This question was posed by my child this evening and it baffled me. Is this where we are headed as a species? Could very well be. We are no longer talking on the phone as we are texting. Yes, today it is a human texting back, but in future, who knows? It could be a bot that knows how we respond and it does it on our behalf? Today there are push buttons that say “Can I call you later?” or “Driving now” automatically when we set the phones in driving mode or focus mode. It is very likely to hav...

This question was posed by my child this evening and it baffled me. Is this where we are headed as a species? Could very well be. We are no longer talking on the phone as we are texting. Yes, today it is a human texting back, but in future, who knows? It could be a bot that knows how we respond and it does it on our behalf? Today there are push buttons that say “Can I call you later?” or “Driving now” automatically when we set the phones in driving mode or focus mode. It is very likely to hav...

I read James Clear’s book on Atomic Habits and it really struck a chord with me. Whether it was his personal example of recovering from a near-death hopeless situation to becoming a competitive athlete or the examples of 1% improvement with the British cycling team, these are pretty real. More than half the battle is showing up. Of all the things I have ever achieved, other than the one-off freak incidents that I can call fluke, or dumb luck, those have all come from small incremental improve...

I read James Clear’s book on Atomic Habits and it really struck a chord with me. Whether it was his personal example of recovering from a near-death hopeless situation to becoming a competitive athlete or the examples of 1% improvement with the British cycling team, these are pretty real. More than half the battle is showing up. Of all the things I have ever achieved, other than the one-off freak incidents that I can call fluke, or dumb luck, those have all come from small incremental improve...

Happy Fathers’ Day! Daddies worldwide were featured across social media. Those gray beards, bald heads, pot bellies, hunched shoulders, and battle-tested feet were out there on display with some words of affection, pomp, sacrifice, or memories. What started as a Hallmark greeting card day has persisted far beyond the closure of several stores of the iconic brand. Today, it is perhaps the one day that people are compelled to think about their father or grandfather. For fathers, it is an opport...

Happy Fathers’ Day! Daddies worldwide were featured across social media. Those gray beards, bald heads, pot bellies, hunched shoulders, and battle-tested feet were out there on display with some words of affection, pomp, sacrifice, or memories. What started as a Hallmark greeting card day has persisted far beyond the closure of several stores of the iconic brand. Today, it is perhaps the one day that people are compelled to think about their father or grandfather. For fathers, it is an opport...

One thing that I have forever held as belief is in sticking with something I like even if it is a dog, with the faith that someday it may come back up. Whether these are stocks, projects, companies or people I put my faith in, I feel the urge to keep the faith and follow them all the way to the ground. But as I have aged, I feel this is an exercise that wastes too much time, energy and opportunity. This is not due to ignorance or the inability to make a decision, it is just a mix of faith or ...

One thing that I have forever held as belief is in sticking with something I like even if it is a dog, with the faith that someday it may come back up. Whether these are stocks, projects, companies or people I put my faith in, I feel the urge to keep the faith and follow them all the way to the ground. But as I have aged, I feel this is an exercise that wastes too much time, energy and opportunity. This is not due to ignorance or the inability to make a decision, it is just a mix of faith or ...

I listened to a recent podcast that really affected me. It said something to the tune of, “part of being human is making something that lasts, something that people can feel and preserve for generations..” - the person that spoke this was no major scientist or artist. She was a bookbinder and in her mind, binding a book helps in preserving mankind’s memories. It brought me back to the memories of days in Chennai when we would go to get a “hand me down” book bound. We may have bought this book...

I listened to a recent podcast that really affected me. It said something to the tune of, “part of being human is making something that lasts, something that people can feel and preserve for generations..” - the person that spoke this was no major scientist or artist. She was a bookbinder and in her mind, binding a book helps in preserving mankind’s memories. It brought me back to the memories of days in Chennai when we would go to get a “hand me down” book bound. We may have bought this book...

I promised to write daily, leave alone every week… but I have not in the past 2 months! It broke when I traveled and then never started back up with work but no real excuse not to write for a few minutes. Let’s pick this back up then… a story of my life sometimes with a lack of consistency over longer period of time. Part of it caused by boredom, other caused by a break in streak due to some reason or others just as life happens and things change. Let us take this back post at a time.. one a ...

I promised to write daily, leave alone every week… but I have not in the past 2 months! It broke when I traveled and then never started back up with work but no real excuse not to write for a few minutes. Let’s pick this back up then… a story of my life sometimes with a lack of consistency over longer period of time. Part of it caused by boredom, other caused by a break in streak due to some reason or others just as life happens and things change. Let us take this back post at a time.. one a ...

