

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:32:00 +0800

Anything you might face, all your concerns, your wants are insignificant - if you broaden your view sufficiently. You are then left in a state of satisfied bliss :)

Be happy, because there is nothing to worry about.

Superperformers..

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:26:00 +0800

could be as bad as underperformers in your team..

If everyone looks up to one person as someone to fall back on, that person doesnt belong in the team.

In short, fire Ronaldo/Gerrard!

Fascination not interest..

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:24:00 +0800

Interested people want to know if something works.. Fascinated people want to learn how it works.. Let fascination drive you.. And indeed, there is an entire universe to be fascinated about!

Thanks to Tejasvi for this one : http://tejasvilearnings.blogspot.com/2009/06/fascination-not-interest.html

Growing up...

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:20:00 +0800

a very curious thing…

I had no idea..

Thu, 28 May 2009 09:25:00 +0800

.. what linear programming was and it is not easy.

There is soo much to learn. Rest not!

It is better to under-promise,

Thu, 28 May 2009 09:24:00 +0800

that to fall short of promises.

The first will impact the impression of your capability but the second will affect the impression of your integrity.

Over-promising can be a good way to start things off, but if promises are not kept, regardless of what you deliver, you will not be able to sustain. People will not come back to you.

So, promise less - and outdo that promise. Slow and steady wins the race :)

There is always hope..

Mon, 18 May 2009 09:55:00 +0800

The slim chance that it might actually work out against all odds.. The sliver of hope.. It drives us to do great things.. things that would be considered “imposssible”.

Never lose hope. There is always a chance.. It is a probabilistic universe. :)

To get the brain excited..

Fri, 15 May 2009 14:19:00 +0800

break the pattern.

But there needs to be a pattern first :)

Complexity is artificial.

Sun, 10 May 2009 15:49:00 +0800

The universe is essentially simple. We create complexity because we need something to drive us.

undefined

Sun, 10 May 2009 15:47:00 +0800

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

Detached Attachment.

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:08:00 +0800

Nothing need matter… but atleast for the time being act like it matters..

Power transforms all people..

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:36:00 +0800

responsibility transforms the right people

It is far more easier to mock something/someone

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:44:00 +0800

that it is to appreciate him/her/it.

Be a child. Stand in awe. Get consumed by curiosity. And appreciate life. It is not that hard…

undefined

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:37:00 +0800

“All happy families resemble each other, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Sleeping 4 hours a day..

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:36:00 +0800

.. is NOT cool! It also doesnt mean you are working hard.

It just means that you are hopeless at managing your time :)

The big picture..

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:00:00 +0800

.. is essential.

There is no point plugging leaks if your dam is falling apart..

When something can go wrong..

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:56:00 +0800

it will. - The famous Murphy’s Law.

And it does kick into action relentlessly when you are least prepared. But that’s what makes life exciting :)

When there is no one holding you up..

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:06:00 +0800

You will not let go.

But when you know someone will catch you, you do not mind letting go. Even if it means the other person might fall…….

Hmm…

The best thing about the future

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:03:00 +0800

..is that it comes one day at a time :)

-Abraham Lincoln.

Age old wisdom.. translated by Warren Buffet

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:47:00 +0800

Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide
my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each
passing year, I grow wiser and not older. This year, I invite you
totap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and
become financially wiser.

* Hard work: All hard work bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

* Laziness: A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.

Act dumb.

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:36:00 +0800

you can always surprise people when necessary.

Never act smart. You might not able to sustain it.

Beggars evoke 2 emotions in people..

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:45:00 +0800

Pity
Scorn

Stop complaining. Find solutions

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:39:00 +0800

Break freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:16:00 +0800

Stop shackling yourself.. Its all in the mind.

You are in the matrix. You can easily break those bonds.. dont try to bend the spoon.. it is you who have to bend..

Most pressure is..

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:33:00 +0800

self inflicted.

Break the mental block and things just flow.. There is nothing you cannot do if you put your mind to it!

Yes, you ARE that good!

You cannot do great things..

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:34:00 +0800

..only small things with great care – Mother Teresa

Everyone is good at something..

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:27:00 +0800

.. Find this and use it to motivate them. That’s what leaders are good at.

You can derive mental strength..

