On this episode, I have Abishek Narayan who is currently working as a researcher at Eawag, the Swiss Water Institute in Zurich. Abishek has PhD in Environmental Engineering from ETH Zurich and a Masters from Oxford in Water Science, Policy and Management. After checking privilege at the door and discussing his early upbringing in the modest city of Chennai, Abishek talks to us about his tryst with the Adyar river and the restoration efforts he was engaged in through the Clean Adyar Initiative and Resilient Cities project funded by the Rockerfeller Foundation. Taking his learnings from studying and working at Delft and Ethiopia, Abishek learnt that the solution to a social and political problem cannot be solved by engineering alone. He further learned water planning and the nuances surrounding it in policy and engineering at Oxford and ETH, Zurich. From the 20th minute, Abishek talks about what happens to the water when you flush it down your WC and how that water gets cleaned (or is supposed to) in treatment plants. He talks about how his team helped influence and incentivize a commercial microcosm of Bangalore to treat waste water and speaks about the fundamental problem when it comes to waste water management. He leaves us with some actionable advice to pay our dues when it comes to being responsible with water. And as is custom, we end with his favorite quote ("You can't do everything that the world needs but everything you can do, the world needs") and his favorite book (Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall ). In the first 10 mins of the episode, we also discuss the Indian education system and his introspective 5 day (first) bike trip along the Rhine river. I know Abhishek from my debating days in school cultural fests back in 2010 and we recently reconnected with he was visiting to attend and speak at the World Water Conference in Toronto earlier this year. We bonded over some vegan sliders after a walk and sit around Trinity Bellwoods park :)  This episode is anything but dry ;)

Books mentioned - Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

The episode is titled 'second life' because that is how lucky and grateful Suhail felt after he gained consciousness from having suffered a gruesome New York subway accident that left his left leg amputated. On the show, we discuss Suhail's early childhood, his obsession with reading and ball along with his love for public policy. A large part of the episode dives into his mental and physical response to the accident and how he is recovering from it, one day at a time. He discusses the support system and mindset that have been crucial to his recovery. Suhail is kind, light hearted, funny and extremely inspiring while responding to my questions. Listen for a dose and a half of inspiration and optimism. The episode ends with him mentioning a book he would gift, 'Lotus in a Sea of Fire'  and a quote that he would write on a wall for the world to see. 

Suhail now works in risk management at Citibank in New York after having graduated with an Economics and International Affairs degree from the Fletcher School prior to a 4 year stint with the World bank.

My guests on the show are Ashna Lulla, writer of the book 'With Love Madras', and Vignesh Sivakumar, the photographer, and visual storyteller.

One of them is my wife and I was a proud beaming husband after recording the episode :) She absolutely crushed it with this book and so did Vignesh. 

With Love, Madras is a book that takes you on a stunning visual journey through homes across the city that embody the Madras way of life. Their Instagram bio reads - 'Explore Madras, One Home at a time.'

The episode talks about the book - how the idea came into existence; the multiple ups and downs in the journey; their favorite part of the journey; lessons learned, and pitfalls to avoid while publishing a book. They also, on being forced, tell us which home is their favorite and share some golden nuggets for first-time authors ;)

Ashna is an architect by the badge and designer by the heart. You can see a blend of both in her writing. She also is now a contributing writer to the design magazine, Architectural Digest, India. Here are some of her exquisite posts for the magazine. Prior to this, she worked at architecture and design studios, Collective Project, Mancini Design and Khosla Associates among others. 

Vignesh is also an architect and happens to be a genius behind the lens. Humble and clinical with his pictures, Vignesh has an old soul and brings a unique perspective through his camera and the way he views the world.. He has his own website (Chasing Pixels) where you can see his work - Architecture Photographer | Chasing Pixels | Chennai

You can contact Vignesh and Ashna on With Love Madras' Instagram (and go follow for some visually breathtaking content) -https://www.instagram.com/withlovemadras

Most importantly, you can order the book (anywhere in India) on With Love Madras (www.withlovemadras.com). 

Timestamps are below if you want to skip to any specific question.

I had a blast recording this. 

Please enjoy. :) 

Timestamps: 

00.01 - Intro - Music + Intro (Ashwin)

2.10 - Tell me about your early childhood and how that has influenced you and the person you have become 

2.15 - Vignesh 

6.15 - Origin of the idea

6.18 - Ashna 

9.00 - What do you mean by giving Chennai a seat on the table

9.04 - Vignesh 

9.50 - How long did it take you to write the entire book?

9.53 - Ashna 

13.00 - Vignesh 

 

15.15 - Hardest part of the book?

