Author: alearningaday

To know and not to do is not to know

Just a reminder to ‘Live Now, Do Now’.

Logging learnings can be like first time travel. We are eager to keep exploring new places, jam itineraries and try and fulfill our desire to see everything, to do everything!

Similarly, there is sometimes a temptation to post something ‘new’ every day.

And that’s when I remind myself of that immensely deep quote by T.S.Elliot

‘We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’

Deep. Immense.

Onam Day, 10 Years Since..

Today has been great. Many nice things have happened in the last 24 hours – I met inspirational Chris, met kind Eric (coming soon in a blog post near you..), solved domestic issues involving broadband and a fridge and got my passport renewed.

All of this was topped by the fact that today is Onam, a very special festival. Thanks to having family here, I was also treated to a delicious traditional meal or onasadhya.

However, the biggest positive was probably when I noticed the date this morning.

10 years ago, on this day, we lost Dad. So much changed for our family right that moment. Having lost uncle just 3 years prior, the situation was tough. But we pulled through. When you lose somebody so close and so important, it is not the immediate grief that’s the hard part. The immediate grief is eased with the passage of time, but it is the weight of responsibility that landed on our shoulders that was the tough part. Dad was our wage earner and this meant many changes to the way things were.

But we pulled through. Thanks to enormous mental strength from Mom and support from grandparents, we pulled through. And boy, have we come a long way. We could have just chosen to get bogged down, cynical and depressed. But we didn’t.. and it made all the difference in the world. Life is worth the fight.

‘Remember the people involved’ is something I believed in. My Dad was and is a huge reason for the reason things are (genes aside.. :)). And today, I chose to remember his amazing gift for music by skipping my dose of books and just listening to some great music and tapping my feet the whole day. He had an amazing voice and was a ready entertainer. No frills. Thanks to him, I grew up with a love for music and it is something I will always be thankful for.

As I was remembered this, I also remembered the many conversations I had with him as a little kid where he would talk about the importance of studying in good schools and doing great work. For a few moments, I began wondering about what is, and what could have been.. and felt my mind wander.

Earlier, I had also messaged a couple of close friends about the significance of the day. And around that time, I received this message..


This ‘friend’ is of course, a lot more than a friend. He sensed what I needed then.. and made my day.

That moment was my life in microcosm. Lost close family as a result of unfortunate incidents.. and was fortunate to find close family in friends.

Life is beautiful! Live, laugh, love..

Chris, the Inspirational Cabbie

I had 2 incredible experiences in the last 24 hours. This is the first of them..

I was on my way late last night after an event at work. I got on to a Black Cab and struck conversation with my cabbie Chris.

‘Is this going to cost more than 20 pounds? I only have that much.’ – I said sheepishly.

‘Well, it’s going to be in that range, Sir.’ – he replied ‘But don’t worry, I will get you home.’

The next 15 odd minutes were quiet. We were soon approaching the 20 Pound mark.

‘Are we getting close? I’m going to run out soon.’ (I had found an extra 3.5 pounds in change)

‘Don’t worry Sir. I’m not going to let you out in the rain. I will be getting you home.’

‘But..’ I began..

‘No no. That’s not how I do business. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to make
any difference.’

Having been screamed at by a cabbie before and been treated not-so-well by a few, this was truly amazing.

‘What’s your name? And how long have you been doing this?’

‘My name is Chris, mate. And I’ve been doing this since January 4th, 1987.. And I got bored of this on January 5th, 1987.’ he said with a smile. ‘No, I’m just kidding. I didn’t mind it for the 1st 6 months but since then it’s been a chore really. But I show up, I smile, try and be as nice as I can and really do my best.’

‘That’s amazing, Chris. And do you have family here as well?’

‘Yup. Me wife and 2 kids – they’re going to school now.’

‘And does this cover the bills?’

‘Yup. Just about. I still have to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s not easy with kids because they have expenses at school. And of course, the water bills, the electricity etc add on… but I love them more than anything else and they are well worth it.’ – he said with a big grin.


‘You know, Chris. I am greatly inspired by this concept called the Butterfly effect..’ I said. ‘It basically says that every little positive thing we do can have tremendous impact on the world.’

‘That’s the one related to the chaos theory, isn’t it. I believe that too. I really believe that by showing up and staying positive, it has a real impact. Just thinking positive thoughts changes the world in some way and hopefully positively impact some lives too.’

‘You’ve certainly impacted mine Chris. Thank you so much.. And I hope to see you around.’

‘I’m always around. And I will be on you!’ – he said with a smile and a nod as he collected the money and drove off.

Chris didn’t know that he would be the subject of this post. He just positively impacted me and inspired me to share this story to all of you. And before he knows it, this will have been read by a few 100. And if more of you like the story, the 100 will become a few 1000 or a few 10,000.

All this, thanks to his incredible attitude. This is a man who is doing the best he can do.. with no complaints and with the belief that his positive thoughts will have an impact.

Thank you Chris. You certainly inspired me..

(And now I wish I had taken a photo of him. I should make it a point to collect photos of all these heroes – the real heroes. Hopefully when I meet this great guy again..) 

Why Ideas Show Up On Relaxed Mornings

Waking up early in the morning makes a huge difference in terms of idea generation. 

The simple difference is being ‘relaxed’ versus ‘catching up’. 
Being up late triggers a constant need to ‘keep pace’ and catch up. 
And for the data geeks, every morning I am up @ 630am or earlier, I have an average of 3 ideas for blogs posts. And on other days, there is no time to think of such ideas. Catching up takes over.  

