Xi Jinping’s China – Notes 26/06/2021

Xi Jinping is a man on a mission. After coming to power in late 2012, he moved rapidly to consolidate his political authority, purge the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of rampant corruption, sideline his enemies, tame China’s once highflying technology and financial conglomerates, crush internal dissent, and forcefully assert China’s influence on the international stage. In the name of protecting China’s “core interests,” Xi has picked fights with many of his neighbors and antagonized countries farther away—especially the United States. Whereas his immediate predecessors believed China must continue to bide its time by overseeing rapid economic growth and the steady expansion of China’s influence through tactical integration into the existing global order, Xi is impatient with the status quo, possesses a high tolerance for risk, and seems to feel a pronounced sense of urgency in challenging the international order.

Why is he in such a rush? Most observers have settled on one of two diametrically opposite hypotheses. The first holds that Xi is driving a wide range of policy initiatives aimed at nothing less than the remaking of the global order on terms favorable to the CCP. The other view asserts that he is the anxious overseer of a creaky and outdated Leninist political system that is struggling to keep its grip on power. Both narratives contain elements of truth, but neither satisfactorily explains the source of Xi’s sense of urgency.

A more accurate explanation is that Xi’s calculations are determined not by his aspirations or fears but by his timeline. Put simply, Xi has consolidated so much power and upset the status quo with such force because he sees a narrow window of ten to 15 years during which Beijing can take advantage of a set of important technological and geopolitical transformations, which will also help it overcome significant internal challenges. Xi sees the convergence of strong demographic headwinds, a structural economic slowdown, rapid advances in digital technologies, and a perceived shift in the global balance of power away from the United States as what he has called “profound changes unseen in a century,” demanding a bold set of immediate responses.

By narrowing his vision to the coming ten to 15 years, Xi has instilled a sense of focus and determination in the Chinese political system that may well enable China to overcome long-standing domestic challenges and achieve a new level of global centrality. If Xi succeeds, China will position itself as an architect of an emerging era of multipolarity, its economy will escape the so-called middle-income trap, and the technological capabilities of its manufacturing sector and military will rival those of more developed countries.

― Xi’s Gamble, The race to consolidate power and stave of disaster by Jude Blanchette, July/ August 2021, Foreign affairs

 

Am not a China watcher or an expert. I have been reading on China and Chinese communist party on 100th anniversary of CCP. We have seen China is not a economic monolith when you factor per capita GDP ( Project syndicate), success of CCP based on ruthlessness, ideological agility and the fact its not turned  into a Kleptocracy ( The Economist) in earlier blog posts. It’s only fair as a trilogy to understand the man of the moment Xi Jinping. The undisputed leader who has served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) since 2012, and President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since 2013.

The world order has changed much  since Xi’s predecessors Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong. Jude Blanchette writes in a well written piece for Foreign affairs and I quote:

Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping demonstrated strategic patience in asserting China’s interests on the global stage. Indeed, Mao told U.S. President Richard Nixon that China could wait 100 years to reclaim Taiwan, and Deng negotiated the return of Hong Kong under the promise (since broken by Xi) of a 50-year period of local autonomy. Both leaders had a profound sense of China’s relative fragility and the importance of careful, nuanced statesmanship. Xi does not share their equanimity, or their confidence in long-term solutions.

― Xi’s Gamble, The race to consolidate power and stave of disaster by Jude Blanchette

Deng Xioping’s 24 character strategy ” Hide our capabilities and bide our time, make some contributions” seems to be a thing of past in favor recent belligerent times of ” Wolf warrior diplomacy.” The times they are a-changin’..