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:20:00 +0800

..from the worst of circumstances. It all depends on how you look at it.

The worse the situation, the greater you can align your thoughts and focus. Everything else takes a backseat. But again, it depends on how you look at it. People who use this focus are the ones who make a difference.

The best way to make your dreams come true..

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:43:00 +0800

is to wake up! :)

Every time you get better..

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:09:00 +0800

and have to interact with people who havent yet gotten better, note 2 things:

Remember how you felt when you were not better.
Realise how the people you interacted with then, must have felt.

And act accordingly.

Take control of your life..

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:41:00 +0800

Or somebody else will.

Thank you Rohan for this! :)

Not sure what colour tie to wear?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:39:00 +0800

Look at the US president. He represents the current trend!

Obama wears red tie => I wear red tie.

So Obama becoming president DOES affect me. ;)

(http://www.expressionhappens.com/wp/?p=106)

I learnt to tie a tie..

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 01:37:00 +0800

When you make a task list,

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:43:00 +0800

write down the executable next step for every task.

Be direct..

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:57:00 +0800

.. when you ought to be direct.

The most fundamental form of human stupidity..

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:54:00 +0800

is to forget what you were trying to do in the first place.

IF you were trying to do anything in the first place ;)

Adversity..

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:47:00 +0800

breeds innovation!

In simpler words, if you need innovation, you ought to create necessity! :)

Keep firing..

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:44:00 +0800

you will keep getting better.. and you will definitely hit something :)

Accidents..

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:17:00 +0800

.. are an often ignored source of knowledge. Accidents are events which do not happen in the course of normal life. So, if you observe the response to such accidents and analyze it, it can give you plenty of insights :)

Life is just a game..

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:24:00 +0800

Enjoy it! :)

Having a good sleep means..

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:08:00 +0800

.. letting your body decide when to wake up. And accepting that decision. (ie not sleeping more either)

When you are starting to get stressed,

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0800

listen to good music.. it just evaporates into wonder and amazement and peace and delight :D

Never hesitate..

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:31:00 +0800

when complimenting. Just say it! It cannot cause any harm :)

undefined

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:59:00 +0800

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” – Voltaire

Just do it!

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:13:00 +0800

And give it your best! Your BEST.. when you do something to high levels of perfection, the satisfaction and the control you feel are great.. As you know something better, as you know it very deeply.. its gives you a sense of completeness. Something to really appreciate. It is something everyone should strive towards..

Not so you become the best in the world at something, but simply to understand something completely.

A person reveals his character..

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:24:00 +0800

..clearly by the joke he resents.

Very true.. :)

Try try try..

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:47:00 +0800

When you really want something, you will get it! :)

We hardly ever realize..

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:33:00 +0800

that we can cut anything out of our lives any time in the blink of an eye

if you expect a heck of a lot from yourself..

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:02:00 +0800

then you will never have the problem of disappointing anyone else s expectations.. :)

All problems end with you.

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:08:00 +0800

Nobody is responsible for your problems except you. Whatever it may be.

Because the primary reason a problem exists is because you chose to look at it that way.

Simplest way to solve problems and be in control is to reduce problems of environment to problems of self! :)

Smile..

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:50:00 +0800

.. through pain, through stress, through torture, through disappointment. :)

The reasons to be happy ALWAYS outnumber the reasons to be sad… :)

Smile consciously. :)

A smile is infective! :)

It spreads happiness and dispels negativity. If people around you are negative, then it means you are not spreading enough positivity. Keep smiling! :)

Faith..

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:47:00 +0800

.. can have phenomenal power. Don’t underestimate it.

Nature..

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:40:00 +0800

is magnificient! It is so powerful yet so soothing! It has great strength and softness! It is beautiful! It is awesome!

If nature does not impress you, nothing really will. If nature does not inspire you, nobody really will. If it does not humble you, nothing really will. If nature does not silence you, nobody truly will.

Beyond a point..

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:20:00 +0800

..it comes down to faith!

Opposite values complement each other..

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:58:00 +0800

So accept them and appreciate their significance :)

there is no point

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:38:00 +0800

teaching greek in greek :)

You need to input..

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:30:00 +0800

the right amounts of encouragement and pressure to get optimal output.

