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DEREK SIVERS

Articles:


50 CONVERSATIONS IN BANGALORE AND CHENNAI

2023-03-02

February 13 through 21, 2023, I went to Chennai and Bengaluru, India. My sole
purpose was to meet new friends. I’m an “Overseas Citizen of India” and my son
is half-Indian (Tamil). I will always have ties to India. I wanted to deepen
those ties and make new connections.

So I scheduled fifty one-hour conversations with fifty interesting people over
seven days. Back-to-back meetings from 9am to 10pm every day. It was one of the
most intense and fascinating (and heart-warming and educational) things I’ve
ever done in my life. I recorded almost every conversation into a little voice
recorder, then had it transcribed. When I got home to New Zealand I spent 30
hours reading through the transcriptions to help me remember what we talked
about, then made a tiny summary, below.

My conversations there were some of the best I’ve ever had, immediately
open-hearted, honest, and intellectual. I also hosted two parties but owe an
apology to my guests, because I thought I could have quality conversations in
that environment but I just couldn’t. I’m really a one-to-one conversationalist.

Maybe-embarrassing thing I’ll admit: Before my arrival, I hired a man in Chennai
to make an audio recording of him slowly and clearly reading the names of the
fifty people I was to meet with. Then I put those recordings into Anki flash
cards, with the written name on the front, and the audio recording on back, so I
could practice pronouncing everyone’s name correctly when we met. Names like
Arunsathyaseelan Palanichami and Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan became little
melodies that stuck in my head.

India has changed so much in the last 10 years since my last visit.

 * The new Vande Bharat train from Chennai to Bangalore is as nice as any train
   in Europe, and the four-hour journey costs 1100 Rupees - about $13 -
   including a nice meal service.
 * The new UPI cashless payment system is amazing. Instant free bank transfers
   for every bank account in India, no fee, just by scanning a QR code.
   Everybody and every roadside vendor now has it, so it’s thoroughly practical
   even for little payments of 40 rupees (50¢).
 * The new Aadhaar government ID is impressive, and has enabled anyone to open a
   bank account, which created the ubiquity of UPI.
 * One downside is the current political climate which had my friends literally
   looking over their shoulders and speaking in hushed tones when the subject
   came up.
 * And WhatsApp is practically the sole mode of communication.

Bangalore in particular has become a wonderful creative hub. It feels like the
new San Francisco, with creative ambitious people moving there from all over
India. A super-casual California-style culture, free from the formality and
materialism of Delhi and Mumbai.

Bangalore is such a great place to live - (good weather, culture, people) - that
the money made in Bangalore is staying in Bangalore instead of fleeing overseas
like it used to, so this feeds the local arts and culture scene, making it an
even better place to live. I loved it so much that I wanted to cancel my return
flight and just live there now. (If it weren’t for my beloved boy in New
Zealand, I would have.) Instead, it’s now my second home, in my heart, and I’ll
be returning often.

I agree with Shruti that everyone should pay more attention to India.


CHENNAI


MONDAY

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KIRUBA SHANKAR

We met 12 years ago at INK. He founded the Professional Speakers Association of
India focuses on the business side of public speaking, whereas Toastmasters
focuses on the craft of speech. Speakers and rappers who can dissect what
they’re doing as they’re doing it. When doing a paid talk, (versus a free talk),
the speaker has to do their homework, know the audience and their objective,
write the script, and practice hard. He has taught digital marketing for 21
years, and runs a marketing company called Breathe Digital. Everyone who takes
his course must have their own website by the time the course finishes. Many
students have been accepted to colleges and jobs because having their own
website set them apart. Instead of waiting to be invited to a super-achievers
event, just create and organize a super-achievers event. Better to be the host
than a guest. His meet-up is called Cerebrate. Instead of hiring strangers
through a help-wanted ad, speak/write/teach in public, then hire the people that
approach you afterwards. Natural filter. You don’t try to attract people. These
people are already attracted. His first speaking gig was to a girl’s college.
His boss was supposed to speak but couldn’t make it, so sent Kiruba instead. His
90-year-old grandmother runs a farm stay, and could use a database for their
guests, to know them better. 13 acres of organic farm. So many people come stay
collectively, bonding, isolated away from distractions, so they really interact
with each other, staying in one building. All booked word-of-mouth. No AirBNB or
other portals. The 3rd-most-popular bucket list wish is to own a farm. People
long for the rural life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DR. MANI SIVASUBRAMANIAN