India’s former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale in a well argued piece for The Hindu last year ” The changing nature of  Chinese diplomacy”  and I quote

Deng died in 1997. China prospered just as Deng had imagined. It began to occupy centre stage in world diplomacy, but the ship began to come apart from its moorings. A new generation of diplomats, with knowledge of the English language and a careerist mindset, has started to whittle away at the anchors laid down by Zhou and Deng. Arrogance has replaced humility. Persuasion is quickly abandoned in favour of the stick when countries take actions contrary to Chinese wishes. The Chinese pursue unilateralism instead of compromise in the South China Sea. In place of ‘united front’ tactics, they are bent on creating irritations simultaneously with multiple neighbouring countries. To avenge the ‘Century of Humiliation’ that China endured in the hands of western imperial powers from roughly 1839-1840 to 1949, they adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, uncaring that much of the world has done nothing to China and, indeed, shares a similar historical experience.Statements of fact or reasoned opinion are seen by them as insult or humiliation. Foreign governments are educated about their responsibilities in managing the media and the narrative, even as the Chinese manipulate the same media to serve their purposes. They expect to receive gratitude for everything they do, including handling COVID-19, as if it was only done with the foreigner in mind. The veneer of humility has thinned. The reserves of goodwill are fast depleting. The ship seems to be adrift at sea.

― The changing nature of Chinese diplomacy, Vijay Gokhale, The Hindu

China’s global aspirations for a multi polar world where China is an important player and sense of urgency to claim its place, consequent wolf -warrior diplomacy, this new assertiveness is one part, the other part is its investment on artificial intelligence and digital technologies, perhaps moving away from Deng’s focus on ” market socialism” which is a worrying sign for Chinese economy with it’s all pervasive focus on CCP and a compliant business, Internal security and world affairs.

Xi Jinping is on a mission.

I leave you with this quote from Jude Blanchette in Foreign affairs piece:

Xi is willing to forgo a boost in China’s international financial prestige to protect the party’s interests and send a signal to business elites: the party comes first. This is no David and Goliath story, however. It’s more akin to a family feud, given the close and enduring connections between China’s nominally private firms and its political system. Indeed, nearly all of China’s most successful entrepreneurs are members of the CCP, and for many companies, success depends on favors granted by the party, including protection from foreign competition. But whereas previous Chinese leaders granted wide latitude to the private sector, Xi has forcefully drawn a line. Doing so has further restricted the country’s ability to innovate. No matter how sophisticated Beijing’s regulators and state investors may be, sustained innovation and gains in productivity cannot occur without a vibrant private sector.

― Xi’s Gamble, The race to consolidate power and stave of disaster by Jude Blanchette, July/ August 2021, Foreign affairs

China must give latitude to its famed entrepreneurs who are a game changer in digital space for continuous innovation. Anything else would have disastrous consequences.

More of that and more please do read Jude Blanchette well argued piece in foreign affairs.

Remember..

Oh and one more thing

You aren’t going to like

What comes after America

― Leonard Cohen

Sincerely, Suresh

PS : Xi’s Gamble, The race to consolidate power and stave of disaster by Jude Blanchette. Reference :https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-06-22/xis-gamble?utm_medium=newsletters&utm_source=twofa&utm_campaign=Xi%E2%80%99s%20Gamble&utm_content=20210625&utm_term=FA%20This%20Week%20-%20112017

The changing nature of Chinese diplomacy, Vijay Gokhale. Reference:https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-changing-nature-of-chinese-diplomacy/article31626501.ece

(All my learning and work stems from books and free resources. Am nakedly open source. freedom to learn, iterate and express is important. Internet should be free. So must freedom to express. Thank you.)

Chinese communist Party – Notes 25/06/2021

The Chinese Communist Party has been able to maintain its grip on power for three reasons. First, it is ruthless. Yes, it dithered before crushing the protests in Tiananmen Square in 19809. But eventually it answered bullhorns with bullets, terrorising the country into submission.

China’s present leaders show no signs at all of having any misgivings about the massacre. On the contrary, President Xi Jinping laments that the Soviet Union collapsed because its leaders were not “man enough to stand up and resist” at the critical moment. For which read: unlike us, they did not have the guts to slaughter unarmed protesters with machineguns.

