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We live only once
I had a boss in the Indian Police Service, who played safe all his life – he never took a bold stand, nor did he ever uphold any principles. His only goal was to please his bosses and take the easy way out. Nobody respected him – I certainly did...
Recent Posts
Ego’s Paradox
Ego is not always your enemy. I first realized this in 2001, when as a police officer, I was facing a fierce agitation by a tribal group from...
Winning is not everything
VCs love to talk about the unicorns in their portfolio – and understandably so. But why don’t we talk about how many of our companies are ethical?...
Principle of leadership
A few years ago, at an organic food show in Trivandrum, a girl at the entry counter stopped me. And with the zeal of a convert, she shoved a...
Lessons from Finance
In a finance class at Wharton, I realized the root cause of the 2008 financial meltdown -- complexity. And if we are not careful, for the same...
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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...
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...
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...
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...