Our vacation revolves around school vacations. Last October 2018 during Dussehra I had planned a trip to Darjeeling. Booked tickets but people discouraged saying Darjeeling is over crowded and has lost its charm.

So changed plan to Sikkim and re-booked rooms in Gangtok ( pro tip : Agoda allows free of cost cancellation upto a certain point ).

Took Yeshwantpur-Howrah Duronto Express. Love long train journeys. Can sleep as much as you want and read as much as you want. I had off-lined a few movies in Prime – and family were entertained. I saw Dhalapathi with San – after 26 years – what a kick-ass movie. Last time I saw Dhalapthi was in my 10th standard summer holidays – a 2nd show that too in a movie theatre near Railway station. To kill time because we were to board the Cochin-Howrah express at 3:00 AM in Coimbatore. We were going to Cuttack, Orissa. The Howrah Connection!

Started Sunday 11:00 AM Bangalore. Reached Monday 5:00 PM Howrah.

We took a break. There are lot of trains to NJP – New Jalpaiguri. Could have booked a train for 8:00PM but we have a 60+ Young lady and a 10ish Old man.

Took the train Tuesday evening 5:00 PM. It was going to Assam, we got down at Jalpaiguri Wednesday 6:00 AM. Brushed teeth and we get out of the station.

There is a Pre-paid Taxi stand. Best is to go via this – there are lot of these Mahindra and Tata Sumo. They charge around 250 or 300 per head. It takes 4 – 6 hours to reach Gangtok from here by road. Entire way the beautiful greenish Theesta river accompanies you. Lovely site.

We break for breakfast on one of the road side dhabas. Momos are there everywhere. They have a healthy vegetarian offering called Thakkali thaali.

There is a simple alternative now – if you are short of time can take a flight directly to Gangtok – a new Airport is opened now. Otherwise on Train + Road it takes 2 nights and 2.5 days from Bangalore.

 Day 1 :

Immediately after checking in – via the hotel – gave aadhar copy, passport size photos for registration. This has to be done before 4PM – so they can get a pass for visiting Nathula Pass ( India-China Border ). Also one day of the week this is closed. Please check before making travel arrangements.

Mahatma Gandhi Chowk.Vehicle free street. Lot of shops and eateries and trinket shops. Nice place to hang out. The place looked so good they could have held a concert there. Then I later found – public speakers are banned in this state. Sikkim is unique in many ways. Kept uncovering interesting facts about this wonderful state.

Day 2 : 

We had to leave around 7:00ish. There is a ban on SUV kind of commercial vehicles from entering Gangtok during office hours – Being the capital + tourist place – it is seriously messed up.

There is a package. Nathula Pass, Baba Mandir and Tsongpo lake. Will be a full day.

These 2 nut cases were from Jharkand. My kind of guys. Have to pull this off someday. We started making plans how to do a ride in our bikes. Fire lit in our hearts.

Baba Mandir

There is an interesting story of an enlightened Jawan. How this Jawan died in a water accident, he came in a dream of his friend and told the exact location to find his body. This shrine is in his honour.

Highlight here is at 12noon they play National Anthem and we all can sing together. San started crying here. It was an emotional moment.

Tsongpo Lake

It was just after 2pm and mist started enveloping the mountains.

Day 3 : 

You can stop any small taxi ( Santos or altos ) and they will give you a 7point package for Rs.1000 for half a day. We decided to visit 2 places in the package – wanted to drink Sikkim deep.

Ranka Monastery

It is not one of the famous monasteries. Picked this because this was uphill ( downhill if we go then we had to spend 1 hour to enter Gangtok on the way back).

It was totally deserted. Had green tea in a cafeteria inside the monastery compounds near parking. Richard Gere, Aamir Khan – lot of celebrities have visited this place. Also they were serving Chicken moms – What Sacrilege!?

I did not take pictures in their sanctum. No one was there, I just opened the main door and walked in. It was like in some KungFu movies. Sat and meditated and studied all their paintings and the Beautiful Buddha statue and so many Gods ( later found out who they are all – another blog post ). It was a moment I will never forget – it was so quiet and magical.

Next stop was the waterfall. Banjhakari waterfalls

The climb to the falls is well setup with Gazebos, and statues etc. The waterfall was a little disappointment – as it is little – but the entire walk was well made. We had lot of fun at the falls too – it was like walking in a Japanese Movie Set.

