Book Review: ‘Do Epic S*it’ by Ankur Warikoo

 

Ankur Warikoo is an author who later became social media influencer after a stint in entrepreneurship (he cofounded several companies and websites). He is highly educated (MBA from ISB-Hyd) and well versed with the ecommerce and startup space. “Do Epic S*it” is his first book which came out in 2021.

The book comes close to “self-help” space and since thousands and thousands of books are already written in this area by both foreign and Indian authors, Ankur has chosen to build this book heavily on his own life experiences. After reading this book, we get a very clear idea about the author’s life journey, including his parents, wife and kids and it seems the author has used this book for his personal “branding” (after all, he is a social media influencer now). And when it comes to the “content” of the book, it comes across as genuine and written with a good intent to help others.

In this book, the author reflects on what is success and what is failure. He says that most of the time, it is “others” who decide for us what is success and what is failure. We need courage to define these two for ourselves, in our own ways. We need not do things to please others, but we should do things which make us happy, because if we are happy doing things, we do not need any external push or motivation. 

The author says that most battles are won or lost in the mind. Ego is a major roadblock to learning and growth. Money offers freedom, but only with discipline. Avoid taking loans for expenditures that your income doesn't support. Holding grudges drains energy. Treat people with respect, empathy, and then sympathy. The way we can identify true friends is that true friends celebrate our success and are not jealous of us. You are the average of the thoughts you spend time with, not just the people.

To summarise, this book is a natural summary of all good things the author learnt in his life till the time. And he has expressed those very well and with a good intent. I found many of his key points from this book are already out in the domain. But as we know, every Guru teaches the same lessons, but the manner in which those lessons are taught makes a difference. It feels that the book is by and large targeting young readers who have just started their professional journey. I would definitely recommend this book to these readers. 

- Rahul

Books: The Commonsense Diet: Stop Overthinking, Start Eating: By Rujuta Diwekar

 

I had heard the name of nutritionist and author Rujuta Diwekar on the internet a lot and this is her first book I chanced to go through and I found her book totally worth the hype. After reading the book, I understood why she was so popular. It is because she makes so much sense in what she says. I highly recommend this book to one and all.

At first glance, I had also wondered if her name had a spelling mistake, because we come across Rutuja (meaning seasonal) but not Rujuta a lot. I searched and found that Rujuta is a real word/feminine name and it means Honesty/Sincerity.

This book is written in a witty style, perhaps her trademark style and it is real fun reading it. I shall remember this book as much as for the facts and education in it as much the humorous way it is written.

The book encourages us to reject fads and extreme restrictions in favor of traditional Indian wisdom in foods and nutrition. Her core philosophy revolves around making sustainable, guilt-free food choices rooted in local, seasonal, and homemade meals. She emphasizes that "diets" don't work in the long term because they are temporary fixes. Instead, good health is a result of consistent, common-sense habits. She debunks popular myths, like eliminating carbs or fats, stressing that these demonizations are harmful.

Key points from the book:

Local, Seasonal, Traditional Food: The book strongly advocates for consuming food that is grown locally, available seasonally, and prepared using traditional methods. This means embracing regional staples like dal-chawal (lentils and rice) with ghee, poha, or idli, rather than imported superfoods or processed items.

Mindful Eating: Rujuta Diwekar promotes paying attention to your food, savoring each bite, and eating slowly. This helps in recognizing hunger and fullness cues, preventing overeating, and fostering a healthier relationship with food, free from guilt. She even proposes the "Jordan formula" – taking a second bite only if you're sure you can eat a third, to encourage mindful consumption.

No Meal Skipping: Especially breakfast, regular meals are crucial for stable blood sugar and sustained energy, preventing cravings and overeating later.

Ghee is Good: Contrary to popular diet trends, she champions the inclusion of ghee (clarified butter) in moderation, highlighting its benefits for nutrient absorption and satiety.

Holistic Wellness: The book extends beyond just food, emphasizing the interconnectedness of diet, exercise, sleep, and mental well-being. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and managing stress are integral components of her "commonsense" approach.