A second reason for the party’s longevity is its ideological agility. Within a couple of years of Mao’s death in 1976, a new leader, Deng Xiaoping, began scrapping the late chairman’s productivity-destroying “people’s communes” and setting market forces to work in the countryside. Maoists winced, but output soared. In the wake of Tiananmen and the Soviet Union’s downfall, Deng fought off Maoist diehards and embraced capitalism with even greater fervour. This led to the closure of many state-owned firms and the privatisation of housing. Millions were laid off, but China boomed.

Under Mr Xi the party has shifted again, to focus on ideological orthodoxy. His recent predecessors allowed a measure of mild dissent; he has stamped on it. Mao is lauded once more. Party cadres imbibe “Xi Jinping thought”. The bureaucracy, army and police have undergone purges of deviant and corrupt officials. Big business is being brought into line. Mr Xi has rebuilt the party at the grassroots, creating a network of neighbourhood spies and injecting cadres into private firms to watch over them. Not since Mao’s day has society been so tightly controlled.

The third cause of the party’s success is that China did not turn into a straightforward kleptocracy in which wealth is sucked up exclusively by the well-connected. Corruption did become rampant, and the most powerful families are indeed super-rich. But many people felt their lives were improving too, and the party was astute enough to acknowledge their demands. It abolished rural taxes and created a welfare system that provides everyone with pensions and subsidised health care. The benefits were not bountiful, but they were appreciated.

― The Economist, Leaders, China’s communist party at 100: The secret of its longevity, June 26 2021

Deng Xiaoping changed China’s fortunes with ” market socialism”. It sounds an anathema. But it’s not. China thrived and became a export led Industrial powerhouse. China has since leapfrogged into a tech powerhouse with it’s leverage in Artificial intelligence and face recognition technologies. China is a leader in data science and autonomous technologies. All this has happened under the watch of Chinese Communist Party. It’s longevity is remarkable and The Economist in its leaders – “China’s communist party at 100: The secret of its longevity” attributes to three factors: ruthlessness, ideological agility and the fact it has not become a Kleptocracy.

I guess Chinese model of authoritarian success and nationalism is an aspiration of many. Many also admire it’s sporting structures, coaching and determination. China is a force to reckon with its economic and technological prowess in world polity. It also has handled Covid 19 better than western democracies and other nations. Ruthlessness and ability to quickly enforce lock down and quarantine measures works in an adverse situation such as the ongoing pandemic. It is able to take quick and reversal action.

I worry about a third wave of Covid 19 in countries such as ours. People are just not as compliant and there are many risks in a ongoing pandemic. Behavior is number one risk, second is vaccine roll out and third is mutations of virus.

Is Chinese model the best communist model? May be the state of Kerala can take a leaf from same about industrialization and technology ? Can it work in a democracy?

I will always vote for democracy and consensus politics. I am a votary for freedom and science. One can’t discount success of Chinese communist party. It will continue to succeed in economy and technology. We need to be vary of its territorial ambitions and foreign policy.

Sincerely, Suresh

PS : China’s Communist Party at 100: the secret of its longevity. Reference – The Economist: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/06/26/chinas-communist-party-at-100-the-secret-of-its-longevity

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China GDP per capita – Notes 24/06/2021

In 2019, China’s GDP (measured at market exchange rates) of $14 trillion was the world’s second largest, after that of the United States ($21 trillion), with Japan ($5 trillion) in third place. Aggregate GDP reflects the total resources – including the tax base – available to a government. This is helpful for thinking about the size of China’s public investments, such as in its space program or military capacity. But it has much less bearing on Chinese people’s everyday lives.

Most economists therefore care more about China’s per capita GDP, or income per person, than the aggregate measure. And the key takeaway here is that China remains a poor country, despite its phenomenal headline GDP growth over the past four decades.

