My verdict — Read it if you still think that social media companies have your best interests at heart. If you understand the concept "If you are not paying for it, you are the product!", you can give this a skip — or save it for when you're in the mood for a light but informative...
Blog categorized as Uncategorized
Book Review: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
14 Apr 2025 08:52 PM
Why I Write Without a Comments Section
09 Apr 2025 08:09 PM
Why I turned off blog comments: a reflection on writing, clarity, and a lesson from a ride on the Delhi Metro.
The Resistance Never Leaves. But Neither Do I.
08 Apr 2025 08:10 PM
Steven Pressfield was right — it never gets easier.
Another night. I'm staring at my screen, willing myself to come up with something worth writing. I'm tired, but I get the sense that my mind is making me feel more tired than I actually am. I can already hear the voice in my head offering me a...
From FocusWriter to Focused Writer
02 Apr 2025 02:11 PM
Using Linux daily on my MacBook Air is like taking a cold shower - a small act of discomfort that builds confidence. It's too early to say if my knowledge of computer systems is improving, but I can see my confidence soaring. Every morning is a pleasant reminder that I am choosing to...
How do you eat an elephant?
29 Mar 2025 05:09 PM
One bite at a time, it seems. Or at least that's how I remember the joke I liked telling in second grade.
I am using a similar logic t...
Book Review - Inclusive Business Models by Sourav Mukherji
28 Mar 2025 02:48 PM
My verdict - If you are someone who is even remotely interested in inclusive business models, please do read this book.
"The session by Prof. Sourav Mukherji on inclusive business models was my highlight," shared Vishnu, my co-founder at CoolCoach Academy. He was attending an incubati...
The Truth About Streaks: They Are Not Enough!
27 Mar 2025 03:18 PM
I had a 229-day streak on Duolingo, yet my Spanish barely improved. That's when I realized - streaks alone just don't work for me.
I am your average person when it comes to failed resolutions, habits that failed to stick, and projects that were started with great fanfare but stopped nowhere nea...
Frequently Received Advice (FRA*) - You are the CFO (Chief Fundraising Officer)!
26 Mar 2025 07:01 PM
Am I?
I am always baffled when successful founders tell me that fundraising is the main job of a social sector founder/CEO. It is definitely part of the job, but the main one, seriously?
When asked to elaborate in public, I get a polished response: "Founders are the custodia...
Frequently Received Advice (FRA*) - You should do this in a rural area!
25 Mar 2025 01:36 PM
"You should do this in a Rural area! Even better if you can do it in one of the most backward districts of the country."
My heart sank when I heard the very first sentence of feedback. By the time the second sentence was spoken, I wanted to retort, "Do you think we would have Google an...
The Knowing-Doing Gap
24 Mar 2025 08:18 PM
I want to write regularly, but I struggle with it.
James Clear is clear about the key to building lasting habits. It has to start with the identity. Stephen King says identity is not sufficient; you need to show up and write daily. Seth Godin encourages you to publish (blog) daily. And if you ever f...
Frequently Received Advice (FRA*) - You should go to Skoll!
22 Mar 2025 05:19 PM
I had just finished talking about CoolCoach to a prospective funder. I was high on adrenaline because I had finally met someone who understood the importance of fitness and activity to reduce the risk of NCDs, who understood social enterprises, and who had read Acumen's Blueprint to Scale report. In...
Why don't I use Linux anymore?
24 Feb 2025 05:36 PM
Though it had been a couple of days, I was unable to get this nagging question out of my head, "Why don't I use Linux anymore?" I don't remember how the conversation got there but for some reason I started talking about love for Linux and how I spent my university days as an anti-Microsoft...
The BIG Shift - Consumption to Creation of Knowledge
14 Feb 2025 01:56 PM
Over the years, I have built a voracious appetite to consume books, articles, blogs, videos, and off late, podcasts & audio books. Consuming has always been easy for me but creation (writing in my case) has not. My father has been trying to persuade me to write for a while bu...
Increasing Entitlement, Reducing Appreciation
21 Oct 2024 04:31 PM
In our household until recently, we primarily used delivery apps to order in food. Over time as tracking improved on these apps, I started to time my ordering to ensure food delivery to coincide with when we planned to eat.
I remember feeling frustrated once when as soon as I placed my order fr...
Book Review - Design For How People Learn by Julie Dirksen
14 Oct 2024 06:52 PM
My verdict - If you are someone who is even remotely connected to creating learning materials or courses of any kind, please do read this book.
As part of our work at CoolCoach, we had to design courses that helped sports persons from low-income families gain employment as entry level fitness c...
Learning through Conversations
13 Oct 2024 04:27 PM
I am curious by nature and I love learning about new things. If something really piques my interest, I enjoy going deep so that I can have an opinion on the subject.
Here is how I usually learn -
- I discover something new via something I heard (conversation, podcast), something I read (book, blog...