Rejecting Fad Diets & Overthinking: Rujuta constantly urges readers to simplify their approach to food, tune out the constant noise of conflicting diet advice, and trust in the inherent wisdom of generations before us. Health is not complicated; it's about going back to basics.

Ultimately, "The Commonsense Diet" aims to empower individuals to make peace with their plates, enjoy food without fear, and build lasting healthy habits by embracing simple, time-tested wisdom of our country.

- Rahul

 

Article: Why People Post Negative Things on Social Media about a Deceased Person

There are several psychological and social factors that can contribute to this behavior:

1. Disinhibition Effect (Online Anonymity/Distance): Social media provides a sense of anonymity and emotional distance. People feel less accountable for their words when they are not face-to-face with the grieving family or the deceased's supporters. This can lead to a disinhibition effect, where they say things they would never say in person.

2. Lack of Social Norms for Digital Grief: While traditional grief rituals have well-established norms, social media is a relatively new space for discussing death. "Digital etiquette" around death is still evolving, and some individuals may not fully grasp or respect the sensitivity required.

3. Personal History/Unresolved Conflicts: The death of a person can sometimes open up old wounds or unresolved conflicts. For individuals who had negative experiences, grudges, or perceived wrongs committed by the deceased, their death might be seen as an opportunity to air those grievances without fear of direct retaliation from the person themselves.

4. "Truth-Telling" or "Setting the Record Straight" (from their perspective): Some individuals might genuinely believe they are "telling the truth" or "setting the record straight" about the deceased, especially if the deceased had a public persona that conflicted with their private actions or if the commenter felt personally wronged. They might feel an obligation to present what they see as a more accurate picture, even if it's negative.

5. Seeking Attention/Validation: In some cases, people might post controversial or negative comments to gain attention, provoke a reaction, or validate their own feelings. The outrage generated by such posts can be a form of perverse gratification.

6. Moral Policing/Judgment: Some individuals feel a need to pass judgment on others, even in death. They might see the death as an opportunity to deliver a final verdict on a person's character or actions, often from a position of perceived moral superiority.

7. Impulsivity and Lack of Empathy: Social media encourages rapid, unfiltered responses. In the heat of the moment, or without fully considering the impact of their words on grieving loved ones, some people might post insensitive or cruel comments impulsivity. A lack of empathy can also play a significant role.

8. "Piling On" or Mob Mentality: If a few negative comments appear, others who hold similar sentiments might feel emboldened to join in, creating a "piling on" effect or a mob mentality.

A Little Muslim Girl On the Train

 

On my recent train journey, a middle-aged Muslim woman and her 6 to 7 years old little daughter boarded the train from Prayagraj railway station. The woman seemed illiterate, spoke too loudly, did not have manners, unnecessarily interrupted co-passengers with some or the other help, and it felt sad to travel in the same compartment as hers. But her little daughter left me totally in awe and seemed like a fairy of some kind!

The first thing I remember hearing from the little girl was when a teaseller passed in the morning, and she said to her mother, “mummy chai kharido” (mother, buy some tea)! From the way she sounded, it seemed as if she was asking for tea for herself. Her mother ignored her at that time, but later in the evening, she did buy tea from a teaseller, and she had ordered “two cups” of tea! It was shocking to see that she had taught her little girl to take tea from such an early age! And this was not the only thing out-of-age about the little girl.

The little girl used her mother’s phone to make several calls during the travel. I found that she was in habit of calling her mother “mummy” instead of “ammi” and father as “papa” instead of “abbu”, the latter terms are typically used in Muslim families. But she gave away her religion when she called someone over phone and called “Assalam valekum”, which sounded so weird coming from a little girl.

She remained on her berth along with her mother most of the time, and early morning next day when the train was about to reach the destination, she came down with her too. Her father called over phone and the little girl picked up the call and after saying “Assalam valekum”, the father went silent; and the girl asked, “Aur?” I was shocked to see such a little girl using this trick of saying “Aur?”, “Aur?” during phone calls to extend the discussion and probe the other party to talk more. Her father seemed to be totally non-talkative type because he was at loss of words even though it was he who had made the phone call. The girl herself asked him, “Aap majaar ke paas milenge na, jaisa pichhli baar mile the? Ham log majaar ke paas wait karenge”. I wondered what majaar she was talking about (later after reaching the railway station, I saw a small majaar (shrine) made on the Railway land just besides the main entrance; she was talking about that as a landmark). She told her father about the count of bags she and her mother were carrying. Later she gave the phone to her mother. The father asked the mother “who all are coming?” and she said, “no one else came” (meaning only she and the daughter were coming) in a voice of disappointment. The father again went silent and then said he was cutting the call, and it almost felt as if he did not like his wife much.