China’s per capita GDP in 2019 was $8,242, placing the country between Montenegro ($8,591) and Botswana ($8,093). Its per capita GDP in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms – with income adjusted to take account of the cost of living – was $16,804. This is below the global average of $17,811 and puts China 86th in the world, between Suriname ($17,256) and Bosnia and Herzegovina ($16,289). In contrast, GDP per capita in PPP terms in the US and the European Union is $65,298 and $47,828, respectively.

To understand the extent of poverty in China, we also need to consider the degree of inequality across its large population. China’s current level of income inequality (measured by the Gini coefficient) is similar to that found in the US and India. Given that 1.4 billion people live in China, the country’s inequality implies that there are still hundreds of millions of impoverished Chinese.

The Chinese government has said that 600 million people have a monthly income of barely CN¥1,000 ($155), equivalent to an annual income of $1,860. Of these people, 75.6% live in rural areas.

To leave the ranks of the world’s poorest countries, China must significantly boost the incomes of a population about the size of that of Sub-Saharan Africa, and with a similar average income of $1,657. 

― Nancy Qian, The Two sides of Chinese GDP

More: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-poverty-aggregate-per-capita-gdp-by-nancy-qian-1-2021-04

Prof Nancy Qian is the James J. O’Connor Professor at Kellogg Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences( MEDS) and the founding director of China Lab, a part of Northwestern’s Global Poverty Research Lab. I came to know this startling factoid of” 600 million Chinese would classify as poor and equivalent to sub saharan africa in average income” as attended a Project syndicate (PS) event – “Back to health making up for lost time” on  23 June 2021.  Prof Qian was part of an eminent panel including – Angus Deaton, Nobel laureate in economics, Ann Aerts, Head of the Novartis Foundation and Carl Manlan, Vice President of Social Impact for CEMEA at Visa for a session – “The Economics of Universal Health Coverage” moderated by BBC’s Jo Coburn. I attended both the sessions and the earlier session “Preventing the Next Pandemic”  had panelists -Agnes Binagwaho, Former Minister of Health of Rwanda, Vice Chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity, Sally C. Davies, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) ,Tom Frieden, Former Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee.  The other eminent speakers included Gro Harlem Brundtland, Former Director-General of the World Health Organization, Member of The Elders,Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank and Julia Gillard, Former Prime Minister of Australia, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education.

I had already read recommendations and report by The Independent Panel for pandemic preparedness and response – “Covid19 make it the last pandemic.”  Thus was well aware of some of the recommendations in PS – Back to health event. The session on Universal health coverage was a learning experience wherein came to know of China economy factoid inspite of tremendous progress in AI, Digital medicine and ability to lift people out of poverty are tremendous markers. China is a leader in face recognition and autonomous technnologies. It still has 600 million people on sub saharan  Africa’s income.

So what the right measure for economy – GDP per capita.

China continuous its territorial belligerence stance with its neighbors like India.  But then as Prof Qian says in PS piece ” To engage effectively with China, other countries should remember: contrary to first impressions, it is not an economic monolith. Behind the world’s second-highest GDP are hundreds of millions of people who just want to stop being poor.”

Sincerely, Suresh

PS : Project syndicate – Back to health event . Reference – https://www.project-syndicate.org/event/back-to-health

 

Father’s Day – 20/06/2021

“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.”
― Goethe

That’s my father ( Third from left) with family. (Its a picture from Ooty. ) It’s been twenty years. I miss my father everyday.

Who remembers you? your family, friends, lover and enemies? Think about that..

My father’s name is P M Velayudhan. You can add surname too. That’s irrelevant. I want to remember my father through this post. Like every one else my most important relationship is father. I feel he is the only one who took me seriously enough to accept me. I wish we had spent more time together. I remember him a good looking man who was humble, hard working and intelligent. He had Raj kapoor like thin mustache. He was modest and self effacing. He was in government service and always went to office on time at 7.30 am. Whenever there was a office function he would wrap sweets and eatables and bring home for his children. He liked all his children equally and younger sister who is eleven years younger to me was his favorite. Mine too. Everything about father was nice and simple. Intelligence is to make complex simple not other way around.

