Learn to respect, not to fear

One day during a finance class of Prof David Wessels at Wharton, suddenly, the classroom door flew open and a hefty guy entered with a cardboard box in his hand. The interrupted class sat in stunned silence — we were all staring at that guy. But without missing...

Change your beliefs

Two decades ago, I was sitting with a good friend and college senior who had recently relocated to Trivandrum after a PhD in the US. He was talking about how much he missed running and how moving back to India had disrupted that habit. I asked him, “Why not restart?...

90% of the battle

I don’t need the motivation to run 10km — I need just enough to put on my running shoes. 90% of the battle is getting started. Yet, sometimes, even putting on the shoes feels hard. Here is my favorite hack, but before that, we need to know some neuroscience. Think of...

Mothers

Growing up, when I was facing my life’s first major exam (IITJEE), I was virtually biting my nails. I would often ponder, “What if I don’t make it? Would I have any future?” We were not an affluent family. Nobody in our family had been to college — my sister and...