Personal

If you are young, and I mentor you (or not), then this talk is a must watch. Don’t make the mistakes I have. Subra (as usual), fills his 10 minute at IIT Bombay, with wit and humour and wisdom.

On a short break. The newsletter and the blogs are on a hiatus of sorts, for now. I have been sick awhile, so I am taking time off, to tend to myself. Will be back, hopefully soon :)

The truth is, I think, […] for me inspiration comes from a bunch of places. (Counting on his fingers …) Desperation, deadlines … A lot of times, ideas will turn up while you are doing something else. And most of all, I think, ideas come from confluence. They come from two things flowing together, they come, essentially from day-dreaming. It’s … it’s something I suspect that’s something that every human being does. ...

August Ultralearning, Scott H Young (must read. if you are looking to tackle something foundationally important, this book gives you one solid approach. it’s mostly common sense. but common sense that is laid out in a really logical manner. i learnt to plan my project, that hard learning is normal, that failure is normal, and that persistence is a prerequisite. all critical things, since learning no longer “comes naturally” to me.) ...

Peter Kaufman, editor of Poor Charlie’s Almanack, on why is it important to be a multidisciplinary thinker. Because as the Japanese proverb says, ‘The frog in the well, knows nothing of the mighty ocean.’ You may know everything there is to know about your specialty, your silo, your “well”, but how are you going to make any good decisions in life … the complex systems of life, the dynamic system of life … if all you know, is one well? ...

Ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. You’ve stood by me through thick and thin. We’ve been through houses and hospitals and travails and travels around the world. We finish each other’s thoughts and sentences, (much to Poo’s chagrin,) I don’t know what I’d do without you. To quote a silly old country song, When my life is through, And the Angels ask me to recall The thrill of it all, then I will tell them I remember you … ...