Weather and Patience

I was at the Indian Embassy on Monday for Passport services. As expected, I stood in queue for an hour or so only to be asked to come back 2 hours later.

This was the second such long wait experience in the last 2 weeks. The other one was when Virgin Rail had a huge booking mis-management problem at the Euston trail station over-booking it’s trains to Manchester. There was a huge Manchester United vs Arsenal football game and Virgin had underestimated the huge number of fans  who were making their way to Manchester along with the crowd heading home from London over the long weekend. This time, however, you had many annoyed people.. but despite the obvious injustice of the situation, I was still not overly frustrated.

And that’s when I realized – the only reason my frustration level wasn’t high was because the cool weather didn’t have me sweaty and sticky! I observed this happen during my wait at the embassy as well.


I remembered my post a year or so ago about Habitual Impatience that I experienced back home in India and suddenly, I felt a flash of understanding and empathy. I would have been very impatient myself if I had been denied rightful entry on a train journey I had paid for in an Indian railway station on a hot summer day.

The weather plays a huge role in demeanor and personality. People from colder parts of the world tend to be literally cooler and calmer while people from the warmer parts of the world tend to be fiery and more emotional – like the temperature.

And, as if echoing this realization, The Economist had a good article recently on ‘Seasons of Discontent‘ where they point out that inclement weather has a direct correlation to the frequency of civil war. Very interesting stuff.

While I always appreciated the power of the environment we live in, this realization shed new light..

Executing on ‘The Fred Wilson School of Blogging’

Fred Wilson, one of the best known bloggers in the world today, had a fantastic post on ‘The Fred Wilson School of Blogging.’ I have been trying to get my head around his points ever since I read the post 2 months ago.

But, as I was going through the ‘use of social media’ with a colleague, I found myself going back to the post as ‘best practice.’ That was the moment I decided to execute on it! The transformation will probably take a couple of weeks but I am very confident it will be well worth it. Here are the pointers with my action steps in red –

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1) Have a long form blog on a domain that you own and that is permanent. Like Anil Dash says in the comments to Tom’s post, this is about compiling a set of work that is substantial. Anil says:

Based on the past dozen years that I’ve been writing it, I expect that my blog will in some ways be one of the most significant things I create in my life.

I’m 100% with Anil on this. People ask me when I am going to write a book and I laugh at that suggestion. AVC is more than a book will ever be. It is live, it is deep (in terms of total posts), it keeps going, evolving, and ends when I end.

This is my long form blog but as a result, the ‘good morning quotes’ will no longer have place. In many ways, I see his point. I have shirked away from committing to a post a day. My excuse has been ‘busy times’ during which I put the quote in and get away.

Who am I kidding though? If he can do, I can as well. I just need to make drafts earlier.. 

2) Have a short form blog an a different domain that you own and is permanent. Mine is at fredwilson.vc and hosted on Tumblr. This is where I put the things that fill out the story but don’t belong on a long form blog.

This is where the quotes will go. I think the quotes are positive all in all. I probably will still continue to feature them on ALearningaDay’s facebook page and my twitter but they will not be a part of this blog.

3) Participate actively in the social distribution platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Build profiles, followers, and credibility in these communities. I use Twitter for broadcast to a wide group, I use Facebook for friends and family, and I’m still trying to figure out how to use Google+. These distribution platforms are great for getting your work out there but I don’t personally want to use them as the place where my work is hosted.

I have LOTS to learn here starting with observing how Fred and Mark Suster use Twitter. I don’t use Twitter at all. It is just linked to my blog. Need to be more active in my use.

The principle here is simple – Find a great role model and copy them. And gradually, as you understand their rationale and way of working, you will develop your own style.


4) Build community on your domains. In the case of my longform blog, Disqus is the tool I chose and after that decision, our firm invested in the company. I’ve seen and used all the various community tools out there and I believe Disqus is the best at building community on long form blogs. In terms of community on short form blogging, I think Tumblr has done the best job and that is why it is growing like a weed right now.

Fred is incredible where this is concerned. I still remember when I was among 200 odd commenters (his posts generate that many comments as an average!) wishing him for his birthday. I was touched when I saw him reply to every one of those wishes with a ‘Thank You Rohan/your name’. In my case, I don’t have the kind of burden he does. Activity here is still scant but he is a fantastic role model.

5) Engage everywhere. That means on Hacker News, other blog communities/comments, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. This takes a lot of time. Too much time. But I get so much value back from doing it that I make the time.

I tried Hacker News for a few of my IT related posts and the response was fantastic. I need to explore this avenue as well. Lots to do!

The most important part is to engage. The second most important part is own your online presence. Marco Arment has a great post on this point. He says:

If you care about your online presence, you must own it.
I LOVE this!

So if there is a “Fred Wilson School Of Blogging” this is it. It works for me and it can work for you if you are willing to invest the time and energy.
Thanks Fred. I owe you! And this could be the start of something very special for this blog.. 

That’s Why She is Thin as Wafer

I thought I’d quickly blog about a short conversation we had on way to a football league game that culminated in a 11-0 thrashing..

We were walking down Battersea park and a wafer-thin girl (no exaggeration) jogged past us. She was laboring through it as it was evident she was exhausted – probably the end of her run.

Immediately, a friend wondered aloud as to why she even needed the exercise!

And that’s when another pointed out that the reason she IS thin as wafer is because she exercises regularly.
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It was an ‘epiphany’ moment. The financially secure are the ones with the best spending habits.. and the thin and fit ones are the ones with the best exercise habits. There IS a reason..