He and I have been emailing regularly for 13 years! His daughter finished
medical school and she’s going to become a Rhodes Scholar this year - doing her
PhD at Oxford. Dr. Mani is his identity as a writer online. Dr. Subramanian is
his identity as a heart surgeon. He specialized in pediatric cancer because it
was challenging and nobody else was doing it. The biggest problem in India isn’t
the facilities or patient load, but that 99% of the patients can’t afford the
cost of treatment. So even though he’s a surgeon, he found the best solution is
to support Devi Shetty in Bangalore, who is doing the most affordable treatments
because he’s taken a radical new approach, lowering costs by 80%. Trains women
to do the mechanical steps needed instead of only hiring nurses with ten years’
training. Patients who can afford full price go into the corporate suite and he
uses those profits to subsidize the patients who can’t afford it. Keeps the
profit margin at 5% instead of maximum. When Dr. Mani said that his ebooks are
sold to fund operations, response rate sales went from 2% to 18%. People aren’t
reading the book as much as supporting the cause. He spent so much time with his
daughter that she said when she grows up she wants to be a pediatric heart
surgeon since they clearly have so much free time. That’s his biggest compliment
in life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


RAMKUMAR VENKATARAMAN

While being paid to do a simpler tech job (CSS) he studied the deeper tech of
fraud prevention at that same company. He and his wife moved back to India from
Singapore for better health care for their babies. A minute after he and his
wife walked from living room to kitchen, the living room ceiling completely
collapsed. It would have killed them. This inspired him to quit his job and do
something he’s proud of. Got into smart contracts and following supply chain of
coffee beans in Indonesia. Making sure funds are safe. Risk management.
Incorporated in Delaware & funded by Y Combinator. Silicon Valley Bank. India
banks require round tripping.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SOUNDARYA BALASUBRAMANI

Her brother called her Pooja as a girl, and it stuck, so everyone calls her
Pooja. Emailed 2500 immigrants to say she’s writing a book on immigration, so
what are your top three questions? Open rate was 80% and she got hundreds of
responses in the first two days. People are frustrated with the system. Book is
called Unshackled. Brad Feld at Techstars suggested she do a crowdfunding
campaign. She raised $50K. Emergent Ventures granted another $50K. Got her
masters at Columbia in NYC. Living in California but came back to Chennai to
finish the book. Not sure where she’ll live next. People don’t realize how much
discrimination a place has until they leave it and discover new freedoms. Even
little things like wearing a dress. Examples of men being sexist, some deeply
seated mindsets, not realizing they’re being insensitive. To truly help someone,
you need to be invested. It takes a lot of time. Can’t happen in a rushed
manner.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SENTHIL KUMAR MUTHAMIZHAN

Meeting people is richness, real rich - not just money in the bank. Rameswaram
in Tamil Nadu is a significant auspicious place. In India, kids are gods. This
box of cookies might have great meaning to someone who has eaten from that shop
with their family for the last 25 years, but means nothing to someone else.
London’s WC1 means a lot to you, but nothing to someone else. Kural - Tirukkuṟaḷ
- திருக்குறள் - very important book - wise through means - it’s how to live
North Indian culture slowly gets diluted, while South Indian culture resisted
influence. As a South Indian, Delhi is a nightmare, because of the food and the
whole thing. Lived in Netherlands and Manchester and Singapore. Europeans were
annoying for wanting to be on time. Creativity is not on time. Coding is
creativity. He uses Ruby and Rails. His company CultureMonkey delivers bad news
to companies to let them know when their internal culture is bad. The human body
is a shirt the soul is wearing. It drops every time you die and are born again.
Every soul goes through four phases: pleasure, engagement, meaning, serving god.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SAINATH RAJAGOPAL

Sainath taught me how to eat the thali. He did “Entrepreneur First” in Singapore
- 100 people from around the world put together in a place to start companies.
When he pitched his education finance idea in Singapore, he got a meeting with
the Minister of Education immediately. The accessibility in a small country is
surprising coming from India. Bangalore - vs Chennai - is more experimental,
trying silly things. Bangalore has a migrant population. People move there for
the startups, and that has a rolling effect on the culture of the place. He’ll
stay in Chennai to help be a good influence for his younger brother. His fiancée
will work for the Indian Foreign Service. Whether to have kids, and if that
makes a more or less fulfilling life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SHAIZIL SHERIFF

Grew up in Kerala, and only after leaving realized how great it is. Lives in NC,
USA now. North Kerala people go to Gulf countries. South Kerala people go to US,
US, Canada. Kerala’s high literacy rate is because it was the first elected
communist government, and they promoted a lot of social welfare, building
schools, paying teachers. With communistm, the achievers can’t climb as high,
but the people at the bottom are protected. The religious texts don’t know the
smallest things like atoms, or the biggest things like the earth is round, but
they claim they know everything. He’s atheist, from a Muslim family, and married
a Hindu woman. Hasn’t brought her home to Kerala because of the current
political tensions. Being Indian is secondary to being Malayali, Tamil, Kanada
or a Telugu, because those roots run deep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MARTIN JEFFERY

He grew up in Madurai. Lost his dad at age 12. Dad’s family blamed his mother.
Probably moving to Victoria, Australia, soon. Tamil Nadu was ruled by three
kings. That’s why when the British came, they were able to divide and conquer.
There was no unity. Most people in India don’t choose their careers. Careers are
decided by the parents at age 15-16. Uses Selenium for app testing. Into dancing
and choreography.


TUESDAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SRIKUMAR K. S.

