A Beginner's Mind

I have always been fascinated by pre-history. How did we get here? What would it be like to live 100,000 years ago? And most important of all questions - If humans originated in Africa some 200,000 years ago, how did we migrate to all corners of the world without any modern means of transport? By modern I mean - ships, planes or other mechanical/automotive contraptions - as most of these have been discovered within the last 500 years. A minuscule timescale compared to thousands of years when a small group of people would've started this journey. They would be the first ones to leave their home in pursuit of the unknown for the first time in the history of man. The first explorers amongst the first people. In my amateur search I came across several interesting articles esp. this one on early human migration on Wikipedia . The article has an interesting migration map that shows how we started from Africa and then spread across the continents. Understandably there is no archa...

I recently read  this post  by one of my favorite modern essayists – Paul Graham. In this post he talks about how someone choses his vocation. The answer Paul claims is whatever doesn’t seem like work to you is most likely what you should be doing, even if others don’t understand or appreciate it. This got me thinking about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours rule. For those of you who don’t know about the rule – in his book  Outliers,  Gladwell claims that you need to practice a skill for at least 10,000 hours before you can become an expert in it. He proves this hypothesis by giving examples such as Bill Gates, The Beatles and many more – who have demonstrated genius in their respective fields. When I overlay both ideas, I conclude that in order for someone to become an expert at something he must be genuinely interested in it. Sounds clichéd right. Think a bit deeper. What would drive this interest? Curiosity? And what drives curiosity? Is it imagination, knowle...

Understand your audience – Who are you talking to you? Why should the person listen to you? How would your conversation be if you were talking to that person face 2 face? Dig deep into the subject matter (at least 3 whys deep) to understand what is being communicated and why. Avoid superlatives Maintain a casual tone Avoid redundant & clichéd statement such as Today, it is always, it’s been known, we all know etc. 

Before the law, there stands a guard. A man comes from the country, begging admittance to the law. But the guard cannot admit him. May he hope to enter at a later time? That is possible, said the guard. The man tries to peer through the entrance. He'd been taught that the law was to be accessible to every man. "Do not attempt to enter without my permission", says the guard. I am very powerful. Yet I am the least of all the guards. From hall to hall, door after door, each guard is more powerful than the last. By the guard's permission, the man sits by the side of the door, and there he waits. For years, he waits. Everything he has, he gives away in the hope of bribing the guard, who never fails to say to him "I take what you give me only so that you will not feel that you left something undone." Keeping his watch during the long years, the man has come to know even the fleas on the guard's fur collar. Growing childish in old age, he begs the fleas to pe...

I woke up from what felt like a deep sleep, I could move my hands, I could move my feet, I was hungry, I was thirsty but I was not in control, I cried, I tried, I drank, I ate, but mostly I slept, and one day I stood up; I laughed at my first fall just a few steps away from the start, I stood up again and again I fell, but after several falls I learnt to walk, I learnt to talk; and boy I laughed! I was told I was ready to learn, I was, I was told I was ready to work, I was, I was told I was ready to love, I was, and then I forgot to fall; I was asleep again, but this time I saw a dream, I fell, I stood up and then I fell again; It was the dream of a modern man, When i realized this, i found out what all did i miss; The fear, the laughter, the before, the after; I was too tangled to see what did and didn't matter; Now that I am awake, i hope to give it a second take I plan to reclaim, my sense of wonder and exclaim, And who knows, ...

Read an interesting article today on how ecommerce retailers are opening physical stores to augment online sales. I think it’s a brilliant idea though I have a different approach for tackling it, especially in India. An online retailer, say Flipkart, should open one store in each of their major markets. These stores – called Flipkart Bestsellers – feature only items with purchases of over 10,000 in last 6 months for each category - electronics, clothing, home, baby products etc. This approach has several advantages: The Right fit  - It makes it easier for customers to find the right product fit especially for clothing. If a new design of shirt is a best seller but I am between standard sizes its more convenient for me to go for a trial rather than ordering 2 sizes and going through the return loop. A Custom experience  – Like the best selling shirt but wish it had blue stripes instead of red? Ask the store to create this. Promotions around "just customized...

The artist is the only realist. He understands the meaning and importance of pain and seeks it nevertheless. The artist understands the duality of mind and packages reality with all its vicissitudes in sensory drivers as images, words and sound - with the hope of nullifying our inertia. The artist hopes to wake us up, he hopes that we recognize reality and accept it. All art as all life is thus driven by hope, by expectation. To assume that art expects only appraisal is to restrict its potential. Art solely expects a reaction. This reaction can take any form. It can stimulate, disparage, enunciate or simply acknowledge reality as presented by the artist. How then do we define a successful artist? A successful artist can only be assessed by the "variety of reactions" his art conjures. More diverse the reactions more successful the artist is. True art is the skill of packaging diversity in a single piece - as a poem, a painting, a story or a symphony. If a painting or...