The Undismal Paradox

How many hours do you spend curating your fire playlist every week? 

A survey says that we Indians typically spend 19.1 hours grooving to music, while the global average is around 18 hours a week. We love our music, don’t we!?

Four students of economics, wondered if we could explore the economics behind the music industry.

We have a playlist of fun facts Taylor-made just for you. 

We’ll be waiting, all there’s left to do is stream!

Welcome to the 8th episode of The Undismal Paradox Season 2!!  

In this episode, Prof. Ashish Kulkarni chats up with 'The Travelling Professor', Siddhart Deshmukh!  

Siddhart's career profile is endless. He has worked as a product manager at Sony Entertainment Television, been a senior executive in marketing communications at Birla AT&T, served as the COO at Cohezia, a UK based venture studio, and is currently the Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor at MICA, Ahmedabad.  

Siddhart also hosts the famous podcast - 'The Travelling Professor's Diary'. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-travelling-professors-diary 

Ashish Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. He is also the host of this podcast, and likes to chat up with people from different fields on their experiences in college.  

Ashish blogs daily at https://econforeverybody.com/ 

They talk about the essence of a college life, the importance of a community, professors being content creators, having skin in the game, the power of a fantastic teacher, and on using the internet for personal growth!  

Notes: 1) Siddhart on the university experience  https://open.spotify.com/episode/3eNtmAzM9hE4lsBPp11bgJ?si=ZxZ12MIZRg2bfOTEiUp5rw

2) Ashish on college being a triple combo https://econforeverybody.com/2020/03/12/signaling-bundling-and-college/

3) Distributed presentation https://open.spotify.com/episode/7thHsE6ObvR3kiDT90T97J?si=0k1OlAHDSW2-LuiyvAFY0A

4) Need for the statement of purpose https://open.spotify.com/episode/33pGhvHmpNtYaq6OQdj10g?si=5bdac605a5454b78

5) Nir Eyal's Hooked  https://www.amazon.in/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products-ebook/dp/B00NW01MKM 

Connect with them: Siddhart - https://in.linkedin.com/in/sideshmukh

Ashish - https://twitter.com/ashish2727?s=20 

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/A5rgRyTbNwI

Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧    Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox    Spotify-https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==   

Follow us on these social media handles:    1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08    2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91    3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe

Welcome to the sixth episode of The Undismal Paradox Season 2!

In this episode, Prof.Ashish Kulkarni chats up with Navin Kabra.

Navin Kabra is a software technology professional who has over two decades of experience in the industry, and is currently the co-founder and CTO at Reliscore.com, an online platform for assessing technical skills required by companies. He is a popular figure in Pune's Tech circles and Twitter too, with over 10K people following him!

Dr. Ashish Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, specializing in Macroeconomics, commodities and derivatives.

They talk about the importance of a gap year, flexibility of career paths, how to use Twitter, building for the next billion, and the education system in general.

Follow both the intellectuals of Pune here:

Navin Kabra - https://twitter.com/NGKabra?s=20

Ashish Kulkarni - https://twitter.com/ashish2727?s=20

Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧    

Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox    

Spotify-https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n 

Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==   

Follow us on these social media handles:    

1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08    

2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91    

3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe

Welcome to the fifth episode of The Undismal Paradox Season 2! 

There is a slight change this time around, The host for today's episode is Prof.Saylee Jog, and the guest is a fellow SSE Alumni, Milind Sharma.  

Milind Sharma is the Co-Founder of PepperTap - an on-demand hyperlocal grocery delivery startup, and NuvoEx - a premium e-commerce logistics company. He also served as Vice President at Shadowfax (Another logistics company which had bought NuvoEx).  He is currently working on a new startup of his own!  

Saylee Jog is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics specializing in Microeconomics.  

They talk about the startup scene in India, how much have things changed over the past few years, the Indian tech ecosystem in general, various aspects of logistics and retail, the funding ecosystem, the gig-economy revolution in India and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur!!  