Kumar and I met 12 years ago in Singapore through our dear friend Pete Kellock.
The new translation of the Kural: translating poetry is hard. Kumar created a
popular system of Carnatic music notation. He explained the difference between
Hindustani and Carnatic music. His PhD was a study in human musicology. Neither
of us can let music be in the background. It’s almost a crime to not be vocal
about politics these days. South India resisted colonization. A date is not
actually a time but a place, since dates are what we call our position in orbit
around the sun. But Earth never comes back to the same spot, so it’s not exact.
He explained quantum computing - something he’s working with now. Scheme/Lisp,
Functional programming, Quantum mechanics: these things change the way you think
forever. Look into Julia because of multiple dispatch. Julia’s libraries work
together amazingly well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHANDHANA SATHISH KUMAR

Chandhana is one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met. Age 17 now. She
was in a program called The Knowledge Society, exposed to gene editing,
nanotechnology, quantum computing, then got into neuroscience, fetal brain
research, memory development research. Now into bioplastics - biodegradable
plastic - edible plastic made from seaweed for less than a dollar - working on
this at home for the past week, just by reading papers and experimenting.
Emergent Venture winner. Born in America. She switches between an Indian accent
and American accent, depending on who she’s talking with. Family speaks Telegu,
so she had to learn Hindi and Tamil on her own. Learned at a Montessori school
and always followed whatever seems fun. Parents never forced learning. But also
encouraged her to not quit. She did stand-up comedy and won a competition. I
have the opposite of imposter syndrome: I think it’s cooler to be resourceful
and uncredentialed. She does everything in her head working solo, so she can
work 8x faster than a team would, since they have to communicate and document
everything.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SANTHOSH SUNDARARAMAN

Moved to the US in 2004: Kansas then California. Moved to Pune India in 2017.
Pune has good monsoons: less waterlogging. Difficult moving back because
everything had changed, so they didn’t know how to do anything like set up
utilities. Spending time out from career being a full-time dad to toddler and
baby. Reading Sapiens changed his mind about religion. Maharashtra have strong
pride in their culture: statues of Shivaji like a demigod. Tamil Nadu in the
90s: signs were in Tamil, Hindi, English. People were blacking-out the Hindi,
protesting Hindi in Tamil Nadu. He told me about the Vande Bharat Express train
from Chennai to Bangalore, then booked it for me. It was great.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MAYUR VAMANAN

Didn’t take golf scholarship to U Michigan, and always wonders about that path
not taken. Moved back to India for his kids to grow up around their
grandparents. His grandfather set up Brindavan Schools around Tamil Nadu, now
Mayur as returned to run them. Polytechnic schools help kids get practical
skills - working right away. Grandfather and dad used to do road shows to find
new students, now it’s all on social media. Challenge is to make it a top-notch
school for parents who care about more than test scores. Schools should teach
consideration for others and the environment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


AKASH CHINNAIAH

Full-time professional writer for magazines, and memoir books. Moving to Goa. We
talked a lot about writing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MANIVANNAN SADASIVAM

Tea leaves grow in chilly places: that’s why they’re on hill stations here. He
grew up on a hill station because his dad ran the tea factory after Sri Lanka.
He is his brother’s keeper. Brother is a film maker who wrote a poetic book.
Mani is a copy writer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


BROTHERS SRIDHAR RAJ AND SARAVANAN SAMPATH KUMAR

Really cool hearing their stories of growing up and how they influenced each
other, and getting into tech. They taught me about Hindu mythology.
Unfortunately I met them at the end of my second night when I was really
jet-lagged, so I don’t remember most of our conversation. I wish I had a
recording of it.


WEDNESDAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PRAHALAD RAJKUMAR

Bridge (the card game) expert. Loves the problem solving, the beautiful
positions, unspeakable joy. Told me about Om Swami, millionaire turned monk,
he’s been following since 2014. Arranged marriages work because even if it’s the
devil, it’s your devil. He taught me so many examples and perspectives of making
any marriage work. Sending kids to “The School” - surrounded by nature - started
by J. Krishnamurti. He and his dad run the back-office for a doctor in Florida.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MUKESH AMARAN

Mukesh created a musicians’ collective in Chennai, to help promote Tamil music.
Mumbai’s Bollywood exports India culture worldwide, but doesn’t promote the
local Maharashtra culture. Whereas Kollywood - the local Tamil film industry -
promotes Tamil culture. His model is to get musicians together to collaborate on
a project, then he owns the rights to that project only, to recoop costs,
helping to raise the profile of all musicians involved.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


LAKSHMI PRATURY

Rode together on the 6-10am train from Chennai to Bangalore. She taught me about
parenting, bringing your child around to meetings, differences between San
Francisco and Bangalore, fundraising. Effective altruism is fine but other
charities also need people who can realize their benefits, like music education
for example. She lives in Whitefield, and we passed her home on the train from
Chennai.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


BANGALORE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


RICKY KEJ

QR-code-only menu: asked waiter to scan and show him the menu. Amazing memory:
able to list out all of his upcoming projects and details off the top of his
head. Went to a Christian/Protestant school and said he recommends it since the
Christians perfected education. Atheism is tabboo in America, but common in
India. Likes “Hindu Atheist” because it reveres all life equally vs Old
Testament style “dominion of man” over all living things. We bonded over a love
of Peter Gabriel’s music, especially Passion soundtrack. Negotiating for the UN.
Kiribati. Greta Thunberg hasn’t seen India. No major riots in Gujarat since the
2002 riots. What to do with all the gifts, especially portraits. Amazing story
of Kalyan Akkipeddi and his Proto Village where cows eat millet, chickens eat
the cow poop, chickens poop into a pond feeding the fish, and people eat the
fish. Chanakya University is aiming to be world-class best.


FRIDAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SINDHU SHIVAPRASAD

Raised in Abuja Nigeria and loved it. People express themselves loudly, free,
spontaneous. Teachers there cared for her well-being outside of school.
Returning to India was culture shock. Needing permission to go to and return
from the restroom in school. This self-consciousness made her retreat into her
mind, still to this day. Lived in Dubai for 5 years. Family loved being away
from relatives in India, beyond judgement and involvement. Lived in Sheffield,
relished her independence. Talked about norms: Nigeria norms, Dubai norms,
England norms, India norms. Third culture kid. She taught me how to put sugar in
my tea. Bought her own home now since this will always be home base. Go to
Himalayas to write a book? Or make her new home have the same placebo triggers
to be a place of creative writing? She’s Kannadiga - a Kannada speaker - rare in
central Bangalore now. Taxi drivers speak in Hindi to her and are thrilled when
she replies in Kannada. Tamils protect their culture stronger than
Kannada/Karnatakans have. We’re more accepting of others’ culture than others
are of ours. To our detriment. Karnataka has great prolific writers and artists,
but the culture is not as strong since we haven’t protected it as fiercely as
the Tamils. South Bangalore is more conservative, people who are from here.
Loves the balance of tradition and modernity in Japan. To be an outsider in a
culture is the best because you can reap its benefits, but not be bound by its
restrictions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


AYUSH JAIN

Grew up in a small town in Rajasthan where students come from all over to
prepare for exams, super-high-pressure, but his parents never pushed that, and
he got way into basketball! Parents encouraged him to leave India to get more
experience. Spent a year in Singapore, year in Dubai, and two years in Sydney.
Did Techstars. Family has cloud kitchen business in Bangalore making Rajasthan
cuisine, though Covid paused that for two years. Brings down staff and houses
them. Weather in Bangalore is so much better. Now doing learning design, finding
subject matter experts, creating courses on various subjects. Nigeria is their
biggest market. Just spent 4 months in Nairobi and loves it, wonderful, everyone
so talkative. Some daytime petty crime. Flying India to Nairobi is cheaper than
Nairobi to Rwanda just 40 minutes away.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


RANJANA TN

Ranjana is one of the most open people I’ve ever met, telling me very personal
matters within minutes of meeting. Very broad-minded Hindu Brahmin family opted
out of the surname signifier. Studied dance. MBA in Chennai. We talked about
polyamorous relationships and our past relationships. Left the startup she
co-founded when she disagreed with its direction. Published an ebook on PCOS.
Spent months in Peru, US, Canada, where she has family. Steve Pavlina mentioned
me in his group. I loved his book. She didn’t.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PAVITRA GURUMURTHI

She lived in Wellington for 11 years, so we bonded on that. Returned to India
last year after 20 years of being away. She has a deep connection to the ocean,
love and fear combined, but can’t swim yet.


SATURDAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


UDHAY SHANKAR N

Been in the tech startup scene since 1992, before they were called startups. 3D
graphics cards in 1993, brought back from Singapore in luggage. Got a modem &
didn’t know what to do with it. Early internet, easy to make friends with people
like John Perry Barlow. You could email anyone. Early mailing list called Silk,
and unconference in Goa. Certain parts of Bangalore, things move faster than
Silicon Valley. He advises startups to help point out where they might fail,
having been there himself. Just does it for the intellectual interest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


SHREYAS PRAKASH

The language of Kerala is Malayalam. Similar to Tamil. Kannada is quite
different. Working with Noora Health helping them scale the program across
Indonesia and Bangladesh. Doing voice prompts to help bridge digital divide:
usable on feature phones. IVR = Interactive Voice Response. Before this he
helped set up maker spaces in rural areas in Maharashtra and Auroville. Castes
have community halls, so they use those. Tools for wood and metal, and a
computer. But without upkeep they get repurposed. Worked with UV sterilization
inside hospitals, at IIT Madras. Moved to Bangalore a year and a half ago.
Making a community of builders. Side projects. $100 startups. Online &
worldwide. Mumbai has the big business, but Bangalore if for startups, the
Silicon Valley of India. All startup conversations happen at Third Wave coffee
chain in Bangalore.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TRISHA REDDY