Observe!

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:20:00 +0800

Think positive!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:04:00 +0800

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the oportunity in every difficulty.

Though we claim to like things that are simple...

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:49:00 +0800

.. most of us have this uncanny tendency to “unnecessarily” complicate simple things.

But then perhaps it is necessary.. I guess we need some object to apply our famed “6th sense” to.. It is very much like that dude in Memento.. hmmmmmm

Ice cream definitely

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:46:00 +0800

aggravates sore throat.

Help and be helped... BUT

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:45:00 +0800

dont help TO be helped! :)

The amount of control you have..

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:06:00 +0800

is directly proportional to the amount of responsibility you take.

There are different ways to reach the same goal..

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:17:00 +0800

..and the path you take matters.

2 smart brains >

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:46:00 +0800

1 smart brain. If they are allowed function independently and the results collaborated by an unbiased 3rd party.

Its called open source :)

Sometimes you see it..

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:15:00 +0800

only after it all adds up and explodes. But something should light the fuse.. a small spark is sufficient.

There are therefore 2 components. The spark and and the small bits which got added up… and if you just see the spark, the explosion will make no sense. :)

Lol

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:54:00 +0800

When things go wrong, laugh! :D

When you are done laughing, see what you can learn from it :)

:)

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:12:00 +0800

Awake! Arise!

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:27:00 +0800

- Literally! When u open your eyes, get out of the bed!!

Stop trying to hit me and hit me!.

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:43:00 +0800

- Matrix :)

Stop trying.. do it!

And yet again..

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:16:00 +0800

..you forget to keep track of the ingredients. The same ingredient in fact.

Do an ingredient check at regular intervals into a preparation. Even better have an ingredient list with large annoying flags for missing ingredients which keeps popping up at regular intervals.

Human beings..

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:57:00 +0800

.. are the most complex entities on this planet. I am one.. and I love the complexity that I am… it is so freaking beautiful. And it is beautiful because of the underlying simplicity [that I see from time to time] amidst all the complexity. :D

You just need to observe the beauty around you to be thrilled.. amazed.. stunned.. to watch it mouth hanging open like a baby holding at a cool toy. And there is always something new the toy has to offer. It is just beautiful! :)

Simplify..

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:49:00 +0800

simplify.. simplify.

See the crap. Remove the crap. Just simplify. But no more than it needs to be.. make sure its crap you are removing.. generally it is crap. Humans have this funny tendency to make simple things appear complicated by wrapping it with lots of crap. :)

What you think..

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:16:00 +0800

maybe different from what you really think.

And what you think maybe preventing yourself from paying attention to what you really think.

And what you really think is what matters. :)

Your mind..

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:12:00 +0800

is your greatest asset..

AND

your greatest liability. :)

Forgive...

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:33:00 +0800

but do not forget! :)

Dont walk................

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:37:00 +0800

Exxpploooore!! :)

Dont look at the other side of the fence..

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:07:00 +0800

just try to improve the grass on your side. :)

Some learnings..

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:16:00 +0800

simply cannot be spelt out :)

Laughter for the day..

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:30:00 +0800

LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA ROTFL :P :D :D :D :)

Keep smiling! :)

undefined

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:38:00 +0800

Help unconditionally.
Observe the game, make your own rules and have fun playing it! When you feel you are taking it too seriously, remember its just a game! :)

Laziness..

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:06:00 +0800

.. is a sin.

Its all in the head..

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:04:00 +0800

Success.. is in the mind..
Pleasure.. is in the mind..
Confidence.. is in the mind..
Satisfaction.. is also in the mind..

All your ultimate desires are of the mind.. and the mind is in your control. Realise this.. and discipline your mind….

You are right..

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:32:00 +0800

not because others agree with you, but because your facts are right. - Warren Buffet

Peter Principle..

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:31:00 +0800

In a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their “level of incompetence”

Everything..

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:07:00 +0800

.. can be interesting.. If you look at it in the right direction.

Nothing sucks. Everything rocks. It is all in the mind..

There is so much to see.. so much to experience.. and so little time..

Leave worries aside.. open your eyes.. experience the world and help anyone you can as u walk along… :)

undefined

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:00:00 +0800

Get out of yourself! And observe!

