The decline is intriguing. At times, it’s innate. No sooner have we realized we’re declining, than we’ve reached the bottom. This is the story of Dara Shikoh, not the should-be successor to Shah Jahan, but the protagonist of Mohsin Hamid’s ‘Moth Smoke,’ the book for this week’s episode.

Set in a nuclear Pakistan and a debilitating socio-political landscape, Daru has lost his job, is trying drugs, having an affair with his best friend’s wife, and taking up crime. He’s descending into chaos, but rarely is he fighting against it. His nihilistic attitude is invisible to him but apparent to us.

In this book, we see how there are always two choices in life. We have the good and difficult choice and the bad and easy choice. Not only can’t we differentiate between the two, but we think the latter is better than the former. This is the dilemma of a decline. We feel we are righteous in our wrongs.

#books #drugs #heroin #pakistan #nuclearwar #fictionbooks #novels #india

Seagulls can teach us to be better people. One seagull, in particular, taught Rahul Dravid to be the man he is today.

In this episode, we discuss the fable of an extraordinary bird in - “Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a story”. This seagull did not want to scream “Mine” and chase fishing boats for crumbs like the seagulls in Finding Nemo. He wanted to soar high and low, fast and slow, in light and dark, and from dawn to dusk. All he wanted to do was fly. This kind of obsession brings solitude.

Dravid has time and again credited this book to give him inspiration as a budding 16-year old cricketer. In the seagull, he saw the attitude of consistently learning and always teaching. He wanted to be better than he was yesterday. He wanted to impart to the younger generation what he learnt. He wanted to be like Jonathan Livingston.

In this book lies principles that took Dravid from a young cricketer to The Wall, to the coach of the India A and the India under-19 team, and finally to Indiranagar Ka Gunda.

Listen on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/4tBIAgyfpnY

Working less and earning more is what everyone wants. But is this even possible?

In this week’s episode, we talk about working and earning in the internet age. This conversation is based on Tim Ferris’ 2007 book The 4-Hour Workweek. You might’ve heard of his podcast - The Tim Ferris Show or the Tim Ferris blog, he’s one of the gurus of the growth-hacking culture. While we don’t dive deep into the book, we touch upon its principles on work and wealth. 

The generation before us said, “Work is worship” and most of them worked the same job for years. This generation is different. We work multiple jobs, deviate numerous times, don’t focus on the money, and start young. Which way is better, and which one builds wealth in the long run? We try to answer these questions with our own experiences.

Wealth is an interesting thing. It isn’t money, but the flow of consistent money. How can we build such a wealth stream? Naval Ravikant suggests owning a piece of a business. But is that the only way? What about the cringe-worthy saying - “investing in ourselves”?

The two of us are hoping to be on the path to wealth through work. We don’t know if this is the right one, or the only one. But through this journey, whether it lasts four hours a week or a lifetime, we’ll learn a lot and share what we can with you.

NGOs do more harm than good.

Now that we got your attention, allow us to explain. NGOs or nongovernmental organizations are the basis for a vicious cycle. This cycle involves the government, corporates, and even us big city folk. But among all these players, NGOs are the most nefarious. This is because they disguise their long-term problem with short-term intentions.

CSR or corporate social responsibility programs by the government force companies to contribute to NGOs. In turn, these NGOs take the money and create a problem. They contribute to the underprivileged and create a constant supply of the underprivileged. These people, through no fault of their own, come from small to big cities. This is the vicious cycle, authorized by the government and funded by corporates.

As part of an NGO, we’ve seen this first hand. This episode is an encapsulation of that experience. For good or bad, it’s what we think is wrong with the NGO system. But we think a solution is afoot. By making small cities a manufacturing hub at a public level. By creating incentive structures for small cities at a private level. This can be a solution that all three cogs of the vicious cycle  - NGOs, Corporates and the government can solve. 

The conversation is based on this article: https://aakash-athawasya96.medium.com/the-false-promise-of-big-city-ngos-2891ba9862a

#environmentalNGOs #governmentrule #ForeignNGOs #NGOsIndia

Everyone wants to ‘get fit.’ But is getting fit as easy as it seems?

An Indian company that is synonymous with the word ‘fit’ is Cult.fit. The fitness chain has spread like wildfire. But do we really understand the kind of fitness it sells? In this episode, we talk about why you should not join Cult fit. Of course, this depends on who you are, what are your goals, and other intrinsic things.

Cult works on the principle of group dynamics. Everyone in a Cult center is a beginner. You need not make any effort in learning new things, making mistakes, and gaining experience. Everything at Cult is manicured at a premium. 