15.30 - Vignesh 

16.04 - Ashna 

19.21- Vignesh  

 

20.50 - Favourite part of the book journey

20.02 - Ashna

23.30- Vignesh 

 

24.27 - Process of interviewing and shooting a home

27.40 - Vignesh  

27.30 - Ashna 

30.47 - Vignesh 

 

31.37 - Favorite home

31.44 - Ashna 

35.50 - Vignesh 

 

36.00 - Advice to someone who for a first-time book writer

36.17 - Ashna

 37.17  - Vignesh 

___________________________________

Madras 

Architectural Digest  

Elle Décor 

Nimmi Roche is the founder of Blue Flag Project - an all-purpose sustainable men's shoewear that I cannot wait to buy. Each pair of Blue Flags is made of ~8 upcycled plastic water bottles.

On the episode, we discuss Nimmi's early childhood and how that has influenced her choices. We chat about her MBA at Harvard (and why Harvard MBA students shy away from revealing the name of their institution). We discuss Nimmi's corporate experience, her plunge into entrepreneurship and lots of detail about Blue Flag Project - the 4Ps, the 3Cs and everything marketing related. We end the show with some authentic and mildly philosophical advice from Nimmi about hard work and results. 

Nimmi worked at Goldman Sachs as an Associate in Hedge Fund Consulting. She graduated with an MBA from Harvard post which she worked in Amex and Adpatly before she finally decided to go all-in with Blue Flag Project- a product that replaces fast fashion and forces customers to change the environment- one step at a time.

Show notes-

Blue Flag shoes explained in 2 minutes-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzvd3_Qhpz0&t=8s

Blue Flag website-https://blueflagproject.com/

Nimmi's LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimmi-roche-035b7513/

Washington Post Article-https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/climate-solutions/israeli-startup-ubq-turning-trash-into-plastic-products/

On Episode 16, we discuss Nimmi's early childhood and how that influenced her choices, early on. We discuss her MBA experience at Harvard (and why everybody from Harvard resists mentioning the name of their institution) and the cool corporate jobs that she held at Goldman Sachs and American Express. Finally, we dive into what trigerred the inception of Blue Flag Project-an all-purpose sustainable men's shoewear.

About Nimmi Roche- 

Nimmi worked as an Associate in Hedge Fund Consulting at Goldman Sachs for 5 years before she decided to pursue her MBA at Harvard. Upon graduating, she worked at American Express in the payments division and at Adaptly as a product manager. She finally decided to go solo with her entrepreneurial venture- Blue Flag Project

Blue Flag Project in  2minutes-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzvd3_Qhpz0&t=7s

Blue Flag Project website- https://blueflagproject.com/

Washington Post Article about the Israeli startup(UBQ) capitalizing on the plastic use case-https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/climate-solutions/israeli-startup-ubq-turning-trash-into-plastic-products/

Nimmi's LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimmi-roche-035b7513/

YouTube Link to audiovisual - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMe_oUUfIkg&t=1544s

FYI- I would say it's better to watch and listen via the Youtube link. However, if you are on the move, this recording should do a good job as well! The visual helps drive the point home but the audio, independently, does not do a bad job either. Best to listen in with headphones :)

About the episode-

A recording of The Reading Workshop I hosted with author, Krishna Trilok on 3rd Feb, 2019. We had a good turnout and a very good discussion.

The workshop was for people who care about reading but are struggling to incorporate it in their daily routine.

At the workshop, we discussed why we read, busted some myths about reading, committed to build it as a habit and shared actionable advice to make reading convenient. We discussed audio books, how we should pick our next books, answered common questions and spoke about varying genres.

My previous podcast with author, Krishna Trilok- Episode 9

On the show we discuss Rahul’s early childhood and his motivation behind starting Storiyoh. How he moved from being an employee in London’s financial district to a full-time entrepreneur. From the 15th minute on, we talk about podcasting- Rahul’s love for BBC world services and how it inspired him to start Storiyoh. We talk about the business model of podcasting by breaking it into 3 topics- distribution, consumption and monetization. We talk about the typical going rates of ads on podcasts, the disparities in listenership across different geographies. I was surprised to learn that  China is the biggest podcasting market in the world with it generating revenues of 7B$ in 2016. Chinese who have a reputation for being frugal are more than willing to pay for good content. We discuss advantages of free v/s paid content and how podcasters shouldn’t shy away from pricing their episodes. We talk podcasting for the mass v/s niche. We discuss the ad model versus paid model and pros and cons of each of these. We answer the question – Is good content good enough for a podcast’s success? Rahul compares podcasting and its marketing to a book/movie launch and draws relevant parallels. Finally, we get Rahul’s 2 cents on being a perpetual learner and doing deep work. With that, I leave you to listen to my wide ranging conversation with Rahul Nair, founder and CEO of Storiyoh. Please enjoy. 