Then there is absolutely nothing to worry about… it can get bad yes.. really really REALLY bad.. but even then, it all depends on how you perceive it. Do not fear. Do not worry. Do not be jealous. Simply enjoy! :)

Nothing is impossible..

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:25:00 +0800

Some things are really really really really improbable, and some things just require you to look at them very differently!

Underlying all “impossibilities”.. are rigid assumptions. Your mind imposes this rigidity on the assumption.. makes you think they are absolute.. Think again! :)

undefined

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:51:00 +0800

What you feel, see, hear, smell, taste are what the mind perceives. Nerve impulses, in fact.

Who controls them?

External forces? Cannot be.. Who are you if you cannot condition your own body?

OK suppose you cannot condition your body. Then it is not yours. Why do you give so much importance to it? Look inward :)

If you can condition your body, then you do not depend on external forces. Look inward! :)

Live simple..

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:36:00 +0800

:) Then you can simplify complexity!

Be yourself..

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:48:00 +0800

.. because thats what you are best at!

undefined

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:41:00 +0800

Strange is our situation here on Earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men – above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.

- Albert Einstein.

True to the word. :)

undefined

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:23:00 +0800

Make everything as simple as possible but not simpler. :)

God..

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:34:00 +0800

.. is a belief to enforce humility among other things.. It is good to feel that there is someone you are powerless against. And the presence of that force is very evident in life… whatever it may be called.

The point then, is not to win favour or appease this Force. But to accept and revere the Force’s presence. And be aware of your powerlessness. And certain “rituals” which at face value may seem pointless, help reinforce this reverence. And such an acceptance that you cannot control everything provides tremendous mental strength.

During a crisis..

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:41:00 +0800

.. all the shit comes out.

Fannie Mae, Freedie Mac, Lehmann, Meryll Lynch, Madoff, the autocompanies, and now Satyam.

Only the ones with substance survive. The ones without shit. Believe in substance. Probe the inside..

Thoughts on life..

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:07:00 +0800

The things you do in a day can be divided into the following categories… Whenever you do something, be conscious of the category they fall into. Do them consciously with the purpose in mind. And make sure they keep up the spirit of that activity type.

There are some things you need to do to inculcate discipline. These are essential. Considering the current state of discipline, the more of these tasks the better :) Their power lies in the regularity. Do them regularly. Even if quality suffers, they HAVE to be regular. Otherwise, the purpose is lost.

Rhythm

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:45:00 +0800

Being regular is one.. being rhythmically regular is another. And your body loves the latter.. And ofcourse it is much harder to practice..

It is essentiall the difference between sleeping 7 hours a day and sleeping from 11pm to 6am everyday. IT is hard.. but worth it… :)

Do not underestimate..

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:40:00 +0800

.. the power of the “:-)”. Or more importantly, the lack of it. :-)

Displine..

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:57:00 +0800

is trading short term comfort for long term comfort.

You wont get the returns unless you invest :)

Compete with noone..

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:32:00 +0800

but yourself! And compete with yourself constantly. :)

Every now and then..

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 02:24:00 +0800

.. think whether tomorrow, when you look back, you will be proud of what you are doing right now.. If not, well. time to do something else :)
You are your own judge!

Leave the bed as soon as you get out of sleep.

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:08:00 +0800

It doesnt matter

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:00:00 +0800

if someone things you are a as long as you are absolutely convinced that you are not.

When you disturb order,

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:25:00 +0800

make sure you restore it.

Ad hoc work never helps.

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:48:00 +0800

Try to make a conscious long term change rather than a quick fix to solve the immediate problem. It will come back and haunt you. You have seen this being said so often in recent times.. and experienced it as well! Time to learn from it.

When you do something, do it well or dont do it! Even if you do a temporary patch in exceptional circumstances, keep a conscious note to come back and fix it! :)

Build effective feedback mechanisms..

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:15:00 +0800

.. and be willing to accept whatever feedback they provide.

Grow Up. :|

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:22:00 +0800

It is always better..

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:46:00 +0800

to promise less and deliver it rather than promise more and not deliver it.

DO NOT prmoise someone something to get rid of them for the moment. Better talk it out and sound stupid than give false hopes when you arent sure you can deliver. And always underestimate yourself. Yes, there are times when you stretch yourself.. but make that promise to yourself and try to beat it.

