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Give your people the attention they deserve
Long ago, I was attending a conference on drug addiction, where they honored an Australian guy who had dedicated his life to helping people caught up in drug addiction. When he was asked to address the audience, he started out by listing all the...
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Living for today
When I entered the corporate world in the US after my stint in the Indian Civil Services, I heard this weird notion called ‘paying your dues.’...
Flow state
The fish packet vanished from right in front of my eyes -- how the hell did that happen, I wondered! This happened a few months ago: Sitting in my...
Bouncing back from failures
In week-2 of the 1st semester at IIT Kanpur, I got my first big life shock - the physics quiz. This quiz was pretty nasty: An ant was supposedly...
Finding Happiness
20 years after we first met, I ran into Mr. Michael Siromani, a retired IAS officer, under curious circumstances -- he was collecting roadside weeds...
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How to win in an unfair life
It was an unequal race -- not fair. During my 6th grade, our sports teacher announced an impromptu bike race to celebrate the end of the annual sports day. The near-certain winner was the son of the Commanding Officer of the local air force...
Prioritizing & delegating in high-stress situations
Years ago, when I was heading Trivandrum City Police, a horse in our mounted police unit got seriously ill and was in severe pain. Since it was cruel to let the horse suffer, the veterinary doctor had to sadly seek my approval to euthanize the...
Clarity is only in hindsight
My good friend and first boss in the IPS, Vinod Thomas, was a cop on a particular Friday. The next Monday he was a private equity investor. He probably made the world’s most dramatic overnight career transition, going on to manage more than a...
Finding meaning beyond material success
The clock is ticking. Once out of college, you have to be ‘30 under 30.’ God forbid, if you miss it, ‘40 under 40’ is your absolute last chance. If you miss that as well, shame on you. If you are in a job, you are wasting your life -- look at all...