Self-Authenticity

During my stint in the police service, when senior officers called me, they would sometimes ask, “Where are you?” The implication was that if you are in office, you are working – so you are a good boy. But if you were at home, you are slacking off. Nobody said it out...

Unique Privilege

My biggest privilege has been that I did not grow up in a wealthy, privileged family. Growing up, we had enough money for necessities, but not enough for random indulgences. For many people in my situation, the hunger for success and the drive came naturally – parents...

Enjoy the ride

The only thing I have seemingly excelled at in life is throwing away whatever I have done, only to restart my career, repeatedly, from scratch. I first learned electrical engineering – admittedly, not very well. The IIT professors tried hard but for lack of...

Peace of mind

In 2014, when I moved to Trivandrum (from Mumbai), my financial situation was not looking great. For years, I had been drawing down my meager savings to fund my startup. Further, living in Mumbai was expensive despite moving to a smaller apartment after quitting my...

The Government Job Obsession

A colleague of mine bullied us into sharing five embarrassing experiences for a New Year event. I thought I might as well share them publicly – so here they are: 1. When I first tasted a martini (at the kitchen counter of my aunt’s house in San Francisco), I...