False promises are definitely worse than no promises.

When things are not going through...

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:20:00 +0800

STOP! Remember Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - DO NOT PANIC. And DO NOT try to stuff things through.. Frustration never helps.. It hasnt worked, isnt working, and wont work. And you know it. Calm down, take a deep breath and re-analyse. SLOW AND STEADY.

Do your breathing properly.. it helps. A couple of deep breaths at those crucial moments will help clear your mind. When you rush things, they create a much bigger problem. This is not a likelihood, its a certainty. The facts speak for themselves. And you know this.

You cant get everything in life..

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:54:00 +0800

If you want fresh food, you have to come on time for lunch.

And remember that you are not the only entity around which the world revolves. Be sensitive to the needs of those around you. If you arent, well it will hit back at you. :)

When the best people screw up..

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:53:00 +0800

.. they take the learning and suggest or execute ways to fix it.

The rest say “sorry”. (Taking a optimistic view of the world :) )

BEFORE you sit down to make a potion,

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:51:00 +0800

make sure you have all the ingredients. (It is supposed to be a very obvious thing btw)

Values are super important!

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:19:00 +0800

Look at Satyam! One selfish move to transfer personal liabilities to the company*, people lose faith. Values are fundamental principles. They must ALWAYS hold. Even a single exception will void it. Cultivate good values and uphold them with sanctity.

*In reference to the attempt of Satyam (an publicly listed IT company) CEO Rama Raju to let Satyam buy Maytas (an infrastructure company owned partially by his son). They reversed the deal after strong objection from the public

When something goes right..

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:18:00 +0800

.. Point outside the window.

When something goes wrong, look at the mirror :)

When things get heated up..

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:41:00 +0800

.. it is time to cool down. Yes it does seem pretty obvious when put that way, but many a times, we tend to inflame it further in the heat of the situation. Just like fire spreads. :)

So when things start getting hot, cool down. Consciously. Because a fire does not stop itself.

undefined

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:39:00 +0800

Saying the right things is one skill, saying the right things at the right time is quite another.

If you like something..

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:40:00 +0800

.. be sure to enjoy it to the fullest. If you don’t like something, change it! Or change yourself. But NEVER complain.

It takes a great level of sophistication..

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:36:00 +0800

.. to be in control and yet not show power.

Meet new people..

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:35:00 +0800

.. get new perspectives. You will learn to appreciate the fact that everything is relative. Nothing is absolute. :)

The aim is to Explore..

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 06:34:00 +0800

..life! :)

You truly understand something..

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:12:00 +0800

.. when you can explain its essence to someone who has no clue what it is.

EINSTEIN was asked by his hostess at a social gathering to explain his theory of relativity. Said the great mathematician,
“Madam, I was once walking in the country on a hot day with a blind friend, and said that I would like a drink of milk.”
“Milk?” said my friend, “Drink I know; but what is milk?”
“A white liquid,” I replied.
“Liquid I know; but what is white?”
“The colour of a swan’s feathers.”
“Feathers I know; what is a swan?”
“A bird with a crooked neck.”
“Neck I know; but what is this crooked?”
“Thereupon I lost patience. I seized his arm and straightened it. “That’s straight,” I said; and then I bent it at the elbow. “That’s crooked.”
“Ah!” said the blind man, “Now I know what you mean by milk!”

When you do something right..

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:48:00 +0800

COPY the damn thing when you do it again! Technology exists to make life simpler. Use it!

The easiest way to break the ice..

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:55:00 +0800

.. is to ask for help. The best way probably is to offer help.

Whenever you are angry..

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:22:00 +0800

.. look out for the learning. There is always one. :)

There is little use..

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 16:04:00 +0800

in attaching significance to what the other person thinks of you. Different people have different views and it is impossible to please all of them. Happiness is a state of mind and it comes from within (yes it can be influenced by external factors but that is not lasting). So there is no point mulling over what the other person thinks of you and trying to change it. The opinions keep changing anyways. And there is no right or wrong.

The most wonderful things in the world..

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:30:00 +0800

.. are natural. And they are free. :)

If someone asks for advice..

