warikoo Wanderings

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THE WORLD LOVES TO CATEGORIZE

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Twitter India seems to be all about startups nowadays.
LinkedIn India seems to be all about acts of generosity and grandeur.
Instagram India seems to be all about singing, fitness and motivational reels.

And if you aren't a part of this wave, you do not belong!

Everyone is supposed to drink and party as students.
Everyone is supposed to either have a startup or join a startup, right after college.
Everyone is supposed to know EXACTLY what they want to do in life, by 25.

And if you aren't a part of this wave, you do not belong!

Stable job by 25.
Marriage soon after.
Kids soon after.
House soon after.

And if you aren't a part of this wave, you do not belong!

Engineers are smart.
Lawyers are uptight.
Musicians are always high.
Accountants are boring.
Sportspeople are unrealistic.

And if you aren't a part of this wave, you do not belong!

The world is complex.
Intensely complex.
And humans are terrible at handling complexity.
Our natural default is to identify the singular cause for every episode.
And immediately classify. Immediately categorize.

Because generalizations help us make sense of the world.
They give us a sense of direction.
An understanding.
Albeit fake!

I remember growing up, I used to look down upon all fellow students who smoked and drank.
I used to feel they were worthless people.
I actually used to feel they had no sense of self control. They needed an addiction to explain the world.
I was convinced that these very people would grow up to be the "bad people" in society.

I am ashamed of that version of myself. Not proud, one bit.
And I know I used this stupid generalization to simplify things for me.
People who were not like me - the studious, diligent, obedient me; were the ones against me.

All of us fall for this trap.
And I call it a trap because it limits our understanding of the world.

The world has an insane amount of detail.

And the worst thing we can do, is to try and boil it down to a single explanation.
To a simple explanation.

Instead, appreciate the complexity of the world.
And know that we do not know.
Not enough!

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"I WAS JOBLESS AT 30" IS NOW A PODCAST EPISODE

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I received a lot of love for my Instagram reel, tweet and article on my life at 29/30 - when I was jobless, dejected and clueless.
So I thought of converting it into a podcast episode as well - hoping my words would add more emotions to what I was feeling, and what I wish to share.

I hope you like it.

Give it a listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, JioSaavn or Gaana.

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BOOK I AM READING THIS WEEK

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I am re-reading one of my best reads of 2020 - Courage to be disliked.
I have spoken about the power of this book before, and cannot emphasize more.
This book is a MUST read for everyone in their 20s.

Because it will challenge every possible notion that you have in your head, as to why you are the way you are!

Mind you, the book hits hard. Most of you will reject the book. Because it rejects the things that we all have come to believe is true.
The book says - there is nothing called trauma. Our past does not influence who we turn out to be.
Its biggest claim is that if we do not like ourselves and how we are, but can't seem to do anything about it - it is because we do not want to do anything about it.

Sorry, what???
Exactly! This is why the book is a must read.

​Please pick it up! Please!

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QUOTES TO SHARE

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When you are not used to loving yourself, anyone else who loves you feels fake.
​(Share on Twitter)​

When you do not understand how money works, every rich person feels like a cheat.
​(Share on Twitter)​

When you are young and confused, every day feels like you are missing some opportunity of a lifetime.
​(Share on Twitter)​

When you do not know what you want from your life, everyone else's success will make you jealous.
​(Share on Twitter)​

When you are surrounded by people thriving on your self doubt, being yourself feels like an act of rebel.
​(Share on Twitter)​

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RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION

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Last week I asked you a rather tough question:

Rate your parents, on how good a job of parenting did they do or are they doing:

1. Unbelievably good
2. Decent
3. Bad
4. Unbelievably horrible
5. I do not have parents / grew up without them

I got some awesome responses. Some of them were heart wrenching, some heart warming. Thank you, for sharing the why.

As I have begun to do now, I ask for your age bracket too, so that I can draw some conclusions. Here are the results for this poll.

Overall, most of us feel our parents did a decent job. Which isn't surprising.

Two things caught my attention.
Look how "unbelievably good" dipped in the age of 18-30 and how "bad" rose up sharply in that age band.
Almost seems to suggest that during 18-30, our relationship with our parents or our impression of how good they are as parents, changes. We have a good opinion of them before 18, and have a good one of them after 30, too.

I can personally vouch for this. My 18-30 years was when I was at max friction with my parents, over my life choices - whether coming back from the US, becoming an entrepreneur, my marriage, etc. Today I have a wonderful relationship with them - and it seems to have turned around.

So, in case you are between 18-30 and feel your parents are not good enough, give them time. You might feel differently post 30 :)

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THIS WEEK'S SURVEY

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Where do you get your best ideas?

1. Toilet/Bathroom
2. On the bed
3. While working/studying
4. While listening to music/playing/cooking/reading/engaging in my hobby
5. No pattern as such

​​Click here to submit your response (it is completely anonymous!)​

You can, of course, always write to me. I love receiving your emails. While I am not able to respond to all of them, I do read all of them.

Yes! I READ ALL MY EMAILS!
​(Zomato IPO ke listing gains ki kasam!)

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