Got back, had a late lazy lunch and then took the Ropeway that runs across Gangtok.

Next day we returned to Siliguri, over night bus to Kolkatta.

While researching on Sikkim found that the Northern part of Sikkim is untouched. The place where Teestha originates is a site to behold.

Sikkimese are very kind and loving people. They speak with a smile and are very courteous. There is no fleecing in the taxis or the shops. There is a kind of gentle peacefulness in this place. There were absolutely no foreigners. All prices are moderate and not inflated like in other Touristy places.

I sound like I am marketing but found a totally different state of mind among Sikkimese.

Also I saw lot of posters for an Organic state. They are banning pesticides throughout the state.

My kind of place.

Will be visiting again definitely. Not done with this cute little state of ours. Might even live here for a few years – who knows!

Here is my own Yearly Tradition!

Every year I start my first blog post on the books I read the previous year. Here is the list from 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 2017.

Here are the books that journeyed with me in 2018.

Tamil

• Ponniyin Selvan – 1st Part

This is a must read for anyone who loves Tamil. My sister had gifted all the 4 parts and I had some false starts earlier. It was difficult to read at the beginning but the flow kicked in and I was reading at a good pace. The story and plot is intricate and thoroughly enjoyed it. Reading in one’s mother tongue is a totally enjoyable experience. 2019 planning to add more Tamil Titles to my reading list.

Fiction

• Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
  

I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and wanted a breezy read. So picked it up. Man it was exhausting. Story moves so fast and there is so much of information on European sculptures and churches. Good time pass. If I am going to visit the Vatican will re-read this book. Can enjoy the city.

• Dawn of Wonder – The Wakening

• Tribe of Mentors – Tim Ferris

I have lot of Gurus and one of them is Tim Ferris. Started reading it in a book shop for time pass, and ended up purchasing it. Full of tips, tricks, hacks from high achievers – entrepreneurs, musicians, olympic athletes. Loved the format of the book – classified into Healthy,Wealthy and Wise.

• Talk like Ted

Read this book before our Annual Company wide Get together – Chaos 2018. Helped me focus my thoughts and keep my talk short. If you have a public speech coming up – read this book. Your audience will thoroughly enjoy your talk.

• How to fly a horse – The secret history of Creation invention and discovery

It was a fun read. We are all creative and we should look to introduce creative methods / hacks in our day to day life and work – and somewhere a breakthrough might happen.

History

• Innovators – How a group by Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution by Walter Isaacson

• Iron Gold – #4 of Red Rising Series

This is a series I have been reading since 2016. The entire series is brilliant. Awaiting #5!

• Ubik by Philip K Dick.

 

This is another classic from the author of Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep. A good portion of the story happens after the protagonists die. It is in an in-between state – where the living can still communicate with the dead. If you love Sci-Fi – this has to be in your reading list. Pure Awesomeness this is.

• Hyperion by Dan Simmons

 

The plot is really good. 7 Pilgrims are on their way to Hyperion to their certain death. There is this creature – called the Shrike – The God of Pain – that does not obey Physics Laws and kills people left right and center. Each of the pilgrims narrate their story as they travel to the Shrike’s temple. One of the pilgrim’s – a professor is carrying his daughter who has a condition called Merlin sickness. Time travels backwards for her. It is very touching and this brought tears reading this part of the story.

• Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

• Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Humans kill themselves – the entire species – ( yes we are a talented race and we are idiots ) – save for a Space ship and another solo BioScientist stranded in a capsule orbiting a planet in a far away galaxy. The BioScientist injects the planet with an advanced Virus which helps evolve Monkeys into Humans at a rapid pace. There are no monkeys apparently in that planet – but the virus infects spiders. It is a fascinating journey how the spiders take over the planet and their interaction with the Humans.

• A big ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

Loved the imagination of this author. In the future people cast magic spells and shields. Fascinating read. They should make a movie of this – would be a fun watch.

Diamond Age

Another master piece from Nepal Stephenson. Difficult read but the joy is in the grind like his novels. There is an AI book – at the center of this story which can teach a little girl everything and grows along with her. One has to wonder at the breadth of Neal Stephenson’s imagination – the elaborate lengths he goes to describe the AI book and how it works.

• The House that Jack Ma Built

 

How did this short puny little man become this super successful entrepreneur. Did he get favours from Chinese Govt? How did he build his empire – not one but 3 – Alibaba, TaoBao, Ant Financials. His philosophy and what makes him tick. Fantastic read.