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:01:00 +0800

Ask them to do something first :-)

Sleep well..

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:55:00 +0800

:-) Its as important as anything else.

The key to getting work done..

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:55:00 +0800

is having incentives. And disincentives. The toughest part is in finding the right incentives.

Plan..

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:09:00 +0800

It helps. Before you embark on something new, plan it out. It might take a lot of time which might seem wasted, but it will definitely save even more time and a lot of headache later on. If you are not convinced, atleast try it next time :)

Which brings us to the next learning.

If you are not convinced of something, see if you can prove it wrong. If its just you “not being sure”, it might be well worth trying it out. You will learn a lot from it even if you dump this “something” later on.

In desperate times..

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 07:01:00 +0800

Laugh at the situation. Make as much fun of it as you can.

Just like getting rid of a boggart :)

Purpose...

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:01:00 +0800

If you have a purpose in life which you feel strongly about, you can do anything!

It is a natural human tendency..

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:04:00 +0800

..to want to help. It makes a person feel good. It makes you feel wanted.

This means that you may actually be doing the other person a favour when you ask them for help once in a while! :)

What it also means is that one of the simplest ways to feel good is to help someone! :)

So you got hit by a lorry...

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:44:00 +0800

It happens.. Accept it. Accept the blame too. Dont blame it on the driver.. you were the one standing in the middle of the road thinking noone would hit you. Assess the damage objectively. You lost an arm? Well.. it could have been worse.. But the point is, that its a great lesson! Learn from it.

Think of Stephen Hawking… and you are complaining about a lost arm??? Stop insulting your intelligence and MOVE ON. You can still do great things! And remember not to stand in the middle of the road next time. :)

Dont..

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:34:00 +0800

underestimate anyone.

Pipelining..

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:23:00 +0800

..applies to the real world as well. There is a very good reason why so much effort is put into it.

The first step in getting out a hole..

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:30:00 +0800

is to realise that you are in a hole!

Good music..

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:41:00 +0800

Natural music.. unadulterated music.. makes you feel pure. Nature makes you feel pure. Stay as close to nature as possible! :) :) :)

Read news daily..

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:08:00 +0800

less for information, more for perspective :)

Same goes for books!

Spend 10 minutes everyday..

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:50:00 +0800

..thinking about nothing. Well, if thats too hard, just concentrate on your breath. Only your breath. Nothing else. 10 minutes. All the best! :-)

The benefits of this simple exercise are immense!

undefined

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:53:00 +0800

There is considerable difference between doing someting you love, and doing something you love with a bigger purpose which fascinates you in mind.. :)

You need to put in considerable thought to realise the latter.. And such opportunities do not come easily… they need to be created. But they give you true satisfaction. It doesnt matter what the purpose is, as long as it seems impossible, truly fascinates you, and will make you feel proud!

Keep things simple..

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:14:00 +0800

But remember that many things are not as simple as they might appear at first. It is an opportunity for you to simplify them! :D

Money

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:16:00 +0800

Money, you can be a blessing and a curs at the same time. You turn friends into enemies and enemies into friends. You free us from our worries and you return other worries to us at the same time.

Money - what are your thoughts?
I am the seal of the heart - a heart sealed by me will love me exclusively.

Money - what will become of the one who loves you when you leave him?
I print a mark on my lover’s heart which will remain a wound forever.

Hmm..

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:00:00 +0800

You did not post a learning on your birthday.

So many people have wished you, yet you dont wish myself.

So here is to the fantastic 20 years that have been your life…
“Happy Birthday!! May the joy and the learnings continue.. :)”

And a big thank you to everyone for making it so fantastic! :D

Decide...

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:09:00 +0800

and dont look back. Decide strongly. Either you want it or you dont want it. Most of the time it doesnt matter what you choose as long as you choose strongly.

Life can branch into more paths than you can comprehend.. And the turns are not always predictable. The only way to make the most of the path you are taking is to enjoy it. And this happens only when you dont look back at the paths you COULD have taken.

Thoughts on why we do what we do...

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:50:00 +0800

Makes sense..

If you DO take something seriously..

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:46:00 +0800

It will take you seriously.

Be clear when you do something.. Either take it seriously or dont. And if you dont, dont expect anything out of it. :)

Fake it..

