Category Archives: Life Lessons

For AdSense approval traffic volume is important, content not that much. Don’t tell me otherwise.

Most bloggers want to monetize their blogs, eventually. If you search the web for ‘monetizing blogs’, you will get thousands of links to websites sharing best strategies to monetize your site. Firstly, almost all of them have something to sell to you for sharing their thoughts on monetization. Secondly, they will preach that it is… Read More »

Emma John!

Me: “Hello! Yes, can’t hear you. The connection is shoddy. Could you speak in English and a bit louder, please?“ Voice at the other end: “(Inaudible) … Emma John…“ Me: “What now?“ Voice at the other end: “(Inaudible)… from Emma John… (inaudible)“ Me: “Emma John?“ Voice at the other end: “Yes, Emma John. Your package… Read More »

Live a little. You have got just one chance at this.

Recently, an engineering student named Pichikala Siddharth from the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad committed suicide by jumping off the third floor of the campus building. According to his friends and family, he was suffering from depression. This was the third suicide in the campus in the past 8 months. On July 3 2019, a… Read More »

Here are a gazillion reasons why you shouldn’t be on social media.

The news out of the social media world today is that the CEO of AirAsia, Tony Fernandes, has quit Facebook in protest, after videos of New Zealand mosque attacks were posted on the platform. Fernandes tweeted saying that Facebook needs to “clean up and not just think of financials” and that “The amount of hate… Read More »

Humanity: Just when you wonder where it has disappeared, it shows up and surprises you.

Today, I got out of a fix, a big fix I have to say, because of help from a few strangers. Now, my faith in humanity is restored and is up by one-tenth of one percent. Well, maybe, a little more. Just kidding! Oh, the humanity! First of all, unequivocally speaking, driving on Indian roads… Read More »

All this hullabaloo surrounding New Year and Happy New Year greetings are a load of codswallop and not even worth a picayune.

I ran into a casual acquaintance, today, who first wished me a happy new year, then gave me a hug, and finally wanted a selfie with me. 21 days into 2019, and he wishes me a “Happy New Year.” This got me thinking, how far into a new year are you allowed to wish a… Read More »

Actionable advice: buying and consuming poison at a discounted price is still consuming poison. Stop justifying the cognitive dissonance.

On a recent flight, I was sitting next to two very chatty gentlemen. I had no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation. However, I had no choice but to hear them talk, as they were sitting right next to me and yapping nonstop. Both of them were chain smokers. They reeked of cigarette smoke and… Read More »

Actionable advice: do not gold plate or allow scope creep at workplace

Every project manager will undoubtedly know the definition of gold plating and scope creep, also known as requirement creep. For the uninitiated, to gold plate, in project management parlance, is to add any functionality or feature that was not a part of the original project scope plan. This does not mean that new features or… Read More »

Mutual funds sahi hai (mutual funds are right) campaign: an ad blitz doing more harm than good?

For the last few months, I am noticing a sharp spike in the number of ‘invest in mutual funds‘ ads on TV and print. Even though my TV viewing is limited to around 20 minutes per day, mostly while having dinner with my mom, I still couldn’t help but notice the pervasive nature of those… Read More »

Getting “selected” for promotion in the corporate world

Recently, Saurav Ganguly, who retired as India’s most successful captain, had this to say about getting selected for the Indian cricket team, I retired because at some point you’ve had enough. The reason is not because you have had enough of playing the sport but because you’ve had enough of getting selected all the time.… Read More »

Sexual harassment in the workplace: meet weirdo Hans

Recently, New York Times, in an exposé, alleged that a very prominent Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, has been sexually harassing women for ages. Subsequent to the publication of that exposé, many other women have come forward and accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. Some have even accused him of rape. According to the article, he… Read More »

Weirdos of the corporate world: meet itchy Ritesh and pocket pool Richard

While meandering your way through the corporate world, your path will invariably cross the paths of a lot of weird characters. Some of them will be your colleagues and some of them will be your superiors/managers/leaders. It is relatively easy to work with weird colleagues, as you can navigate the “potholes” they create with some… Read More »

Why do many relationships run into troubled waters? Is it mostly lust and not love? Why many couples get it so wrong?

I am sure we all have heard about people—famous and otherwise—falling in love, starting a relationship, getting married and then divorcing a short time later. For some, the divorce may happen within a year’s time. I could never wrap my head around how and why many relationships go sour and go south so quickly after… Read More »