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Meaningful Work
Years ago, during my first startup, I took a shared office space in Bandra (Mumbai). Every morning, on the way to work, I would see a retired-looking person (in his early sixties) idly sitting in his house by the window, with some jazz music...
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Perfect job
When I saw how much some of the most coveted jobs suck, I realized that there is no perfect job. And if no job is perfect, how can our life be...
Benefits of meditation
Today morning when I woke up, I was not feeling good. But after an almost hour-long meditation, I felt like a different person – calm, mindful, and...
Biggest revenge
Some guy wrote an abusive comment accusing me of joining the Civil Services because I enjoyed the crumbs of power. And he said many other nasty...
Motivation
For some reason, I don’t feel super motivated today. So what? Our goals are still alive, and so are we. Then what is there to wait for? Time won’t...
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Cherish everyone
During my stint in the IPS, once my IGP (Inspector General of Police) flared at me in anger because he did not get a good seat at a cultural event. It was a celebration to mark South India’s film star Mohanlal’s 25 years in films. With almost...
Prioritize substance over hype
When I launched my current startup, HabitStrong, I decided to not go the conventional route of painting a growth story and trying to impress the VCs. Instead, here is the startup guide I followed: 1. Don’t worry about scale – instead focus on...
Focus
If you keep hearing that startup life is about non-stop hustle and working 16 hours a day, rarely sleeping before 2 am, let me assure you – that is total nonsense. Of course, if you choose to go that crazy, nobody can stop you. But there is...
Lessons from Policing
One fine morning in 2001, when I was heading the Trivandrum City Police, students from a particular political union in Trivandrum’s University College went on a rampage. But since we were anticipating the violence, we were ready. With a good number...