Got an iPad and started drawing during lockdown, now writing on Substack thanks
to Write of Passage. Taking a 6 month break now before starting her MBA in
Chicago in August. Someone told her she’ll always be a second-class citizen in
America. I suggested that’s an advantage not disadvantage, to be an outsider.
She said, “It’s all Plato’s cave.” Doing yoga teacher training just to improve
her yoga, not to actually teach it. Bangalore is more into fitness and way more
active than other Indian cities. Did a swimathon then a relay swim from Bandra
Worli Sea Link to Gateway of India. Reading Existential Kink, book about
dissolving existing beliefs, making subconscious conscious. Stories turn off our
defenses.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PRADARSHAN

Backpacked around India for a year and a half, and has written 300-500 pages
about it, but never published. Helps startups with growth and marketing, getting
developers. Everyone wants to come to Bangalore. The quality, the freedom to
build, the quality of the conversation, is different than anywhere else.
Favorite book is Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Duran.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


KAUSHAL SHAH

Ahmedabad has worse weather than Bangalore but better infrastructure: more
reliable electricity, drainage, wiring. People from Gujarat are known for their
entrepreneurial business spirit. One reason Bangalore became the startup city is
that Gujarat is a dry state. He splits his time between New York, Ahmedabad, and
Bangalore. People don’t say anything political even in private encrypted
WhatsApp chats. Meditation and comedians made him question his religious
upbringing. Bill Burr’s great bit laughing at Scientology but is it really more
ridiculous than what we’re taught growing up? We just don’t laugh at the things
taught to us as kids. In India we substitute academic excellence for character.
He was a great student, so his teacher treated him like he could do no wrong.
One day during cricket he hit another kid and didn’t get in trouble. Years later
in vipassana meditation this all came back to haunt him. We agree about Yuval
Noah Harari, meditation credibility, and his three books. Out of 500 non-fiction
books he’s probably finished 3 of them. He gets the gist and moves to the next.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


KARTIK ISVARMURTI

Kartik was the first person I ever met in India, back in 2008. We are the same
age. Agriculture background. Started a magazine about ag business and
distributed it in fancy hotels in Bangalore. Built a website for it in 1998. Saw
the book World is Flat and jumped right into the VA/BPO business that week.
Created a profile on Elance and got immediate clients. Lots of live chat
monitoring. Now 300 people part-time. He splits his time between Coimbatore and
Bangalore, but officially lives and votes in Coimbatore. Says if I want to live
in Bangalore, I should live in Mysore instead. Better quality of life, and close
enough. He builds relationships on LinkedIn, even if they’re not hiring now.
Modern companies are avoiding customer service by just doing instant refunds if
you declare there’s any problem at all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


NIKHIL JOIS

A just-in-time book is a book you get for an immediate need, like how to sell,
or Deep Work to focus. A just-in-case book is wisdom. Some get books to display
as a status symbol. The book itself is a reminder of the message. You can train
GPT/LLModels on just one book or selection of text, including the Gita. Tried to
get schools to buy his product, but decisions were made too slowly and
conservatively. So he went there and started teaching in colleges: how to have a
clean resume, how to do interviews, how to do group discussions. That worked. In
his family, Chandigarh & Hyderabad, if you’re 22 and haven’t migrated to the
U.S., you’re a failure. But he stayed and when friends and relatives came back
to India to get married, they would call on him to help make things happen. Then
he learned to automate those things. Then created a company around it, and tried
to partner with a matrimony site, assuming they know when people get married,
but they don’t. Got into IoT for oil rigs - to determine when an oil rig’s parts
might break down so that they can do maintenance in time. Funded by Techstars,
who moved them to Texas, but it was too early for that market. Went to
California, met 143 people in 45 days. Mentor madness. Always did his homework
before meeting with each person, to know as much as he could about them. That
alone set him apart. Worked to prevent fraud in Indian market, like SIM card
bonuses. He got 6 months free Uber rides by gaming the system, then preventing
others from doing it. India affords me lifestyle upgrades like a
chauffeur-driven car for under $600/month, and a cleaner and a cook who come
every day. Friend lived in a hotel in Bangalore for under $2000/month, including
food and everything. Long sweet conversation about how he met his wife, and how
they made a framework for conflict resolution, both little and big things. The
importance of being coachable. Avoid relationships between a reacher and a
settler.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ARUNSATHYASEELAN PALANICHAMI

His passport just says “P” not Palanichami, but foreign visa people kept
challenging it, so put in his father’s full name. His parents named him Arun so
he’d be called first in class, alphabetically. His daughter’s name is Haiku. He
and his wife have been through a lot, he gave her a lot of trauma, she was so
patient with him, and he’s so thankful. My son is Gen Alpha. Gave me some
wonderful books about Tamil culture. Went to a school for military training, but
didn’t go into the military. Smith School of Business in Kingston Ontario
Canada. Worked for ITC for 2 years in supply chain department. Current company
is software that compiles info. He’s bridge between India product team and US
sales. He loves Bangalore, opportunities, going to shows, Museum of Art and
Photography, meeting international people. People in South India are a bit more
humble. People in the North are very aggressive. Even just in the middle of the
corporate ladder they would drive a Benz because for them the show is more
important. Whereas here the CEO will drive a Honda. In Tamil Nadu the arts have
played a significant role all along. Musicians play a huge role in dealing with
sadness, grief, happiness, marriages, festivals, everywhere. Music is a part of
our life. And similarly, cinema is a huge part of life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THIYAGARAJAN MARUTHAVANAN

