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Individuality

In my first year at IIT, we had a race -- no, not the rat race, but a literal one. We had to pick a humanities course, which was assigned ‘first come, first served.’ Prof Amit Ray’s course on arts/design was the most popular -- he gave ‘A’ grades quite liberally. And...

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Nature is unforgiving

When I left McKinsey to join private equity in India, I was extremely nervous. I knew nothing about investing. All I had learned at b-school and at McKinsey was the theoretical stuff. And now I would have to rub shoulders with the ‘pros.’ Since these people were...

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Happiness

Many years ago, during a social event, an IPS officer known for obsessive drinking claimed that while serving in the Border Security Force, he had liquor in the deserts of Rajasthan, under the night sky. And that according to him, was the most enjoyable experience man...

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Detoxing from Power

Years ago, my first detox was not from unhealthy food or some bad habit, but from authority and power. Working in the IPS had many good things, but one bad thing was that you get addicted to power and authority. And I could see all the symptoms of addiction. When you...

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Reality and Ego

Years ago, I was at an evening get-together at the house of a senior IPS officer. At that time, as a relatively junior IPS officer, I was heading a city police force. During the conversation, one senior officer started lamenting about how the quality of IPS officers...

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Healthy body

Every time I go for a run, the uphill stretches of Trivandrum roads remind me what raw agony feels like 🙂 Yet, when I see people taking a gentle stroll in nearby parks, I don’t envy them -- instead, I feel truly privileged. Why is it a privilege to suffer that pain?...

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Shifting Priorities

Earlier, the headlines grabbing our eyeballs would be, “ABC topped the IITJEE” or “XYZ topped the IAS exam.” Nowadays, the more popular headline is, “The highest salary at IIT Roorkee is Rs 2.15 Cr.” Apparently, IIT Bombay and Guwahati got only the consolation prize,...

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Magic inside you

Three years ago, I met this ex-software engineer who returned from the US to take up a nondescript admin job at a private college in Karnataka. He quit software because he was trained in old technologies that got phased out, making him redundant. I asked him gently,...

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Realities of life

Years ago, I hired a journalist (a sub-editor) from India’s top-notch English newspaper to write blog articles for a startup I was then running. That newspaper was so reputed that I did not even test his knowledge of writing -- that would have been like testing if a...

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Lost in Jargon

During my stint with a private equity fund, I once got into a hot debate with a colleague about a loss-making company we owned. He was suggesting that this company launch a new product line. I asked him, “Why launch one more product line when the company is already...

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Micromanaging

Once a good friend of mine at McKinsey was assigned a young analyst for his team. For some reason, my friend was quite unhappy with the analyst’s performance. One day, while I was sitting in his room, I overheard him giving feedback to the analyst. He finally said,...

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Trigonometry and Honesty

Today I am going to give you two examinations, one in Trigonometry and another on Honesty. I hope you will pass them both, but if you must fail one, let it be Trigonometry, for there are many good people in this world today who cannot pass an examination in...

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