I missed out two weeks posting my weekly compilations and no one missed it . I thought I will share some original thoughts that accidentally crossed my mind. It is an extremely unusual phenomenon, this original thoughts!

Lost Identity

I have a terrible history with mobiles . The earliest one that I had was rinsed pretty well in the washing machine, the subsequent one lost in an auto. I was using a Samsung Galaxy note II for at least a couple of years , I broke the glass albeit accidentally and managed to break the refurbished glass again accidentally. Accidents seems to be repeating. I could not use the display and I did not have a spare at home. Since there was no one dying to reach me, I thought I could live without a mobile for couple of days. Now comes the interesting part. Having want to take advantage of the VC funded discounts offered by online giants I placed an online order. Since I needed a OTP(One Time Password) to use my credit card or debit card and since I did not have my phone, I placed a order for a new mobile by COD (Cash On Delivery) on Flipkart. They said they will take three days for the delivery and I had no problems with it. But the third day , I get a mail on the third day saying since I had placed a COD order of around Rs 15,000 they had to verify my purchase and since they could not reach me on my mobile they have cancelled the order!. I thought it was ironical . I had broken a mobile and I placed a order for a new mobile and since they could not reach me on my mobile, I could not get the new mobile !! I knew I had hundred other ways, but I thought I will just take the straight line path !!.

Technically, I have been an early adopter of Flipkart and the GMV of my buying over years would have been significant enough for them to ascertain if I would have paid the COD or not, but I guess their recommender systems may not be picking up stuff like this yet !! I am sure they will catch up. I love them. May be they should run this as a competition in Kaggle or give me a go at their recommender systems!

One interesting observation is that the mobile did not miss me and I did not miss the mobile, but my identity ceased without that.

Machiavelli revisited

As posted sometime back , I take my morning walk in the University of Agriculture campus. I cannot stop the flow of thoughts that rush at me and some of those thoughts bring a smile to my face. There are a lot of people feeding stray dogs in the campus. The dogs know these people and when I pass by these dogs, I somehow get a feeling that they are significantly apathetic towards me and the Machiavellian quote of ‘If you do not have status in society, even a dog won’t bark at you’. I smile to myself.

Clapping Hands

I generally wonder to myself when attending conferences and seminars ‘Hey Zunder, how long will you be clapping and cheering everyone like this. When are you going to take the stage ?’. My lizard brain immediately assures me ‘Hey Zunder, do not think like that, you are fine’ and to reassure the good affects of clapping I get a message on whatsapp(pasted below) which reassures the good effects of clapping

Amazing Benefits of Clapping :

• “Clapping” a Simple Striking of Hands but it’s much more than you Think.
• Normally People clap to Appreciate others for their Good works and achievements or when they are in mood of Joy.
• People also Clap while Singing songs, Bhajans, and Prayers at Holy places.
• It is Scientifically proved that Clapping is very effective Exercise to cure many Human Diseases.
• Clapping activates the Receptors in the Palms and cause activation of the large area of the Brain which leads the improvement in Health.
• There are 39 different Acupressure points for almost all Organs on our Palm which are activated by Clapping and this action improves Your Health slowly but effectively.
• Daily 10-20 minutes of Clapping in morning keeps You Fit and Active.
• Clapping is an effective Medicine for the Person who suffers from Digestive Disorder.
• Best Cure for Back pain, Neck pain and Joint pain.
• Gout is a common problem with Old age People and can be easily cured by Clapping.
• Helpful for Patient of Low Blood Pressure.
• If someone is suffering from any Heart and Lung related disease then Clapping plays important role in curing these diseases also.
• Clapping removes the obstacles from the Main and Collateral Channels and keeps You Fit and Healthy.
• Children that practice clapping exercise daily make only few Spelling mistake and are Hard worker than others.
• It improves their Handwriting.
• The whole abstract of above given points is, Clapping sharpen the Brain of the Children.
• Clapping increase the Immunity of the Person which provides the Strength to the Human body to fight against Diseases.
• So clap clap clap

The lizard brain seems to be a clear winner.

Humanity in Calamity

The Chennai floods did affect me in some way and though I did not lift a finger except for sharing some great people’s acts. My sister called me and told why I am not going to Chennai and helping people out there. If she was not outside the country, she would have gone out there and that is her commitment towards the place called Chennai. Quite frankly, that is the only form of helping I also know to do or rather I can do, but when I checked through my few sources, I was told , please do not come here and create well intention’ed nuisance. We have more than enough people to help us see this through! What a response and I cannot present an easier excuse to my sister. I have to salute the spirit of everyone in Chennai and other places who have repeatedly demonstrated that humanity shall remain the ultimate winner. Apart from humanity, there is one clear entity repeating itself everywhere. The mighty Indian Army. Karma Yogis. No better example.

However, some of the below questions keep coming back to me

• Do I have to show humanity only when calamity strikes ?
• Will I show humanity when calamity strikes ?
• Have I long lost my day to day civility and humanity ?
• When did I last smile or lose myself in laughter with my own family and friends ?
• Do I have wait to lose a loved one to proclaim how great they were , which any way they cannot feel or hear ?
• Why am I not practicing ‘Carpe Diem’?

How will you measure your life ? asked Clayton. M. Christen in his classic HBR paper

I am afraid, I am seeing a sociopath in the mirror.

Books and Podcasts

I shall possibly come back with a separate post regarding this section, but somehow I stumbled onto a rather healthy overdose of good books and discovery of amazing podcasters. I am just listing them below and I do hope to get back with snippets of wisdom from these books and podcasts

Books

• Leading
• Uncertainty
• Mindset
• Crossing the Unknown Sea

Podcasts

I have substituted music for couple of days in a  week with listening to podcasts during my morning walk and I find them very intriguing, inspiring and invigorating. You could download the pocketcasts podcast app or any other podcast app of your choice from play store and subscribe to these podcasts. For iPhone, there is a channel in iTunes for all of the below podcasts.

• The Unmistakable Creative
• The Tim Ferriss Show
• The James Altucher Podcast
• <Re/code> Decode
• Hack the Entrepreneur

If you are smiling, frowning or cursing, do not worry. They are perfectly normal natural reactions.

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Stay Tuned and Have Fun.