Things became difficult for him to understand teenage choices, rebelliousness and waywardness. I never took set path of my generation of becoming a doctor or a engineer. I could have become one but got less marks in Biology. I was stunned as well. I did not know what to do after that. I only kept reading and cracking jokes with friends. Obviously had no future. My father supported with all in his means. He gave everything in his means and more. I couldn’t make it. He was as good a father any one could have had. He was both kind and strict. He once came searching for me. I was staying in a friends flat ( Rajeev Satav) in Mumbai and left a note. I came back to meet him.

My childhood in a small town ( ordnance estate) was very nice with cycling, going to library, badminton, visiting family, watching cricket matches and cracking jokes. My father also ran a defence unit canteen along with his day job. I carried ” soaps, talcum powder, Horlicks, and other items” in my school bag. Those were ordered by some of my teachers. I was always hardworking and cracking jokes. I once volunteered to visit my father who was admitted in Navy Hospital ( Colaba) for a heart ailment. He was very happy to see me. I was only a small boy. I had a good childhood and a very good hardworking father.

Teenage were turbulent. Then it became difficult for him. I wish had one success when he was there. I just couldn’t succeed with efforts. He took me along with him to see a specialist. We were both numbed with diagnosis. He was quiet and so was I. I realized am his only strength. We started a journey of hospital visits and chemotherapy. I spent a lot of vulnerable time with father in hospitals. I would watch young medical students with fat books and they would stare at me. I would look at them and did not have courage to say – I too studied for civils. I had only two goals – doctor and civils. I pretty much admired only doctors and civil servants. I only learnt later that world is big.

I tried entrepreneurship on advise of my father. Nobody would give a 25 year old a job? I had spent some four to five years on civils. Those days computer courses had started. I too joined a college (Symbiosis) to learn programming and did a few courses. Nobody would give me a coding job nor was any good at it. Few interviews got – I spoke to them about liberalization and economic reforms. No wonder they threw me out. I remember one interview lasted for few minutes. I still remember the company ( Sun Microsystems). All people wanted was to crack jokes with me. I don’t know why. May be it was poker face. Never mind.

But the start up community seemed to like round pegs in a square holes and found a foot hold. My father helped me a lot in every way. It was much pressure and my fathers illness made whole life shaky. He was still young. He told me to ” look after family and do something lasting.” I carried on with all that learned from father and start ups. I had drive and thought would succeed easily. Till encountered a gremlin who spoke from every part of body.

If my father was around. I would have some one to talk too. My life would have been very different. We don’t know life’s plan’s. We can only approximate a guess.

I miss my father much. Had he been around today would have approved of some things that have done and would have accepted me whole heartedly. My friend a practicing doctor in US told me once” The only unconditional love is between a parent and child. All other relationships are conditional.”

I agree. Do I miss having a family? I do. Does any one remembers me? may be few people. Of course I still crack jokes with my friends. I need to get my life back on track.

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has a wonderful teaching of our parents living through us. It gave me a lot of peace. Our Parents are always with us and living through us.

We are a mirror reflection of our parents. It’s not hard to miss. Just see around…

If you find anything agreeable in me – It’s my father’s living self. All disagreeable parts are mine. I must stop chasing people. There is something grosteque about running after desires in this stage of life.

I should try to honor my fathers spirit. I really want to do something meaningful in time left for one in this journey.

Happy father’s day to you and to me as well.

Sincerely, Suresh

PS: I have a theory – like father, like son. It’s father,2x son. ( everything get multiplied 2 times)

My father passed away in 2001.I remember him all the time. He is always fresh and nice in my heart.