Tamil, grew up in Delhi, school in Hyderabad, now living in Bangalore. Feels
both North and South Indian. Delhi: “Do you know who my father is?!” (because of
the politicians) Mumbai: “Do you know where I live?!” (because South Bombay is
so rich) Bangalore: “Do you know a front-end developer?” Compared to Bangalore,
Mumbai has more extremes of wealth and poverty next to each other. In Mumbai,
everyone is always pressed for time. Bangalore is more laid-back. Bangalore is
“live and let live” culture. Party people next to prayer people. Chennai meddles
and judges. Bangalore is so humble, it’s sometimes overplayed. Who can be more
humble. Good thing Bangalore has bad traffic otherwise everyone would move here.
Koramangala (“mangla”) is where all the startups are. He lives south of
Electronic City. We talked almost entirely about locations. Great stuff.


SUNDAY

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AYUSHI MUKHI

From Delhi but moved around a lot, Kolkata, Bhopal. She was top of her class, #1
out of 60, so everyone was happy, dad treated her best. Both her names are given
names, not family names. Rich people in Delhi have more cars than people in the
house. Says she’s from NCR: National Capital Region, even though it’s got a bad
reputation, because she aims to bust the stereotype. Moved to Bangalore last
year. Bangalore is run by folks from Delhi and Mumbai. Service workers in
Bangalore are so casual it’s almost rude. Not putting on manners. Went to one of
the best colleges in the country, now feels she can be herself. Plans to get an
MBA to run a business. Going to one of these colleges is solid proof that you
went through so much and you came out alive. And you are definitely capable of
handling the pressure that comes with handling a business. You are capable of
making good decisions and you have the frameworks and the background knowledge
of how a business operates, because that’s that’s what they taught for two
years. So it’s just a very quick way of building credibility. She’s trying to
balance writing with work. Just started Substack issue #0. We talked about the
muse: pursuing or waiting. Her achiever friends, all around age 24, are
generally not happy.

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RITESH NAGPAL

Created a bedtime story book for kids. First the Hindi version then translated
to English. Grew up in Kota, Rajasthan, 250km from Jaipur. Got his masters at
Purdue, Indiana. Product manager at Amazon. Kids are now six and one. The
six-year-old is suddenly organized, keeping a clean room, now that the
one-year-old tries to get into his stuff. His mother died suddenly with him at
home. Feels guilty for what he could have done, even though he knows it’s
nothing. Told me the story of the Gita, the cousins fighting - 5 vs 100 - and
one decides not to fight, so Vishnu tells him the contents of the Gita. Vision
for a company is Useful Not True. Taught me about UPI - unified payment
interface - how it works - and that everyone has it now - all in the last 5-6
years. PayTM Sound Box can tell vendors when someone has paid - speaks it in any
language, how much was received. Bangalore has nothing outdoorsy to do.
Hyderabad has many things to do. Joke about divorce: There was a city with no
rain for many years. The priest said tomorrow we’ll pray for rain. When
everybody gathered for the prayers, he said, first thing first, how many brought
an umbrella?

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SIDDHARTH V. RAO

Parents instantly moved to Seychelles for a job, so he grew up there from 1986
to 1995. Shipped off at age 8 to Rishi Valley residential school in India, run
by Krishnamurti Foundation, because of complications with his mom and younger
brother. Went to law school in Hyderabad, as a tool to implement systemic
change. Early 2000s, working hard as a lawyer, but this was before Blackberry,
so you’d leave work at 6 and be done for the day. Started working with Sequoia
Capital, eventually became the general counsel. Whiskey is the most popular
drink in India.

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ANISH RAJU

Parents from Kerala. Dad was in the army so they moved around a lot. Learned
most Indian languages. Did an MBA in human resources. Became a certified fitness
trainer. Coach. Nomad at heart but not in fact. Since his kids were little, he’s
been telling them that at age 18 it’s time for them to go out into the world.
They use the Montessori system.