Get in touch with them: 

https://in.linkedin.com/in/milindsharma 

https://in.linkedin.com/in/saylee-jog-48895a28 

Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧    

Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox    

Spotify-https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n 

Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== 

YouTube-  https://youtu.be/-jyttH1aCxc

Follow us on these social media handles:    

1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08    

2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91    

3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe

Welcome to the fourth episode of The Undismal Paradox Season 2! 

In this episode, Prof. Ashish Kulkarni chats up with Rohith Jyothish.  

Rohith Jyothish is a visiting faculty at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune and a teaching fellow at the Department of Political Science, Ashoka University (Delhi NCR). He is also Assistant Editor at the peer-reviewed academic journal, Big Data & Society. Previously, he worked in public policy organizations in management, research and founder trustee roles for around 8 years.  

Dr. Ashish Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, specializing in Macroeconomics, commodities and derivatives.   

They talk about the essence of democracies, religion and caste-based politics in India, first order issues and state capacity, and the field of political science in general.    

Links and references: 

1) https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/ezra-kleins-why-were-polarized-and-the-drawbacks-of-explainer-journalism

2) https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/01/my-conversation-with-ezra-klein.html

3) https://youtu.be/Ef30I_6zqa0

4) https://www.amazon.in/Jugalbandi-Before-Modi-Vinay-Sitapati/dp/0670091073

5) https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2020/12/6/episode-202-the-bjp-before-modi/ 

Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧    

Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox    

Spotify-https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n 

Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== 

YouTube-   https://youtu.be/UrBnbg6x-n8

Follow us on these social media handles:    

1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08    

2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91    

3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe

Welcome to the third episode of The Undismal Paradox Season 2! 

In this episode, Prof. Ashish Kulkarni chats up with Dr. Pradeep Apte on the future of Indian agriculture.  

Dr. Pradeep Apte is a professor of economics at Ferguson college and a visiting faculty  at GIPE. He specializes in Operations Research, Econometrics, International trade and Agricultural economics. He has published several research papers and books over the span of his academic career and has been a part of various committees including the '13th finance Commission Expert Group on State Finance Commission' and the 'Kelkar Committee Report'. 

Dr. Ashish Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, specializing in Macroeconomics, commodities and derivatives.   

They talk about the state of Agriculture in India, a need for better application of technology and wise management principles, why agricultural economics is an essential field in itself and having faith in the domestic enterprise of the farmer.  

Links and references: 

1) https://www.livemint.com/opinion/columns/lessons-from-bihar-s-abolition-of-its-apmc-system-for-farmers-11600962615201.html

2) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bihar-junked-apmc-act-in-06-but-it-hasnt-benefited-farmers/articleshow/80078630.cms

3) https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Farm_Laws_Reference.pdf

4) https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/the-different-types-of-wheat-and-what-theyre-used-for/

5)https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/punjab-farmers-protests-farm-laws-7094357/

6) https://www.epw.in/journal/2003/07/perspectives/reform-agenda-agriculture.html

7) https://www.amazon.in/Agricultural-Environmental-Degradation-Institute-Economic/dp/0195633431/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1614932881&refinements=p_27%3AC.+H.+Hanumantha+Rao&s=books&sr=1-2 

Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧   

Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox   

Spotify-https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n

Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== 

YouTube- https://youtu.be/zMaNUzw-77A

Follow us on these social media handles:   

1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08   

2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91   

3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe

Welcome to the second episode of The Undismal Paradox Season 2 ! 

In this episode, Prof. Ashish Kulkarni chats up with a fellow GIPE alumnus, Binoy Mascarenhas, on the process and importance of planned urbanization.  

Binoy Mascarenhas is an  Urban Planner and Economist with 14 years of experience in implementing innovative and sustainable solutions to global urban challenges. He served as the Head of Urban Transport at the World Resources Institute (WRI) till 2019 where he managed urban transport and road safety work across India and south-east Asia.  