Start up Journey: Notes 18/06/2021

I can’t watch Roger Federer play tennis and swing the racket the same way, nor will any description from him on how to swing the racket get me to swing the right way. Then we go to intellectual efforts. We start asking Warren Buffet why he invests in a company and there he can try and create a mental construct as to how he thinks and how he invests in the company, but there are just as many details to Warren Buffet’s activities when he decides what to invest in and how he lives his life and how he thinks as there are to Roger Federer’s body running around a tennis court hitting a ball. The details are not transmissible. They’re not copyable. You can be inspired to try it yourself, but without that sincerity, that obsession, you won’t get there.

― Naval 

More:https://nav.al/kapil

I agree with Naval Ravikant. I have realized that there are no role models that can emulate and one is one’s own “guru” for want of a better word. May be the word is ” Kuru”. Kuru is ” seed” phonetically from my native language ” Malayalam.” It sounds crass and ugly. Never mind.  I had this acute realization sometime back. 

I just want to share a start up broken journey in as many posts as possible. There are only so many themes that one can address in blog posts. So apologies its’s just one recurring theme. Of course there is learning. For self, curious, pimp and everyone. May be learning is evolution. Otherwise we would all be making faces like  young girls. Ha.

As navigate uncertain journey one takes inspiration from sports stars, scientists, writers, poets we admire and  constellation of all that. You can imbibe traits and qualities – hard work, grit, decency, dignity, dedication, equanimity, thoughtfulness and many such wonderful qualities. It makes life worthwhile and beautiful sometimes. It all adds up. But we are always ourselves. Version.0,1,2,3,4, n. If we are lucky we get far. It’s this journey of life which is a gift that is beautiful and exciting. The whole journey is exciting and sometimes very painful. I had to cope with  difficult emotions yesterday as those conflated with my values. It was a difficult day. I still struggle with memories of experiences from twenty five years, fifteen and sixteen years ago. Life is not a solved problem. Because human experience is subjective and value sets are different. I cannot judge others. I don’t. I try for a honest resolution. I will try to solve problems.  To find a solution. There are no problems. There are no solutions. There are experiences to be lived.  So this journey is not be be pumped, think positive kind of journey. Yeah positive is important. “Got to have a good vibe! Positive vibration, yeah! Positive!” Sang Bob Marley. I agree. Its an attitude. Life is broken, dismal and without a map sometimes. So got to deal with that. Of course every one has their solutions – some marry cars and  wives, some career, some ideology and some memories. “Say you just can’t live that negative way/ If you know what I mean/Make way for the positive day”. (Bob Marley)

The way I think about it in the business world is that hard work has very little to do with effectiveness. The grocery store owner or the person working at a restaurant might work 60-80 hours a week and that might be all Elon Musk is working, but Elon is making a lot more money because of his specific knowledge. Knowledge that cannot be taught, but can be learned on the job if you have a strong enough desire. Because Elon is doing the right things, he is far more effective in earning power and the right things (at least in business) can’t be taught because it’s a moving target. It can only give very vague principles that inspire people to head in the right direction, but I can’t teach you how to make money or trade the stock market. It’s like when people ask you for stock tips. No one who’s any good at stock trading gives actionable investment advice in a public forum because all the details are too hard to convey. I can always tell people who ask for stock tips are not really serious about investing. People who ask for book recommendations aren’t really serious about reading. People who ask, “What business should I build?” aren’t really serious about entrepreneurship. People who say, “What career path should I take?” are not really serious about their career. When someone’s asking for a how-to in anything, they aren’t actually that serious about it. If they were truly serious about it, they would figure it out. But, then that leaves the paradoxical question: “Well how do I figure it out?”

― Naval

This is true. There are no easy answers. I have posted on display board ” Seriousness and Time management.” I learnt it from a talk by a young Indian Administrative services ( IAS) officer  Shubham Gupta.  What we do with them is really a open guess. I like dedication. It involves negating many other things – for example medical doctors live a supremely dedicated life.  So it’s not about some public job or becoming an entrepreneur there are many gainful activities and professions.  By visualizing if you can become “Usain Bolt or Bill Gates ” there would have been at least 100 million of them by now. You can’t.  You can be inspired. You can follow in some one’s foot steps. You will always be yourself.  We do need inspirations though. It’s like beauty. It’s a possibility. 

