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Yes, I'm fat - What next?

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When I think of how societies were formed, I can imagine human beings trying to stay together in harmony for survival, fulfillment of partnership, exchanging ideas etc. At some point, when we stopped surviving and started thriving (or plundering) on the earth, we took all of this for granted, elevating the purpose of the group to match human intellect. Now that diverse set of human beings started living together, they established frameworks to define the normal. It was told that these rules are for the greater good and if we are all to live together, we will need to abide them. Sounds great, right? A set of people forming their own theories of what is normal for a majority of the population, thereby ensuring that those who did not fit into that could be easily branded different, outcasts, outlaws, take your pick. As with any knowledge bank, these frameworks went through various revisions thanks to people interpreting them differently and as of 2019, we have quite a lot of the...
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Living in a Transitional World

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Walt Mossberg, one of the most celebrated technology journalists signed off with an article on how the computer would eventually disappear . While he has been accused of many things, including being a huge supporter of Apple and Steve Jobs, you have to agree with him on how technology will eventually disappear and become a natural fit in our lives. It was not that long ago that we first bought a desktop for our home. With little knowledge on how to install an operating system or even connect a peripheral, we had handed over complete responsibility to some store, hoping for good support when required. Computers were a big deal back then even without the internet. I still remember times when I would be scared to even switch it on. Software to simply burn a CD of your favorite tracks was hard to find if by any chance you lost the original drives supplied in the box, you get the flow. Nothing was simple and everyone was scared that something would eventually make our INR 25,000/- invest...
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From 'Have To' to 'Want To'

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Ok, so this was a long time in the making.  One of the suggestions I got to keep fit was to start running everyday, or at least 4 times a week. It did not necessarily mean I had to torture myself or even blame myself for skipping a day or two. The idea behind it was to inculcate a sense of discipline that a gym would probably fail to since going to a specific place to be in shape gets boring after a while (probably). Running takes away the certainty from the equation which means there is always something new to look forward to.  Research has time and again showed us that we think a lot better when we are on the move. This explains why some of the greatest minds always took long walks while introspecting or just walking their peers through their ideas. To be honest, none of this made any sense in the beginning. A typical couch potato, I would refuse to step out for a breath of fresh air instead, utilising the time to re-watch some Dragonball Z, which could definitely have waite...
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How Seriously Should You Take a Brand?

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One of the simpler things that keep me going are good conversations. There are times when I get a high before calling it a day, should I have had something great (subjective of course) to discuss with my friends, family or acquaintances. Of late, many such conversations with some amazing people are eventually drifting to a more materialistic approach where success is being quantified in terms of ability to afford luxuries, or at times necessities. It appears as if the capital rich companies have successfully eliminated our ancestral ideas of saving up, or fighting for a cause, or controlling the impulse to spend on something that one might not need in a next few weeks. An exploratory research would help understand that the younger landscape of India is not ashamed or afraid of being in debt for a significant part of their youth; in pursuit of that experience, those amazing stories to share with friends - instantly or at a later phase in life. All this and a lot more ideas (mostl...
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How Hard is it to Apple, Apple?

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As someone who is curious about success stories, I laud Apple for their comeback in the computing world with the iPhone. Before you dismiss the article as a fanboy Writeup, my two cents would be to give it a read. This is a vague follow up to my previous post on how Blackberry and Nokia let me down with promI sing starts, but unsustainable ideas.  Without doubt, the iPhone is one of Apple's greatest achievements.  Most credit their marketing efforts to lure customers into buying them, making it a major source of revenue with iPads slowly declining in demand and iPods turning to legacy devices exclusively for fans or kids who cannot be handed over an iPhone. But this article shows how great marketing can only succeed with a great product and unified vision of a company.  While the Mac continues to innovate in it’s own space, there is little to no doubt that with the advent of Windows 10, the PC market is going to boom in the coming years and Microsoft’s reinvigorated focus...
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Minimalism and Uncluttering

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With information overload and proliferation of choice in the last few years - in developed and developing economies, businesses are working round the clock to ensure you part ways with that hard earned buck at the end of every month. Advancement in mobile ads has left no medium of interaction untouched, making it hard to avoid some brand shouting it's existence and how it's products could potentially improve your life.  Residing in a place far away from the centre of a city teaches you how important those 'materialistic' experiences are. Believe me, studying in a campus which is not quite accessible and has little to no luxuries can get to you more often than you think. The need for instant gratification makes you use that app on your phone to either call a cab or buy something that you might not really need. The following story is one where I personally understood the importance of holding my impulse and avoiding swiping away my card without hesitation. As w...
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Summing up 2015

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There is something about the year end that triggers a lot of emotions (although this is being published in 2016, just tell yourself you had a great 2015 and move on). Facebook even let's you put together your moments in a nice video, although considering the alter ego nature of social media, they tend to showcase the highs more than the lows. From resolutions to their realizations, there is quite a lot that pictures cannot convey. With that in mind, let me try and first thank everyone who's been a great part of my life this year, both new and old. 2015 was one of those highlight years where I spent in college, completed a super stressful internship and towards the fag end of the year, met a lot of old pals that I had missed during my stay away from Bangalore. The year started with classes, classes, a few more classes and then some, before taking me on a journey throughout Karnataka where I got to meet people from various walks of life, learnt to live out of a suitcase, give ...
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