• The Monk of Mokha

• Awareness by Anthony De Mello

• Teachings on the Bardo – Zurmang Gharwan Rinpoche

• Direct Expressions – Namdrol Rinpoche

• Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic – Osho

If you are a runner you obsess over your accessories. You will understand.

If you are not a runner – let me explain to you, why we runners obsess over the accessories.

Even when you are lacing your shoes – the devil part in your brain will keep shouting – Do you really want to run? – it is cold outside, or why not take a break today or it is already 8:30 – sun is out in full force… blah blah – the chatter keeps going on and on – asking you to stop and relax in your sofa.

The devil should be quietened. Unless you are a Buddha for us ordinary mortals it is not possible. We need tools.

A Smartphone is perfect for this. There are podcasts, music, audiobooks. The devil needs to be fed with these – so you can run at peace.

My first smartphone was Samsung Galaxy S in 2010. My running took off with this. Used the stock wired headphones but it will hurt my ears. And it will keep slipping once sweat builds up. Had to keep adjusting it and never got into a good rhythm.

Second problem is where to put the smartphone. You put it in pocket it will jostle. I finally settled on a runner’s water pack carrier from Decathalon – with a pouch for holding phone and keys. This solved the problem.

Sangeeta saw me ogling on a Sennheiser sports headphone – an around the ear neck band kind – around Rs.4000 in a mall. Our combined salary that time was Rs.50,000 or so and Rs.4000 was a big luxury ( we were bootstrapping ADDA and we were taking the bare minimum to keep our home running ). She bought it for me.

My running improved really well. The headphones did not hurt my ear. Quality was too good. But the headphone lasted only a couple of years. The headphone jack became a loose conduct and it will only work in some weird angle.

My running will get affected as I stop to adjust the headphone jack. Red electric tape did not help. I switched to stock headphone and hated it.

Also I could not find this specific version of Sennheiser headphone. Much more expensive ones were only available. It was around 2014 I think – Amazon and Flipkart were getting popular, and I could find my kind of headphone online – and I ordered the next version of this headphone – and it lasted another couple of years.

In 2016 I upgraded to iPhone 7 which had no headphone jack. I ran with the dongle – but it had lot of loose connection issues and suddenly my perfect headphone became useless. Back to square one. 

I knew I had to invest in a Bluetooth headphone. AirPods cost around Rs.10,000 – a cost of a good android smartphone. Bought a cheap Bluetooth Panasonic headphone. It will take some time pairing, and I have one more device to charge. It hurt my ears and will kept slipping. Sigh. Started hating the iPhone. I keep making fun of San as 1.5. ( First invest in half the price of something, find it to be good for nothing then invest in the real thing – 1.5x – I had committed the same mistake ). 

Then San showed me her AirPods. Did a trial run with it and loved it. Invested in AirPods.

My running form was back. AirPods never slipped out. Pairing was easy. When I had to talk to someone a simple tap on the left and it will pause. Double tap it starts playing the audio book without me having to pull out the phone.

I got excited about the Apple Watch ( series 2 had just come out and I fell for the Nike version )  – thinking I can now ditch the phone and run just with the watch and AirPod. 

Memories fade fast. Capturing it while it is in my memory. I lost a dear friend. It is about him. 

Yesterday happened to see Rocket Singh Salesman of the year movie.

Let me get the good out of the way.

There is corruption everywhere. Wrong decisions, inflated bills are accepted with a bribe to get the sale. Bad for the company, bad for the industry, bad for the end consumers. This segment is the only good part of the movie.

Other than this – I was squirming while watching the movie.

Bad 1

Misusing company’s (AYS corporation) resources while building his company ( Rocket ). They do justify in the movie that our hero is insulted as zero by AYS’s boss. Rocket’s employees will use AYS’s van for transporting equipments, they will work during the night and sleep during the day in the office – while drawing salary from AYS.

Bad 2

Rocket team had the honour not to divert existing leads that come to AYS. However, they dug out the old leads which have declined AYS. AYS would have spent lot of marketing dollars, WoM to generate leads. Also the reasons for declining AYS might have been – lack of budget that time, not a good champion at the other end, no requirement etc. Rocket cannot steal the old leads of AYS.