All my note books, journals have so many notes and leanings. But am always myself not Al Pacino or Robert de Nero. I have come to a conclusion – we like some professions. We may not end up there. We must keep learning. It must help our mental model. The way we look at the world. 

Some pictures from journey

 

This was my work desk for many years. Am start up guy – ideas, ideas, ideas, ideas, constraints, constraints, constraints – from my father’s one bedroom hall kitchen apartment. I didn’t have to pay rent. I had so many ideas.

This is same workspace from my late father’s apartment. Many people told me ” You work from home.” Now its normal. I had no choice then. I did some of most gainful and productive work from this workspace. Society is unkind to start up talent. People who get fancy valuations are not start up guys in my world.

I remember years ago spending three days at a stretch and working on something in a friends flat. All had for inspiration was a Diane lane movie for relief. I got no rewards for work. The work itself. The process is reward. Of course there is beauty for inspiration.

I have never got any rewards for work. I never got any acknowledgement. It paid bills. Am still fighting for acknowledgment. So can move forward with dignity. What’s dignity? some one would say. It’s every thing. It’s my father’s living blood. Otherwise would die.

This is from most recent job. I have only worked for three big companies. It took me long time, many paid and unpaid assignments and many heartbreaks to reach here. Of course have no valuations.

It all started when young – with my father. I met good people along the way, friends who have been so good and kind, I remember people. Beautiful people. Kind people. Of course also met people who made a difficult journey even more difficult. That’s hardest learning. That’s what market teaches you. All kinds thrive. There are no good or bad in a market. Markets are like a rough edged Martin Scorsese movie. It doesn’t judge. Markets are not efficient either. We are all different and have our own journeys.

I feel a honest bread is better than a dishonest lie.

I like my start up journey. It’s been very difficult. It’s been honest.

I trusted books and library in life. I trust in god and learning now,

Sincerely, Suresh

PS : I admire Naval Ravikant. I worked best with entrepreneurs. I met all kinds – visionary, missionary and mercenaries. I would have never had this experience if had only worked for companies.

This is a non – MBA journey. This is what it looks like.

I dedicate this blogpost to all the beautiful people met in journey and who may remember and if they come to this blog space.

I remember all the memories that make a life – failure, success which are both a bitch. I think life is all about learning, love and sadness. Positive yeah! That’s an attitude.

Goodbye dost – Notes 08/06/2021

“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”
― Gautama Buddha

I was worried for some time. The nature of this pandemic is such ten days decides your fate. I woke up to hear sad news. I am grateful we could speak a little but on hindsight feel could have spoken much more. I have been worried. My intuition is all that can rely on this three day world. Am sorry.

We share a history. We met in university and you were my friend Upendra’s college friend. You were a research student in Geography and connected with everyone with your joy and laughter. You were hardworking. When we went into business – not a good idea for me but we were only twenty five or twenty four. We shared some good moments together. It didn’t work for me and went to do other things. You carried on with business – showed me your impressive  OS2i set up. I was very happy for you. Guess the promise didn’t pan out well in end. You did other business. You made lot of friends. You were always making friends.

We met for lunch three or four times in last twenty years. Guess the maximum may have met somebody for lunch. We met last in Atria mall in Mumbai. You took me to a nice place and we had a good afternoon lunch meeting to shoptalk about life and work. I liked meeting you for lunch – twice guess we met in a restaurant – George in Pune. The meeting was always good – jokes and laughter. Not much about work. You admired my dedication to brother. Nobody saw that except my friends. You never failed to remind  of my potential and generously predicted big things. Thank you dost.

You did lot of things. You were hardworking. You spread Joy. You took me even to dance party once something which had never been to before to meet girls and a lounge meeting with your business partner. You were a exciting person. Very exciting. You loved dancing. I saw your videos on social media.