Just before the train was to arrive at the platform, the woman went to the loo after telling her daughter to remain sitting at her berth. But she did not specifically tell her that she was going to the loo, and hence after a minute the little girl became anxious and ran towards the way her mother had gone. By that time, I was already standing near the gate waiting for the train to arrive at platform, and I told the girl to wait at her seat and not to move, but she totally ignored me and went to the toilet door and banged it till her mother shouted from inside. Then the girl came back to her seat. I was really impressed that the girl had not trusted her mother and was fearing any untoward incident (like her mother leaving her behind and vanishing), which was a crime stuff from the newspapers. I guess such things happen in the worker-class families and such kids learn to trust only their instincts and not any other from their childhood.

When her mother came back and both were sitting on their berth, the girl looked at her luggage and after finding several loose carry bags, she said to her mother, “Ye allar-ballar lekar ham kaise utrenge?” (how shall we deboard the train carrying so much loose stuff?). Her use of the term “allar-ballar” (or something like it, if I don’t remember exactly), totally floored me! It was like cherry on the top, climax of a thriller novel.

I think the only one who vanished from the train was me, since I shall cherish the little girl and her interesting talks for a long time to come. May she always have a good and happy life; like a little fairy she is.

- Rahul Tiwary

Pigeons on my Balcony

It happened recently that I kept a few pieces of cardboards from old cartoons on my balcony’s iron grill, expecting those to provide a ‘curtain effect’, i.e. privacy. And then I forgot about it. After a few weeks, today, I realised that a few clever pigeons had grabbed the opportunity with both hands and made their home below the cardboards! 

If you look at two ‘couple-pigeons’ sitting anywhere, you can immediately sense that those are ‘couple’, not some random stranger-pigeons or brother-pigeons or boss-employee pigeons. I don’t know what is so special in their body language that we can immediately understand that they are a couple! And these ‘couple pigeons’ have been living rent-free under my balcony’s cardboards for several weeks! 

After I discovered their encroachment, I immediately remembered the news and awareness articles from the ‘internet’ which tell that these pigeons in big cities are carriers of several types of disease-causing bacteria and viruses and that is why these pigeons are called “pests of the sky”. I have been practicing hard to hate these pigeons for this reason, and with time I have understood how hard it is to ‘go against the genes’. How can we hate some birds who look so beautiful and innocent? But after they encroached upon my balcony, I got ‘hard-reasons’ to hate those criminal-pigeons. 

Finally, I carried out ‘bulldozer action’ by collecting all the cardboards from my balcony and packed those together to be thrown out. And then I went to the office. After I returned and went to the balcony, I found that those pigeons were wandering around barefoot, as if trying to ascertain what had happened! I wondered if they understood that a human (i.e. me) had purposefully destroyed their home, or if they blamed it on the ‘act of God’. I did feel ‘guilty’, almost as if I had ‘sinned’. In one moment, those pigeons had become martyrs, and I had become the East India Company. I think I should not have looked at those pigeons in the ‘eye’! 

Anyways, I have hardened my heart and become totally determined that I shall not let those pigeons live on my balcony again. I plan to fill the gaps and make more fortifications to stop the pigeons from encroaching there. I shall be vigilant and not forget about it all, like I did last time which caused this situation. But all said and done, deep inside, I know I shall not be able to live guilt-free after driving those pigeons out. 

I hope the pigeons ‘quit’ and find another place to make their nest. Whether they are ‘pests of the sky’ or not, my balcony is not their favourite hangout. 

"I'm very old-fashioned. I believe that people should stay married for life, like pigeons and Catholics." - Woody Allen

- Rahul Tiwary 

Travelogue: Jubba Sahni Park, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Grand Mall, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Books: Fooled by Randomness : The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets; by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

As the title indicates, this book is about the significance of randomness in our life. Published in 2001, this book was a precursor to his more famous work, "The Black Swan," further developing many of the ideas introduced here. 