Show notes-

Storiyoh- https://www.storiyoh.com/

You can reach Rahul on- 

Email- [email protected]

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100021699556849

About Rahul-

Rahul has over 13 years of experience across domains including financial services, entrepreneurship, consulting, and has experience working in the education sector in India. He started his career as a private-client and institutional stockbroker in London, selling IPOs to London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), subsequently co-founding a business in the niche real-estate asset class of student and staff housing. He then founded and managed his own coffee retail and hospitality business for two years before advancing his professional experience with EY, Dubai and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Dubai in accounting and IPO advisory services respectively, working across sectors including healthcare, hospitality, real-estate, construction and trading.

Rahul did his schooling in Mumbai, Shanghai, Coimbatore and Dubai before moving to the University of Liverpool from where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Economics and International Development. He also holds an MSc in Organisational Behaviour from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). During his stockbroking days, he was an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI), and, most recently, was also an education sector chair at the Learning Innovations Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

On the show, we discuss Rashi’s journey of vagabonding across different cities in India as an army kid and how that helped her to embrace change and even thrive in it. We discuss how the army life exposed her to sports early in her life, her tennis adventures and why she decided not to pursue a career in sports. We get her take on women and gender diversity in the corporate and sports arena. We talk gender conditioning and how it is important, yet difficult, for women to be unapologetic about pursuing their ambitions. How women can and should be helped to become great sportswomen. Rashi’s definition of ‘progressive thinking’ and her gratitude towards her family for being progressive. Her push on ‘What would you with your life if you weren’t afraid?’ To close, we discuss her favourite books and her dog Bruce who has an Instagram handle of his own (Whether you listen to the podcast or not, you must take a look at Bruce. As Rashi says, in our conversation- He is a happy ball of fur). 

Show notes-

Books mentioned-

Lean in

Why nations fail

Sapiens

Harry Potter

The man in the high castle

You can find Rashi on-

Twitter- 

https://twitter.com/rashi_kakkar

LinkedIn-

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashikakkar/

Rashi’s articles on Firstpost- https://www.firstpost.com/author/rashikakkar

Rashi was identified as a stereotype defying candidate by a top MBA blog, Poets & Quants- https://poetsandquants.com/2016/08/31/introducing-mba-class-2018/15/

Bruce’s (Rashi and Anubhav's dog) Instagram handle - 

https://instagram.com/bruce_the_brat?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1wji0jgj57e9r

On the show, we discuss Rashi’s journey of vagabonding across different cities in India as an army kid and how that helped her to embrace change and even thrive in it. We discuss how the army life exposed her to sports early in her life, her tennis adventures and why she decided not to pursue a career in sports. We get her take on women and gender diversity in the corporate and sports arena. We talk gender conditioning and how it is important, yet difficult, for women to be unapologetic about pursuing their ambitions. How women can and should be helped to become great sportswomen. Rashi’s definition of ‘progressive thinking’ and her gratitude towards her family for being progressive. Her push on ‘What would you with your life if you weren’t afraid?’ To close, we discuss her favourite books and her dog Bruce who has an Instagram handle of his own (Whether you listen to the podcast or not, you must take a look at Bruce. As Rashi says, in our conversation- He is a happy ball of fur). 

You can find Rashi on-

Rashi’s articles on Firstpost- https://www.firstpost.com/author/rashikakkar

Twitter- @rashi_kakkar

Rashi was identified as a stereotype defying candidate by a top MBA blog, Poets & Quants

https://poetsandquants.com/2016/08/31/introducing-mba-class-2018/15/

Books- 

Lean in

Why Nations fail

Sapiens

Man on a high castle

Harry Potter

Amrita, an HR professional for 7 years, now turned photographer runs mommyshotsbyamrita- your one stop shop for anything baby and camera related. She’s been an entrepreneur for 4 and a half years now. Although Amrita Samant liked her job in the Human Resource department, there was a constant desire in her to do something artistic with her life. During this phase in her life, photography started off as an interest to her, and she quickly capitalized on her newly discovered ambition. She parted ways with her career in Human Resources, and Amrita Samant decided to combine her love for two of her favorite things: photography and babies, and founded “Mommy Shots by Amrita”- a high quality photography service for maternity, newborn and toddlers. She has 75K+ followers on Instagram and is someone who makes a 'not-so-fond-of babies' person like me go 'oh so cute' with her incredible baby shots. I am not lying when I say that her pictures on my feed lighten up my day so easily. 

Show notes- 

You can find mommyshotsbyamrita on- 

Website- http://www.mommyshotsbyamrita.com/ 

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/mommyshotsbyamrita/ 

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/mommyshotsbyamrita/ 

Amrita’s person handle (very travel heavy and some spectacular iPhone shots)- https://www.instagram.com/thatwindowseat/ 

More about Amrita’s campaign on raising awareness on breastmilk donation- https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/meet-amrita-chennai-photographer-who-raising-awareness-breastmilk-donation-86489 

Listen to my chat with AR Rahman’s authorized biographer, Krishna Trilok (who also discusses writer’s/creative block)-https://soundcloud.com/in-conversation-with-ashwin/episode-9-krishna-trilok