You lived with Joy.

Good bye dost! I will miss your smile and joy. I will miss meeting you for lunch.

Rest in peace Shridhar!

Sincerely, Suresh

PS ; Shridhar Pattar was friend and business partner in Lateral Infotech. We went for many VC/Business meetings/ to build a job portal and regardless had lot of fun. We remained friends. Goodbye friend!

Notes and Pics- 7/06/2021

Being honest to core – If I have to sum it up, dedication,hard work,passion all of it is there but you have to be honest to the core. If you are not honest then, you know lot of times  you may complicate things.  I always thought being honest was one of the key factors that  really helped me where am right now.

― MS Dhoni ( MS Dhoni How he Controls his emotions on cricket field| The Quint)

I have been honest. I was petrified if anybody came to know about failures in teenage years or early twenties. Mean spirited people or people with motives anyways spread the word. It’s better to be honest. I admire MS Dhoni for his accomplishments, courage and humility. I personally think calmness has lot to do with fitness and agility. He has always been super fit. Now that am studying ‘ Intellect over mind”. His intellect – to discriminate, reason and not to be swayed by emotional roller coaster of mind is superlative. In intense pressure he has taken or at least  striven to take right decisions. More often than not it’s paid off.  It’s no mean achievement. MS Dhoni has the best attributes of leadership in any sphere. In my books he is one of the very best. 

I had a realization some time back that do not really belong  to a school, college, university or organization. I only belong to people. I remember people. I think many of our identities are fused with where we belong or where we want to go. I never felt that way. Most of my generation either went to America or joined government. My preference was latter. I feel identities are fluid. Vinod Khosla says ” nobody remembers our failures, people only remember our success.” I hope one day will not be reminded of failures which myself have shared in this blog and else where on social media. I need a ” Sun” too. 

Being determined means not a single thought should be there in our mind, which has weakness or a lack of power; only positive thoughts and thoughts of victory, which you tell yourself, is certain. 

― Bramhakumaris ( Steps of determination)

Am from MS Dhoni school of thinking and believe in process and keeping things simple. Some pictures 

06/06/2021 – Pic 1

” Take care of short term goals. Do small things right. Accomplish these goals. Keep tweaking targets.” ( MS Dhoni)

06/06/2021 – Pic 2

” Most important being honest to yourself. It helps you to know what your shortcomings are and you can always look to improve.” ( MS Dhoni)

” My emotions should be under my control. If am able to do that my thinking will be more constructive. Also it will help me think about process than result because result can put undue pressure on individual or team.” ( MS Dhoni)

The pics are mine and quotes of Dhoni from The Quint story.

John Maynard Keynes coined the term ” animal spirits.” I feel they are separate terms – animal and spirits. That’s been experience so far. I learnt a new term ” Malevolent fuck” from Kara Swisher ( And he’s not a malevolent fuck, like so many of them.”) in the The NewYorker – The Pied Piper of SPACs

I have been wanting to do some posts but couldn’t get down to doing them. A report which takes two day to read, now takes three days. Reality. It’s not easy reading all the time on computer anymore. Stress and strain on eyes is much more than earlier times. The only respite being beauty. You know beauty just wipes away all your problems for a moment like the windscreen wipers in your car on a rainy day. Beauty is short term answer to problems. It’s a relief.

Beauty is short term salvation. Intellect is key for success and peace. Zen is peace. But love is the answer.

I’ve seen the nations rise and fall
I’ve heard their stories, heard them all
But love’s the only engine of survival

― Leonard Cohen ( The Future)

Or may be ” The love I saw in You was just a mirage” Smokey Robinson sung that beautiful song…

It’s difficult. Love is the answer.

This for today.

Sincerely, Suresh

PS: The quotes are from MS Dhoni (How he Controls his emotions on cricket field| The Quint). I just want to relax and share thoughts on this blog.  I hope the govt or any one dosen’t regulate free exchange of ideas.