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:46:00 +0800

Till you make it. And you will definitely make it if you fake it well! :)

It doesnt matter how much you know about something...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:31:00 +0800

There will always be surprises. :)

The electron itself has no clue where it is or where it is going. Why do you think YOU can predict what will happen? You can try hard, but dont expect to be successful!

This universe is indeterministic. Let’s face it :)

Keep your stomach happy..

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:38:00 +0800

your mind will be happy too! :)

Finshing..

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:22:00 +0800

Yet again.. a last minute submission. And you are only 30% done for your submission tomorrow.

Focus on getting a version done from the beginning and then working on making it better, rather than trying for the best possible version. Do it like an exam.. finish it first. Then working on finishing it well. It might perhaps still take till the last minute.. or you may again not get a version you are happy with, but atleast you are done.It eases pressure. :)

If you dont take something seriously..

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:13:00 +0800

It wont take you seriously either :)

Thoughts...

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 09:20:00 +0800

Why dont I seem to have the intensity I had on Friday? Is it possible only when I am rushing to meet a deadline? Or do I work better when there is a group of people working on the same thing?

Yes, what had to be done on Friday required less brainwork and more hardwork. Is that the reason? Is it the environment? I should try working in SoC then.. Or maybe the current relaxed, half focussed way is the ideal way to do something.. Relaxed yes.. but half focussed? No cannot be. So why is it that I am not able to focus on the task at hand for a stretch and finish it off? Why does the focus come only in bursts? Even when I am very much interested in the task at hand?

The Daffodil Principle :)

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:49:00 +0800

The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, ‘How can I put this to use today?’

There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don’t need money. Love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one’s watching. :D

A very nice story to help understand what that means…

End of Round 1

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:19:00 +0800

It might be extremely thrilling to finish something in the 11th hour but try not to make it a habit. If you are doing something big enough, there is a very good chance it will blow up in your face. When that happens it might not be so much fun picking up the pieces. :)

Next time, plan your food properly, start eating heavier meals or keep a good reservoir of food. It is evident that your productivity is much higher when you dont have a growling stomach distracting you. Your body doesnt deserve to be abused in this manner.

you dont appreciate things fully..

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:32:00 +0800

till you see the other side of the coin.

Dont give up...

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:07:00 +0800

You are not giving your 100% when you are thinking of giving up or compromising.

But that doesnt mean you blindly walk jump into the hole. You must convince yourself that it is perfectly possible. There is not question about it. Now, with that as the invariant, come up with a better plan… where there is a will, there is a way :)

True focus

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:44:00 +0800

Is about submerging yourself completely in activity 1 and not getting out till its done. If you reach a point where you wish get out, make sure you get out completely and submerge yourself in activity 2. Do not think of activity 1 at this point. The satisfaction is much greater.

In simpler words, do one thing at a time. The trick sometimes is simply picking the right thing at the right time. :)

Teaching...

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:28:00 +0800

is not about trying to somehow dump all your knowledge on the student. Eager as you may be to share knowledge, it cannot be received like that.

Teaching involves picking the right level of information to share and packaging it such that it facilitates learning. 3 steps you could work on would be to lay down the framework, spark interest and show direction.

Take it slow.

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:29:00 +0800

And do one thing at a time.

And its not a very good idea to become a robot. Leave space for creativity…

Enjoy..

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 18:28:00 +0800

the means. The end will then not matter. You gain more from the means anyway.. :)

Simple productivity formula

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:06:00 +0800

Break things apart. And when are doing part1, think only of part1.

And it is truly amazing how difficult it is to achieve that true focus, and I am sure it will be even more amazing to see what I can achieve when that level focus is actually reached. I can already see glimpses of it.

“Nothing is impossible if you try hard enough” - What a stupid statement! Lets try and disprove it. And the process is great fun! And you will never cease to amaze yourself. :)

When the going gets tough,

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:51:00 +0800

The tough get going…

Drive

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:03:00 +0800

your own agenda when it is necessary.

Crises

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:34:00 +0800

Crises are the spice of life. When you are heading towards one, take it on with full force. Dont let it get away. And enjoy every moment of the fight. :)

Sleep

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:32:00 +0800

Beyond a point, your mind needs rest. You wont be able to do more just by spending more time if you mind is not in a position to cooperate. :)

Keep passing the buck..