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NIRANT KASLIWAL

One of the most fascinating educational conversations I’ve ever had. I asked him
why the south has such a different culture than the north and he said, “Actually
I know the answer. I studied sociology of North and West India”, then told me
all about it. His parents are from Rajasthan. He grew up in a coastal town
called Sura, in Gujarat. Bangalore is the only city in India with any meaningful
quantities of new money. North and West India has a lot of old money. So there’s
a lot of emphasis on dressing. In Jaipur, the famous Golden Triangle, there’s a
lot more emphasis on conspicuous display of wealth because most wealth is
inherited and it feeds into everything. The opportunities you get to grow
professionally and socially are dependent on that display of wealth. Wealth and
status are very closely tied. On the other hand, in western India, where I grew
up, the display, the clothing will still be very casual. So you could see
somebody dressed in boxers, for instance, getting out of a Mercedes, and that
guy would eat from a roadside place, because there the display of wealth is less
tied to inherited wealth. It’s tied more to what you have accomplished. So it’s
more about what you can do with that wealth. Sponsoring schools. North India
signals strength and wealth - the ability to protect what you love - because
until the 1950s India was always under attack from our neighbors. The threat was
real. India didn’t have enough money to buy weapons or ammo so they’d send
volunteers to collect jewelry and gold to buy ammo to defend our borders. People
donated out of free will. Some degree of social pressure. People often start a
school or they donate to a temple, depending on how religious they are and how
much money they have, because it’s often cheaper to donate to a temple because
legally speaking, schools in India cannot discriminate between students if they
are run by a religious institution. So donating to a temple can make a school
through the temple which can discriminatingly educate your children. Jainism’s
main prayer starts with, “I bow down to those who have conquered all their
senses”. We both noticed the similarity of the words “war ship” and “worship”.
The hotel I chose (ITC Gardenia) is intimidating. India in terms of just
cultural diversity is probably richer than Europe. Bangalore had a Ghazal night
- my favorite form of music - inspired by Sufi - romantic poetry. Tabla,
harmonium, now guitar since the 90s, and they have their own spin on it in
Bangalore. Taking tradition forward, and keeping culture alive. A performance of
Urdu poetry tonight in Bangalore. None of these existed 5-6 years ago. As money
came into Bangalore, it stayed here, which was not the case through the 90s. So
now it’s supported its own litrary arts culture scene. Urdu poetry gives you
some other degree of flexibility. For instance, there’s a word called Ghulam,
which has the same origin word as Ghazal. The first sound is very similar to
honeysuckle. So in the same root, same Ghulam means slave. And there are very
interesting use of this in poetry because most of very famous ghazal traditions,
traditions came when India was slave country. So people would write entire poems
on how they’re enslaved. And the entire poem would be of great joy that I’m
taking joy in slavery. And then the last two lines of that same poem would
indicate that actually, they’re enslaved to their lover. Sufism was Islam’s
answer to changing our relationship with God or fear to something a God which is
approachable, a God which you can listen to instead of being forced to listen
to.

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KARTIKEYA BHARDWAJ

Age 24. From north India - Shimla, Dehradun, Jaipur, and Hyderabad for college -
but moved to Bangalore because he got into AI a couple years ago. Trained as
mechanical engineer but hated it. Skipped exams. Father works for Indian
Railways and fingerprint attendance systems were banned because of Covid
touching shared surfaces. So Kartikeya came up with Raspberry Pi facial
recognition thing, very simple, to replace it. Worked well for this and other
offices, until someone found they could spoof it with a photo instead of live
face. So he figured out an AI to tell the difference between a real face and
photo face. So now he focuses on just that: anti-spoof technology that
attendance software systems can use. SpoofSense.ai Moved to Bangalore because
not a lot of places that have this kind of culture & connectivity. Crazy stuff
happens here. Folks here are at the cutting edge of everything, culturally,
technologically, very liberal, very early adopters. He’s the first person to
ever ask about the guitar chords at the start of my podcast and audiobook
chapters. Uses FL Studio + Akai MPK Mini to make music, producing for a bunch of
rappers in India. The hip-hop scene in Mumbai and Delhi is amazing and magical.
Everyone wants to be the next Divine. He’s very connected with the music
community here. He’s in three bubbles: tech, music, and filmmaking.

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SRIKANTHAN KUMARASAMY

He coaches people to help get past trauma and to their goals. Often people in
companies hire him to help deal with inter-personal situations at work.
Minimalist. No car. His son is now in the coaching business with him.

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APOORVE SINGHAL

Grew up in Rajasthan. College in Kolkata. Studied AI, self-driving cars, machine
learning. Decided against master/PhD because he doesn’t like the incentive
structure of research: to keep publishing papers. When Covid hit, booking
appointments was nearly impossible as the time slots would be booked up within
minutes of release, so he made an app that did it automatically and gave that
app away for free. Just UPI donation QR code. Thousands using it per day. But
then government called asking too many questions, so he shut it down. Last year
made a free course to teach Python and spread the message among friends in
tier-2/3 colleges. Free to test its effectiveness. Google Sheets back-end. Y
Combinator met with them & suggested that this path won’t work. So instead of
teaching Google Sheets, used GPT to turn plain-language requests into Google
Sheets results. Business intelligence without all the menus and formulas. Now
using GPT to give insights before needed. He makes a mental model of the authors
he likes.