Bad 3

This pissed me off. The whole bane of Indian Startups – undercutting to get a business. Rocket’s differentiators – undercut AYS and also offer 24×7 Support – which is not sustainable. This kills the industry as it creates unreasonable expectations.

I would have appreciated Rocket if they had charged more than AYS’s support to offer 24×7 and quick turn around time and convinced the customer – which is harder to sell. How could they sustain at cheap rates and give quality support? [ If your employees draw salary from another company – AYS – may be. ].

Undercutting, giving cash back, giving discounts, throwing freebies – it is the easy way to sell – and is not sustainable. Company will lose eventually. Customers will lose. The Industry dies.

Selling a quality product at a price it deserves is the hard way to sell – which is sustainable. Customers will win. Company wins. The industry they both operate will thrive.

Rocket Singh is a bad movie for budding entrepreneurs.

1. Thou shalt not steal your existing employee’s resources.
2. Thou shalt not steal your existing employee’s leads
3. Thou shalt not capture business by undercutting your competitor at unsustainable rates.

Some good lessons where there though

1. Say no to corruption – everywhere – even in Private sector
2. Business is about People.

My only prayer is hope these wrong lessons are not picked up by young entrepreneurs and they ask these questions before mis-using existing company’s resources or starting a race to the bottom death match with their competitors.

I wish there is a Rocket Singh – II. And the movie continues where it left so we know how Rocket manages the low costs he is giving.

I ran 10K last on 06th August 2017.

After that the maximum I touched was 8k – rarely. Most of my runs were 4 5 or 6 kms.

Partly because I did not find any good audio book. I fondly remember the days when I used to run with Three Body Problem, Ender’s world – all kept me on my toes ( literally ).

Summer heat, difficult audio books ( Ubik, Diamond Age ) – weren’t helping.

Today my running friend – Akshay – joined me. This is how usually runners talk

He : How much today?

Me : Trying 10. 2 down. How about you?

He : 21 yesterday, planning 10 today.

Me : Wow. Lets do it.

I switch off my audio book. I know Akshay tells Ohm while he runs. When I dont listen I keep telling Om Ma Nee Pad Me Hum.

I think about these mantras. They are powerful and slowly chip into your soul.

2 or 3 rounds around the lake, we run across his son. 14 year old – he comes with us for a full round as we talk about cricket. He is a fast bowler. We egg his ego. But he drops off after a round.

I complete my 10k. Satisfying run.

I do my stretches and lie on the grass spread eagled. It starts drizzling. It was magical.

Here are a few photos of the lake – It is in AECS layout. Mud track. Trees are growing up well.

A huge Thank you lake activists. You have no idea how much I love this paradise you guys have helped create.

BBMP – The corporate body in charge of Bangalore – which keeps roads pot hole free, streets free of trash, lakes without foam, keeps underpasses dry during monsoon – was able to carve out free time to brainstorm and come up with a new law – to regularize pets.

BBMP has put up a list of allowed breeds in Apartment Complexes. Sufi who happens to be a Beagle is now an illegal immigrant as of today. Sufi, Trump also hates you now.

And it is not over – there is a new rule now – only one pet per apartment is allowed. And Indies are not in the list either. Good luck Carbon ( Sufi’s friend living in a nearby Apartment ).

To tackle pet breeders they justify. I tell this to Sufi and she does a face palm with her cute paws.

Instead of punishing all pet lovers – why can’t they legalize and regularize pet breeding. Right now it is done illegally and the poor animals are exploited. The mothers are made to give birth every 6 months for 14 years at a stretch and are reduced to machines and then let loose on the street – and not knowing how to fend for themselves – die a miserable death.

BBMP’s intention – I appreciate and am grateful – is right. But their law will just be like the trash clogging the storm water drains – is of no use and will cause more problems for everyone.

This law is not going to curb pet breeders. Now they will give you an additional service. Apart from selling a puppy out of their puppy mill – for an additional charge will get you a license. More money for breeders, the officials. Ka-Ching.

This reminds me of how the IT Department went after Angel Investments in Startups.

Startups get investment on the valuation suggested by the founders ( ahemm.. on a huge discount ). This is not an income to the startup. Even a 3rd grader knows this.

One wily politician ( no names here – dont have energy to fight lawsuits ) – used this route to park his ill-gotten money as investment in fictitious companies.