Dr. Ashish Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, specializing in Macroeconomics, commodities and derivatives.  

They discuss a wide range of topics from the importance of historical buildings, urban planning, and preference of pedestrians to planned/ smart cities, flyovers, and paid parking. Not to forget the advice given to students who want to get into this exciting field!  

Notes and references (with time stamps) : 

1) 00:00:20.architecturehttps://architexturez.net/pst/az-cf-179420-1467089878.  2) 00:1:16: BV Doshi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._V._Doshi 3) 00:2:49:  Links : the sunday times article on the need to maintain historic buildings  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/how-indias-push-to-modernise-threatens-its-signature-buildings/articleshow/80075722.cms 4)00:9:57:66 Mumbai coastal road plan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_Road_(Mumbai)  5) 00:18:50:BRT pune failure https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/a-decade-many-efforts-later-brts-fails-to-run-smoothly-in-pune-5976756/ 6)00: 20:31 price parking better in India:https://www.parkingtoday.com/articledetails.php?id=2547&t=on-street-parking-issues-in-india 7)00:35:00 Podcast:https://youtu.be/vPB51biw5f0 8) 00:42:18 https://www.amazon.in/Games-Indians-Play-V-Raghunathan/dp/0143063111 9)00:50:44 Arcosanti  https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/paolo-soleri-arcosanti-arizona https://allthatsinteresting.com/chinese-ghost-cities 10)00:52:00 Ghost towns in china https://allthatsinteresting.com/chinese-ghost-cities 11) 00:53:00 hukou system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou  12)1:24:54  Haussmann renovation  something along that lines in Pune if it is possible  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haussmann%27s_renovation_of_Paris 13) 1:29:42 thoughts on Auroville?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auroville 

  Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧  

Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox  

Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n 

Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

YouTube link -  https://youtu.be/H0m2mkfrMs8

Follow us on these social media handles:  1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08  

2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91  

3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe

Welcome to the second edition of The Undismal Paradox podcast!! This time we have decided to experiment with the video format because we realize that as listeners, one always wants to watch the folks talking, and especially when it's such an intelligent conversation. 

In the first episode, we have Neha Sinha in conversation with Ashish Kulkarni, both are batch mates from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.

Neha Sinha is Deputy Director and Associate Fellow at IDFC Institute. In addition to her management responsibilities, she leads research on criminal justice with a focus on policing.  Dr. Ashish Kulkarni is an Assistant Professor at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, specializing in Macroeconomics, commodities and derivatives.  

They talk about public policy in India, The work done at the IDFC Institute, Importance of networking, the beauty of statistics, Quantification of social costs, different schools of economic thought and the skills needed by students to get into this wonderful field!   

Notes & References: 

1) https://www.idfcinstitute.org/about/people/team/neha-sinha/

2) https://www.idfcinstitute.org/projects/state-capacity/safety-trends-and-reporting-of-crime-satarc/ 

3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cost    

4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_economic_thought   

 5) https://seenunseen.in/  

LinkedIn Accounts:- Ashish Kulkarni- https://in.linkedin.com/in/ashishrkulkarni  Neha Sinha- https://in.linkedin.com/in/neha-sinha-b669488   

Also, Listen to the audio version on your preferred podcasting apps 🎧  

Anchor- https://anchor.fm/the-undismal-paradox  

Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n  

Google Podcasts- https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8yNmUxYzkyNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== 

YouTube-   https://youtu.be/WjbPE7r7sZ0

Follow us on these social media handles:  

1) Twitter- https://twitter.com/undismalparadox?s=09, https://twitter.com/bscgipe?s=08  

2) Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=1fnc7ph5srmr&utm_content=hbfx5n9, https://instagram.com/bscgipe?igshid=f092u5ec9u91  

3) LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/bsc-gipe