Not the “Night Fury” from How to Train your Dragon, more like the Purdue Boilermakers last night against Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU) losing by 5, but never quite in control for even 5 minutes in the game.Such teams that promise a lot and under-deliver are a big disappointment. Especially Purdue basketball in recent years has always been substandard. This year, Coach Matt Painter’s team reached a new high and then a fresh new low within half a week’s time! You come in as the number one seed, hav...

Not the “Night Fury” from How to Train your Dragon, more like the Purdue Boilermakers last night against Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU) losing by 5, but never quite in control for even 5 minutes in the game.Such teams that promise a lot and under-deliver are a big disappointment. Especially Purdue basketball in recent years has always been substandard. This year, Coach Matt Painter’s team reached a new high and then a fresh new low within half a week’s time! You come in as the number one seed, hav...

Life is defined by a few game-changing moments. Those moments account for over 80% of the overall definition of life. Sometimes these are caused by people and in other times due to events, a confluence of concurrent things or what we can only call destiny. My mind at least once in a few days goes toward one such teacher who altered the course of my life. A person that I thank sub-consciously whenever my mind thinks about her. She was my C++ teacher at NIIT, her name is Anitha Pai. The Nationa...

Life is defined by a few game-changing moments. Those moments account for over 80% of the overall definition of life. Sometimes these are caused by people and in other times due to events, a confluence of concurrent things or what we can only call destiny. My mind at least once in a few days goes toward one such teacher who altered the course of my life. A person that I thank sub-consciously whenever my mind thinks about her. She was my C++ teacher at NIIT, her name is Anitha Pai. The Nationa...

One of the most vivid memories I have from my childhood is that of a purple boombox. It was a multi-cassette player that my father brought from Kuwait on one of his first trips back home. The color struck a stark contrast with anything else in the house, not just appliances, even the women’s nail polishes were not that jazzy. It was a Sanyo, so Japanese brand, highly reputed and respected in India for electronics. Sony, National, Toshiba, and Sanyo were in that order for consumer electronics ...

One of the most vivid memories I have from my childhood is that of a purple boombox. It was a multi-cassette player that my father brought from Kuwait on one of his first trips back home. The color struck a stark contrast with anything else in the house, not just appliances, even the women’s nail polishes were not that jazzy. It was a Sanyo, so Japanese brand, highly reputed and respected in India for electronics. Sony, National, Toshiba, and Sanyo were in that order for consumer electronics ...

Coming from a family of bankers, auditors, accountants and governance people, for me, there is that inherent trust in regulation, doing the right thing by customers and handling money responsibly. The bank to me, is as holy as a temple. After all, isn’t Goddess Mahalakshmi, the goddess of wealth residing in her full splendor residing in those banks? The imagery that flashes to mind instantly, are those childhood religious texts that show the Goddess of wealth showering coins from a pot of Gol...

Coming from a family of bankers, auditors, accountants and governance people, for me, there is that inherent trust in regulation, doing the right thing by customers and handling money responsibly. The bank to me, is as holy as a temple. After all, isn’t Goddess Mahalakshmi, the goddess of wealth residing in her full splendor residing in those banks? The imagery that flashes to mind instantly, are those childhood religious texts that show the Goddess of wealth showering coins from a pot of Gol...

One of the rare incidents in life is Venus meeting Jupiter and practically being overlayed on top of each other. This was also a time when you could line up the Sun, Mercury, Venus-Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon. Saturn and Mercury were very hard to spot due to their proximity to the Sun in the Western sky. Jupiter and Venus were the most noteworthy. The union of Jupiter and Venus is a rare and awe-inspiring event that occurs when the two planets come together in the night sky. This celestial al...

One of the rare incidents in life is Venus meeting Jupiter and practically being overlayed on top of each other. This was also a time when you could line up the Sun, Mercury, Venus-Jupiter, Mars, and the Moon. Saturn and Mercury were very hard to spot due to their proximity to the Sun in the Western sky. Jupiter and Venus were the most noteworthy. The union of Jupiter and Venus is a rare and awe-inspiring event that occurs when the two planets come together in the night sky. This celestial al...

At times when you least expect it. A year ago, I would not have imagined this day - it is a milestone day in my career with the biggest launch of a new company. Life is full of surprises, and sometimes those surprises come in the form of unexpected coincidences or events that seem to bring things full circle. There are moments when the universe seems to align, and everything falls into place in a way that feels almost too perfect to be real. Perhaps we reconnect with an old friend or ex-lover...

At times when you least expect it. A year ago, I would not have imagined this day - it is a milestone day in my career with the biggest launch of a new company. Life is full of surprises, and sometimes those surprises come in the form of unexpected coincidences or events that seem to bring things full circle. There are moments when the universe seems to align, and everything falls into place in a way that feels almost too perfect to be real. Perhaps we reconnect with an old friend or ex-lover...