MONDAY

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SAURAV ARYA

Grew up in North India, then West Bengal Kharagpur to study engineering. Worked
in Italy steel industry for three years when wine was cheaper than water. Read
4HWW there. 2012 lived every day like it was Sunday. Lived ten years that year.
Travelled the world. Lamu Kenya is like time travel. Donkeys are main
transportation. Rwanda doesn’t get the tourism it deserves. Lake Kivu bordering
Congo is amazing. His dad is a retired professor of philosophy and often joined
him on his travels. Runs an experiential place in Bangalore called Small World.
Nagaland is like going to Papua New Guinea. He helps people transition from 9-5
to nomadic life.

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JESVIN MATHEW

Pentecostal family from Kerala but grew up in Bahrain from age 0-6, then
boarding school alone in Kerala age 6-11, then back to Bahrain age 11-17. We
talked the whole time about family stuff, parenting, honesty, emotions, and
other personal things. Drummer Benny Greb opened his mind about drumming, and
now he’s doing a series of 100 books about drummers.

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MOINA ABDUL

Great illustrator — “visualizer” — turning ideas into simple visual
representations. I’m a fan of her work. From Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
Graduated in Chennai, did MBA in communication management in Pune. Dad got her
my book and Austin Kleon. Got really into Bookstagram. Took Janis Ozolins’
course and thrived. She’s been collaborating a lot online, and doing
international projects, but looking to get more involved in the Bangalore scene.

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SRIJAN MAHAJAN

Such a cool dude. We bonded on music and motorcycles. Doing pause.family
Creative technologist. Talked Delhi, vitamins, Seth Godin, and more.

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KAUSTUBH MASKE PATIL

Fellow programmer. We talked tech the whole time, and it was wonderful. He’s
nudging me to try Haskell, teaching me about its combinators.

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SAURABH MITHAL

Grew up in Delhi. Did “all the typical Indian stuff”: a degree in engineering,
and an MBA. Then JP Morgan investment banking. Went to a forest in Madhya
Pradesh to meditate 8 hours a day for three months. We talked a lot about
meditation. He’s written a daily blog for 800+ days now. Worked with Seth Godin
on Carbon Almanac, and really internalized all of Seth’s work. We talked about a
lot of personal stuff, divorce, etc. And American lemonade stands.


TUESDAY

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ALICIA SOUZA

Famous illustrator, but keeps the focus on her work not her persona. She laughs
easier than anyone I’ve ever met. She’s always smiling. She said it’s because
she works alone so much that when she does emerge she has so much pent-up
energy. Born and raised in Abu Dhabi, then Melbourne, then Bangalore in 2009.
She didn’t know crime was real. She’s fascinated by how I manage all my emails.
Her husband George Seemon is young but looks old with a long all-white beard,
which works great for him as an architect. Family from Goa, so she wants to
learn Portuguese. Embarrassed that she only knows English. Goa was the party
place, cheap alcohol, but since Covid has become much more expensive. It’s
European in how everything closes for a few hours in the afternoon. Had a fun
conversation about religion, Catholic upbringing, Da Vinci Code, and why she
baptized her son.

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YOGESH NACHNANI

I loved that he uses a Debian Linux laptop. Nerd bonding. He uses grep. Talked
tech, and PostgreSQL functions. Told me WhatsApp has a back-end API. Worked at
Flipkart, now at Google. We talked a lot about journaling. His GP is Ricky Kej’s
dad. He’s thinking of buying some land past the BLR airport, but land is much
cheaper in Andhra Pradesh. Taught me about the Aadhaar card. In India you can
dictate your expenses. You can live dirt-cheap or expensive. Your choice.
Whereas in San Francisco for example it’s forced upon you. Companies in India
have economies of scale.

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BROTHERS ARIF VAKIL AND ALI VAKIL

They make the wonderful Sufi Comics. Born in Pakistan, grew up in Dubai, family
from Gujarat so always Indian citizens. We talked about the amplifying effect of
the internet, limiting our kids’ access to YouTube, and lots about parenting
after age 11, manners, discipline, boundaries, Jordan Peterson, Neil Postman,
being a monster versus a rabbit. The Quran says that in this book there are
verses that are clear and decisive and there are verses that are allegorical.

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GANESH K

Ganesh is a “parallel entrepreneur” now after years of being serial. Venture
builder platform. Taught me about the value of attention, body language, and eye
contact. Taught me about community health care, agriculture, turmeric superfoods
Taught me how the Aadhaar card saved banks from doing KYC so that’s why any
Indian with the Aadhaar can open a bank account now, free, online. Aadhaar is
like a digital locker so he doesn’t need to carry a wallet or driver’s license
anymore. Taught me how UPI works, and just today Singapore announced they’re
adopting India’s UPI. UPI has no fees, so people can pay each other even like
50¢ and it’s worth it. Every roadside vendor takes UPI. Six years ago, only 10%
of Indians had a bank account, now it’s 80%.

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JYOTHIRMAYEE JT

Jyothirmayee taught me about the cultural differences between the different
parts in India. The bursting creativity of Bengal, aggression of Delhi,
money-focus of Mumbai, casual Bangalore, independence of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The mindset of delegation. There was much more but unfortunately I had packed my
bags for the airport, so I didn’t record the conversation.
© 2023 Derek Sivers.


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