Human Networks

Networking must have been essential to human evolution. It is a tool that enables us to do things that we cannot do alone. When humans were still evolving, networking was a necessity, but today it’s a skill we must have to prosper in our community. What do you need to get good at building networks? Today I want to explore a set of questions sitting in the back of my head. Why do we connect with some people and not with others? What qualities make us feel that it’s worthwhile relating to someone? And more importantly, what qualities should a person possess so that other human beings desire them. ...

February 20, 2022 · Cauldron of Life

Letter of Love

Hello Pikachu, Do you know a sure way to tell if someone is in love? In love, a person becomes hopelessly romantic and crave a medium to let it out. They express their emotions through poetry, songs and letters and I’m writing this to you. You are the piece peace of me that I’ve been looking for. I’ve been blessed with an almost perfect life and you just took away the almost. Maybe it was my heart that didn’t let it be perfect? Or maybe it was yours that was designed to fit in that cage better? I don’t know but you did well, taking mine away and leaving me yours. ...

March 19, 2021 · Cauldron of Life

The Last Breath

It is said that we are ignorant and we have stopped thinking about the inevitable end but I think we haven’t. Instead, I believe we understand it’s certainty and we avoid spending energy thinking about it. We know that an end will come but we don’t like to imagine when or how painful it would be to die but we are sure that it will. Grief is a natural response to a personal loss. When you lose someone who is never going to come back the same way it can be devastating. Death hurts and grief is a natural response to it. Shed tears, dump your heart out and do everything that needs to be done. Such a loss can be shared with other loved ones, who are grieved by your grief. Lucky are those who have someone around them who can share their grief, otherwise, to the world, it’s all a mocking game, generally. Blessed are those who feel pained from the pain of others. They are the saviours, saving this world from becoming an orphanage. Only this true care for another being is what makes a family otherwise everyone is selfish to some degree and then what else should I call this world if not an orphanage. ...

February 26, 2021 · Cauldron of Life

Capitalism is Not Life

I completed reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari and what a read it has been. It was long but the wisdom I gathered is baffling. I am very sceptical when famous people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates recommend a book but I did read this one and it has been an eye-opener. There is one topic which Harari talks about a lot and that is Capitalism. And in this article, we’ll see how too much of it is ruining our life. ...

December 24, 2020 · Cauldron of Life

Hopelessly Hopeful

Hope is the remedy world advocates to all the problems in life. How could ever being optimistic be a bad thing? I am a firm believer that optimism can solve almost all our problems, but recently I found out that maybe sometimes it’s okay to lose hope. Excess of anything is not good so is true with hope. If you ever become so hopelessly hopeful about an event happening you will overpower your intelligence and instinct and stay in limbo wondering about things that might never happen. ...

July 9, 2020 · Cauldron of Life

If the Crow Knew When to Stop

We all know the story of the clever crow who used stones to get access to deep water in the earthen pot but what if I say that it’s not the complete story? What if it was the utopic version of an utter disaster? And his cleverness the cause of his death? The crow, albeit clever, and with a good intension started dropping stones in the pot. When he saw the water level rise he was ecstatic. He was very thirsty but now that was not important. The adrenalin rush of having used his brain to get access to something that no one else could was giving him joy. He was enjoying himself and then he obsessed and here is his downfall. ...

June 27, 2020 · Cauldron of Life

Instant Liking vs Gradual Appreciation

It is highly underestimated how much importance we put in instant likeness. We value what we like naturally. This might not be a bad thing per se but we ought to understand what this method of decision making brings with it. We all have known by now that there are no silver bullets in life and that holds for this behaviour of ours. I’ve observed that the things that have given me longer-lasting happiness were things which I didn’t like at the first glace. Sound very weird, I know but I have examples from my own life that I’ll share. I’m forced to believe that the deliberate persistence and hard work we do towards anything can give birth to liking and that lasts more than our instant infatuation. ...

June 4, 2020 · Cauldron of Life

Judging Is Easy Repentance Is Hard

We are faster than a flash when we judge and slower than a snail when we accept mistakes. It’s been clearly understood by every sane person that judging is not right. We can only judge what we truly know and we truly know nothing. Less we know about ourself and lesser about anyone else. Then why is it so easy to judge? As Daniel Kahneman explains in his book Thinking fast and slow we have two types of thought processes, one which is fast and automatic and the other which is slow and logical. They both have their place and should be used for the right job. We, humans, are lazy and we let the automatic and fast mind direct us the majority of the times. We look and make a judgement without waiting for the slow and logical mind to think about the background. This is a deep-rooted habit pattern as our ancestors were required to make quick decisions. It was a do or die situation but things have changed. Today we are not always in a perilous situation and can take time to stop and reason but it takes conscious practice to fix this. ...

May 1, 2020 · Cauldron of Life

A Letter to Myself

Dear Ankit, I know that you are doing great in your life. The numbers are moving fast, the numbers of age, money and mistakes. I also congratulate you for all the hardships and struggles that you have overcome. Come on, I know you want to believe that it was nothing and people have worse and I agree. But that won’t mean that what you have achieved was easy. Applaud for your efforts even when many of them might have failed. Thank yourself for trying out new things and having the courage to work on your inner self with the highest priority. ...

March 8, 2020 · Cauldron of Life

No Fortune for a Penny

The title can mean different things to different people. For me, the only fortune is my time and love. My firm belief is that we love without expectations and I am the one who needs my love the most. We all have limited energy on any given day and to invest it on someone who doesn’t give a damn about you is not a great way to spend it. I love you and I always will and that’s not going to change. But if what you bring on the table is selfishness and only concern about yourself, that’s a bad vibe. I am there for you when you need me and time gets hard and I’ve always been. But I’m not going to run after you, chase you and be constantly present, to be drained of my energy. I’m going to prioritize my peace and work on being happy myself first before I help anyone else. And if this hurts your feeling, fuck you! ...

March 7, 2020 · Cauldron of Life