The IT Department was asked to go after such investments. Now that everything is automated – the IT Department officials did a Select-All, Mail Merge and sent threatening letters to all Startups who raised Angel Investment – to treat this investment as income – and so you should pay tax. Some – like us – have used up all the money in building the business. Some had shut down and the founders had moved on.

All the Startup founders collectively face palmed, panicked and had one more reason to lose sleep upon.

Startups now engaged their Auditors – who relished such a battle – replies were sent, demands to appear on such and such date was made, personal appearances were made on behalf of the startup by the auditor ( everything billed to the Startup once again – with GST mind you ).

And the wily politician? Oh they have the means and resources to tackle such notices.

Being the victim of 2 such laws ( Pet Law and Angel Tax ) – cannot help laughing at the situation.

So what will happen to Sufi?

I am not too worried. Sufi is backed by Beagle Brigade. The group which rescued such Beagles from the clutches of Laboratory which used Animals for testing cosmetic products. I am confident they will get Beagle included in the list.

My real worry is – why is BBMP burning its midnight oil on such Pet laws. Monsoon is charging up as we speak and Bangalore is going to become one big messy pool. The road to our apartment complex has been dug up on the left for GAIL gas pipe line and a drainage on right. Not yet relaid. It is a muddy mess with vehicles getting stuck. When it rains what will happen?

Sigh.

My last post was in January 2018 and it was an effortless post – just a book round up of 2017 books I read.

From then to now lots have happened.

Rajinikanth has announced his entry into politics.

Flipkart got acquired by Walmart.

CSK won the IPL tournament.

BJP struggles to win

Trump is not yet impeached.

Spectre Bug

Bitcoin went up and down and out of news now.

And yet it all went unobserved by me.

So my future self on a rebirth who somehow discovers this blog – or an alien race researching on why the Earth imploded – a big part of history will be missing.

My future Self and aliens – I am resuming my blogging.

Unblocking the Bloggers Block – let my ideas flow and live in the ether.

Imagine.

A place without the Social Media noise.

A place to go to read what the great minds are thinking.

A place without Advertisements or Clickbaits.

That place was Medium. It is no more.

But isn’t Medium a business?

It is a business at the end of the day. There is no free lunch. Medium has to pay its staff. The investors need an exit.

But shouldn’t knowledge and thoughts be free?

Human Kind has progressed with the free flow of knowledge. Whenever knowledge was dammed, chaos reigned. Human progress slows down. When knowledge is shared, we grow by leaps and bounds.

Tesla made all its patents open source. So other electric car manufacturers can develop on it. Volvo invented the seat belt and opened up its patent. They saved millions of lives.

In contrast.. Apple and Google and Samsung – the Mobile Phone giants are patenting the smallest of idea – and stiffling innovation in Mobile phones – so no new ideas can come to life – except the giants.

Or like India not having access to  Cryogenic rocket technology – which the Superpowers hold it within themselves and so we still haven’t been able to launch a human to space.

Venkat, you got fooled so dont blame Medium

Agreed I misled myself. I believed Medium to be this utopian watering hole I go to read about Productivity Hacks, Entrepreneurs, Cancer Survivors. I love(d) Medium.

But it all has come to an end. Medium is now forcing me to pay to access this content.

Can’t you just pay the 5$ a month?

Yes, I can. Mostly I will. Medium is where I turn for inspiration or book ideas or stimulate my mind and curiosity.

So what is Venkat’s problem?

If writers start writing for money – will it not again get into the clickbait territory. The writers get paid based on the claps they get. So they will start writing for more claps. What gets claps? – Sensational stuff. Things that appeal to the darkest part of the human mind. Things that make you say eew and aaw.. and yet you will read. Things like the accident on the road when a crowd surrounds it – you want to peek in.

I just described above – the Tabloid Newspapers, The News Channels, The Articles on Social Media

Medium was free of all that. Because writers wrote freely with no monetary carrot dangling in front of them.

The whole concept of Medium is shattered.

So what is the solution?

Medium was started by the co-founder of Twitter – Evan Williams. I can bet it does not take billions of dollars to develop and run Medium. Evan Williams could have just sustained single handedly from a fraction of his annual income.

Heck. If Medium had just asked for donation like Wikipedia – people would have paid.

There are so many sites still running – Ad free – Wikipedia, Craigstlist, Angelist..

Sigh.

You Devil called Money. We hate you but we cannot live without you.