The startup world has today become a circus. Once, ‘startup’ meant innovation. Today it has become this drama of VC funding, valuation, unicorn, week-over-week growth, blitzscaling, and pursuit of the next billion/trillion/quadrillion. Now, there is NOTHING...

I have been working out regularly for more than a decade but it took years of struggle to make meditation a daily habit. Without guidance, it was really hard - every time, I would try but give up after a few days. But once I started reading some of the Buddhist texts...

In 2003, I was facing a potentially career-ending crisis. A group of tribals from northern Kerala landed in Trivandrum and started agitating. As the City Police chief, I had to ensure that there was no violence or obstruction. Since these were impoverished tribals, we...

In investment banking and Wall Street jobs, the ‘bonus day’ is an interesting one -- everybody gets a cash windfall. Naturally, they should all be thrilled, right? Yet, NOT everyone is happy. Why? Did they not just get more money? Here are the two reasons: 1. Though...

When I joined the Indian Police Service, I was in for a big disappointment -- I was assigned to serve in the Kerala cadre for the rest of my life. Folklore says that for the Civil Services, the north Indian states are ‘good cadres’ -- good facilities, nice houses, and...

Two decades ago, when I was serving as in the police, I saw the current Kerala Chief Minister, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, personally lead a protest ‘dharna’ before the Trivandrum Collectorate. At that time, his party was in the opposition. He was sitting on the road,...

Having pretty much wasted my 4 years at IIT without learning much, I was determined to not repeat that mess, ever. So when I joined my MBA, I was focused and doing well academically. But it created another problem -- I became greedy for top grades and felt like only...

Two decades ago, during a lunch at some government function, I first met Mr. Karunakaran, former Chief Minister of Kerala. On his plate, there was just one appam (a dosa-like item) with some vegetable stew. Seeing him eat so little, I later asked his aides, ‘He ate so...

During our Civil Services training in Mussoorie, one day, our physical training (PT) instructor announced the upcoming 9-day trek to the Himalayas. For the hardest trek route that led to Roop Kund (>5,000 m), when he asked for volunteers, so many hands went up that...

In my days as a private equity investor, I learned some interesting lessons about ‘synergies’, horses, and donkeys -- here they are 🙂 Every fund has the usual mix of investments, some good, others not so much. Most investments that do badly, do so for deep underlying...

During my early days in the Indian Police Service, I was once accompanying a senior officer to a police station for an inspection. While on the way, in the car, this officer was talking about the importance of discipline and timeliness. But ironically, while we were...

In 2008, working in New York, every week I would hear about my friends losing their jobs. In the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, every US bank was dead or tottering. Lakhs of people had lost their jobs, houses, and bulk of their savings. I thought I...

During my training in the Indian Police Service, we had to do a long route march in scorching sun, with a rifle and backpack. What was the point of that? Similarly, if you go for any hardcore military training such as for commandos, they won’t give you a precision...

When I joined the Indian Police Service, my seniors told me about a Rambo-like officer, who would be out patrolling at night, catching criminals. They told me, ‘He should be your role model.’ After all, that is the kind of officer one gets to see in movies. But years...

Once, while heading to lunch with a Wharton classmate who was a sailing expert, I asked her, 'If a boat needs to sail DIRECTLY against the wind, how would it do that?' She explained the trick: You can't sail directly against the wind. But you can sail up to 45 degrees...