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:06:00 +0800

Prioritize tasks where you are holding everyone up. And if it will take time for you to get such a work done, figure out a way to distribute/redirect this such that you are not a bottleneck. :)

You will definitely make mistakes..

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:15:00 +0800

But keep clapping! (In this case, marching)
And keep trying to do it better! :D

Look around and enjoy the scenery

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:55:00 +0800

Continue marching. Strive to march even in your sleep. And look around. There are so many things to see.. to hear.. to feel.. waiting for you to enjoy them. And as you march, you see newer and better things. And the rhythm of the marching helps you enjoy them better. Enjoy them. And strive to march better! Remember the boy with the teaspoon learning :)

A good thaniavardhanam makes sense only when you understand the thaalam. And when you do, its simply amazing :D

When things are not the way you want them to be..

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:27:00 +0800

Just grin. :D It is very simple to do. You just will your mind to curve your lips upwards.. further up. Great! It makes you feel much better :D

Keep grinning. March with a grin! Be happy. Don’t stop. And don’t even think of walking. :D

One thing at a time.

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:14:00 +0800

Your task list should remember everything else for you. So forget about everything else, focus on the task at hand. Set a time when it is due and try to finish it by then. Deadlines are another way to structure your mind and force it to march.

Ideally, all you should care about is the task in hand (and ofcourse make sure everything else is on the task list). Once you achieve this, time will take care of itself. Everything else will take care of itself. Its all about focus! Structured focus! :)

Keep marching...

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:25:00 +0800

Dont stop. Dont walk.

Focus!

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:05:00 +0800

It is really stupid if you cant find time to do 20 minutes of breathing everyday! Stop walking and start marching!!! Keep marching and maintain the structure till it becomes a part of you.

On October 12th 2008, someone learned that

“Structure is essential. Your mind likes freedom, but it works but better if that freedom is bound by a structure. Just like music. Just like Shakespearean sonnets.

That structure is provided by regularity. It sets a rhythm on which you can ride. Without the rhythm, what you do is meaningless. Make sure you maintain that rhythm. A simple way to enforce this rhythm is to do a good thing regularly. Every day without fail. Learnings. Kriya. Readings. Whatever it might me.”

When in doubt,

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:18:00 +0800

Confirm. Then reconfirm. And then confirm once again to be sure. Never trust the word of a single person. Always check and make sure. And then check again.

The number of things you do dont matter...

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:00:00 +0800

What matters is the the number of things you do well. Pay attention to details. If you feel you cannot do something whole-heartedly, dont do it! But once you are in, you HAVE to do it well. Else it doesnt count.

Be very careful..

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:08:00 +0800

When you recommend people. Especially when your recommendation counts.

Task list

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:17:00 +0800

Nothing is too trivial to put on your task list.

Life

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:11:00 +0800

is not only about you.. that would be too simple and too unsatisfying! :)

The total time available in a day..

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:56:00 +0800

is directly proportional to the amount of work you do. :)

Apples with salt..

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:04:00 +0800

Helps fight any kind of headache. - Courtesy Mom

Must try this one. :)

You can always find a solution...

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:56:00 +0800

If you look hard enough and know what the question is. :)

Your processor speed

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:24:00 +0800

is actually adjusted to the temperature of your computer using a thermostat. If your comp is slow, it maybe because it is too hot! :)

Question

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:16:00 +0800

yourself constantly. And strive to provide answers to everyone else. :)

Structure..

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:47:00 +0800

is essential. Your mind likes freedom, but it works but better if that freedom is bound by a structure. Just like music. Just like Shakespearean sonnets.

Systems systems systems!

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:21:00 +0800

It is extremely important to create systems. Solves a hell lot of trouble in the long run. Create systems for anything and everything as soon as it becomes more complex than dead simple. Dont procrastinate. It will save you a lot of time in the future.

Excessive Coding..

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:02:00 +0800

Spoils your eyes. Remember to take breaks. You health is much more important.

If you want to be happy...

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:37:00 +0800

Be. :) There is so so much to be happy about. Even on your worst day. The only thing stopping you from being happy, is yourself.