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a former options trader, argues that our brains are not wired to comprehend the true nature of probability and the impact of rare, high-impact events. We tend to attribute success to skill and hard work, while conveniently overlooking the immense influence of luck and unforeseen random occurrences. Conversely, failures are often attributed to external factors rather than a misunderstanding of risk.

The book has a few areas of improvements in my opinion: I feel there is a slight confusion in the book about its target audience, since the book addresses a diverse set of contexts: a mix of philosophy, psychology, stock market trading, and history. The length of the book also ‘feels’; and I think 1/3 to 1/2 of the book can be easily trimmed to make it more effective for readers. Also, during the first half of the book, the writer’s tongue in cheek style of writing creates a distraction for the readers; especially since the subject is a grave one. This improves as we get towards the latter part of the book near its end, which is most enlightening. 

Here are some of the important points from the book:

- Our brains aren't wired to grasp true probability or the immense impact of rare, high-consequence events.

- Much perceived "skill" is actually luck disguised as deterministic outcomes. 

- It is not wise to rely on inductive reasoning – drawing general conclusions from specific observations – especially in complex and unpredictable systems. Empirical data can be misleading because it only represents what has happened, not what could happen or will happen.

- We only see the single realized path of events, overlooking countless "alternate histories" that could've occurred.

- Hindsight Bias: Believing we "knew it all along."

- Confirmation Bias: Seeking only information that confirms our beliefs.

- Narrative Fallacy: Creating false cause-and-effect stories for random events.

- Overconfidence: Overestimating our abilities and predictions.

- Halo Effect: Our overall impression of a person (e.g., successful) influences our perception of their specific traits, making us attribute their success to admirable qualities, even if those qualities were not truly the cause.

- Survivorship bias: We focus only on successes, ignoring the numerous failures.

- The "Turkey Problem": Past patterns don't guarantee future consistency, especially with extreme events.

- Silent evidence: The unseen data of failures that distort our understanding of success.

- Embrace Stoicism to accept what's beyond our control and maintain rationality amidst uncertainty.

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Pune Airport

 

Travelogue: Bangalore Airport

 

Books: The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness: By Morgan Housel

 

I had been reading about this book and its author Morgan Housel for quite some time. Finally, I got chance to finish this book. I highly recommend it to all.

During my MBA, I had come across a subject called “behavioral finance” for the first time. It was enlightening to study and it all made sense. This book is the second such education I underwent.

The most important part I want to highlight about this book is that the author appears very honest in it. Honesty is often an underrated trait in the world of writing. Along with age, I have been observing and appreciating it more and more. Near the end of the book, the author has also included a chapter where he describes his own personal investment style. He mentions that he mainly invests in low-cost index funds, no risky investments, does not take debt, lives frugal lifestyle, saves lot of his income for the rainy days, and it clearly seems that he practices what he advocates. It was very touching.

There are about 20 chapters in this book and all contain timeless wisdom related to life in general and wealth in particular. Since I read a lot, I had come across a few of those lessons earlier form other sources, but most of the book came as a great read and a great realization.

It is really nice to come across such an honest book and this author who seems so genuine. Hats off to Morgan and as I mentioned in the beginning, I highly recommend this book to one and all.

- Rahul Tiwary

Travelogue: Cloudy Sky from an Air India Express Flight

 

Travelogue: Patna Airport (New Terminal after Modernisation Project)

 

Hindu Temple: Baba Dudh Nath Dham, Chhapra Megh, Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

Travelogue: Some Pictures from Muzaffarpur, Bihar

 

(Clockwise from top left) 

Icon Plaza Mall, Bhagwanpur

Sikandarpur Lakefront  

Royal Mansion Banquet Hall, Goshala Road

Motijheel Flyover

A mango orchard in Muzaffarpur 

Sahu Pokhar Ram Janaki Mandir 

Busts of freedom fighters Prafulla Chandra Chaki (1888-1908) and Khudi Ram Bose (1889-1908) at Muzaffarpur