Fitness should not be about dependence. It should come from within. But it only comes after we’ve gotten a taste for it, experienced a few feedback loops, and seen some results. Once this is achieved, all forms of dependence should be avoided. One of the reasons why Cult is so popular is because it breeds dependence - for the trainers, equipment, and routines. 

Its all about preferences, Cult gives you many. That’s because you do not know what you want. Once you find out what you want, once you move from zero to one, you should leave Cult, find your ‘n.’ If you want to stay fit, you should leave Cult. 

The conversation is based on this article: https://aakash-athawasya96.medium.com/why-you-shouldnt-join-cult-fit-ceb077ba0dc5

Start-ups are building for the future. Not all start-ups create something unique. The copycats simply go from ‘1 to n,’ but the ones creating something unique go from ‘Zero to One.’ This is detailed in Peter Theil’s popular book by the same name. In this episode, we go through Theil’s start-up gospel, from an Indian perspective.

The underlining theme is ‘competition is for losers’ and every successful company has adhered to it. From Google to Apple to Facebook, these companies have successfully reached almost-monopoly status. This was done, is done, and can only be done by leveraging technology. 

With this backdrop and the overarching crisis we find ourselves in, what will the future for start-ups look like? Will companies build new and different products? Are founders pivoting away from the traditional class and country of customers? Whatever the answer to these questions, one thing is certain - there is no better time to build for the future than now.

Link to Theil’s lecture summing up the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fx5Q8xGU8k&t=821s

Link to the book: https://amz.run/4NdW

They often say “blink and you’ll miss it.” But is that really true? Could it instead be - “blink if you understand it.” This is what Malcolm Gladwell emphasises in his book “Blink.” In this episode, we discuss Gladwell’s notion of “thinking without thinking.”

We often think that our snap judgements based on rapid thoughts are untrustworthy. But in crunch times, when you’re under the cosh, these can potentially be more reliable than deep analysis. Context matters, and if you’ve been in a situation several times, you should rely on your snap judgments and not fear them.

Bias, we all have it. We all are driven by it. Implicit bias is innate within all of us. So why should we avoid it? Experiences are logged in our heads with data and its derivations. Is relying on these data-points such a bad thing?

We discuss the power of thin slicing, experiences behind the locked door, and the importance of implicit bias. As an added bonus we also talk about why babies think you’re attractive.

Link to the test https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/india/takeatest.html

Link to the book: https://amz.run/4LpX

Subscribe to our channel on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YKkMwLkh4mw

Have you ever thought about the world we live in? What drives it? What drives us? Is there a string attached to our backs puppeteering us as we live, or are we free? Those are the questions we think the author, Aldous Huxley, had in mind when writing “A Brave New World.”

Set in 2540, in a dystopian or utopian world (you be the judge) Huxley paints a picture of consumerism, promiscuity, and groupthink. With children manufactured and conditioned to follow the community goals, and mind-numbing drugs given to prevent revolution, is this the world we would like to live in?

We try to answer these questions in the context of the 21st century. And try to decipher if Huxley’s Brave New World is indeed a brave idea or a grave disaster.

Link to the book: https://www.amazon.in/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/0099477467/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Q698LU1S764Z&dchild=1&keywords=brave+new+world&qid=1613874157&sprefix=brave+new%2Caps%2C332&sr=8-1

Why is it that when we like something it's ‘play’ but when we don’t it's ‘work’? 

Is that the right way to think of a career, one we’ll spend decades in. Cal Newport doesn’t think so. In his book, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” he details how to find work you love.  

In this week’s episode, we talk about the principles Newport lays out. Among those are why - passion is dangerous, why you need to be a craftsman, and why control is what you should seek.  

We highly recommend this book especially during this day and age. The world is getting more specialised, so how does one stand out? Newport’s advice is simple - Be So Good They Can’t Ignore You.  

Link to the book:  https://www.amazon.in/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/0349420211/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=cal+newport&qid=1612886851&sr=8-3

Follow us on Twitter: 

Arvind: https://twitter.com/readingsartre​

Aakash: https://twitter.com/AakashAtha​ 

Enjoy the podcast!

Writing seems like such a simple thing. Yet to put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard is such a difficult task? Why is that?

Aakash's article on running:

Course on learning to learn:

Follow us on Twitter:

Arvind: https://twitter.com/readingsartre

Aakash: https://twitter.com/AakashAtha 

Enjoy the podcast!