​
That email changed my life

Exactly 20 years back, I received an email announcing the start of an important year.
A year that changed my life.

I had dropped out of my PhD program a year back (in 2004), came back to India from the US after giving up on what was a dream life - 100% scholarship, a generous stipend, top of my class, on a fast track to complete my PhD.
​
Everyone was devastated.
Disappointed in me.
I was disappointed in me!

Everyone around me (well intentioned) kept saying only one thing. ​
​"To win at life, you have got to have a plan"​
​Which I agreed with, except for one big problem.

I had a plan for my life.
A really solid plan.
To go to the US, do my PhD, join NASA, go to Mars.
I was doing well on that plan.
Really well.

But I crushed that same plan with my own hands.
I killed my own plan.
So, on what basis was I to come up with another plan?
I didn't know.
And because I didn't know, I was forced to ask a very different question.
​Is it possible to live life without a plan?
​And if yes, what does that life look like?

I found that answer while at ISB.
Because while everyone went to ISB looking for a job, a career, a brand, a pay package, and all the nice things we all look for, I went to ISB looking for myself.
​
"Who am I?"
"What am I good at?"
"What am I not good at?"

I needed answers to these questions and I found them in that one year at ISB.
It was a huge gamble.
A loan of 14 lakh rupees, back in 2004.
No collateral backing it up, except a degree I hadn't yet earned.
But it worked out.
I found my answers.
On how to live life without a plan.

I stand here today as a living example of someone who has had no plans, no goals, and no targets for himself for the past 20 years.
When people ask me, "What's new, what's next?" I don't have an answer.
I am an animal of process, of repetition, of doing the same thing everyday.
And that has taken me to places I could not have imagined for myself.

That's the hope I wish to share with everyone who feels lost - who feels they will not win because they do not have a plan.
You are going to be okay.
It is going to be okay.
Life has wonderful, unbelievable opportunities lined up for you.
But they won't come with the subject line "Unbelievable opportunity".
They will just come.
And in that moment, should you have the courage to chase them, you will set yourself up for an outcome different than you imagined.
An outcome that may work for you.
That may change you forever.
But there will be no way to tell.
Unless you chase.
Unless you dare.
Unless you desire.
Not to be someplace.
Instead, just to be.

You got this :))

Book I read this week

​

Started reading The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson. An incredibly fascinating book about the human body, how it functions, and its remarkable ability to heal itself.
Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories.

You are going to love this! Assured.
BTW - Bill is the same guy who has written "A short story of nearly everything", which is an awesome book to get a quick, fun recap of the world. He writes really well - in simple terms.

​

​

​

Build An Epic Career

We had a call with Penguin (our publishers) regarding the performance of the book. It has sold over 70,000 copies now, is ranked #2 on the Nielsen Bestseller List in India, and is currently rated 4.8 on Amazon.

But more than that, it is the feedback through emails, DMs, and Instagram stories that I get every day, which make up for so much joy! Thank you for all of it :))

Click to check out "Build An Epic Career" - in English, in Hindi​

Question of the week

How many times do you use the services of Zomato, Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy or Instamart?

• More than once a day
• Once a day
• Few times a week
• Once a week
• Few times a month
• Don't use much or at all

(and see the results of others, too)

​

Results of last week's question

Clearly, not earning enough is the main problem across ages. While it begins to fall with age and is somewhat replaced with "Not sure where to invest" and "Taxes too high", it still remains the biggest concern by far.
​
​My response?​
I would personally say Inflation being too high is a huge concern, because that puts the pressure of investments to make more and more returns post-tax.

3-2-1
​

3 pics from last week

The mistakes we make with English spellings are so sweet because hey - it is not our first language :)

Uzma and her friends had set up a beauty parlour and Ruchi was their first client, haha :)

Was in Bangalore and met Misbah, the founder of Jar App. Did a fun podcast with the team :))

​
2 quotes I wish to share

It’s okay to not want to hustle.
It’s not okay to not want to hustle, but desire what one gets because of hustle.

​

If you HAVE to become someone else to be loved by that person, reconsider that person, not yourself!

​

1 new thing I learnt this week

An interesting thing about touch is that the brain doesn't just tell us how something feels, but also how it ought to feel.
That is why the touch of a lover feels wonderful, but the same touch by a stranger would feel creepy or horrible.
It is also why it is so hard to tickle your own self.
Fascinating, no?
​Source​
​

​
🎙️ My top content from last week
​

📹 YouTube:​ ETFs vs Mutual Funds​

📱 Instagram: You are lucky​

🐥 Twitter: What's the best gift?​

🎧 Podcast: Worried about India​
​

​

You can, of course, always write to me by simply replying to this newsletter.

I love reading all your emails, even though I may not be able to reply to them all.
Yes! I READ ALL MY EMAILS. ALL OF THEM.​
​(Humhaari body kitni amazing ki kasam)

​