Why I will not cancel class

A very lengthy but thought provoking article. Would need about 10 to 15 minutes to read it thoroughly and understand the points made. But some really very very valid points made and I no wonder it is going viral.

http://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/just-in/2013-11-21/cal-lecturers-email-students-goes-viral-why-i-am-not

How much time do you have?

Many a time we lose sight of the big picture in the daily humdrum of things that happen in our life. This video makes you want to stop and reflect on the big things you want to be achieving.


http://elitedaily.com/life/motivation/this-video-uses-jelly-beans-show-you-how-much-youre-wasting-your-life-video/

Through Sickness and Health

A very interesting observation about the lack of medical cover by most Indians.

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=23917

A new take on the coffee or the cup - Article for the day 23 Sept

There is an Aesop fable like story of the professor offering alumni coffee in different mugs and people fighting over the mug when they should actually be worried about how the coffee tastes. It is the coffee that counts is what the "moral of the story" is. However, I came across a post that made some very good arguments on how the coffee cup also matters.

http://happysmarts.com/the-coffee-or-the-cup-which-is-more-important/

In essence this is what every marketer talks about. Packaging is necessary. However, if the final product sucks, no amount of marketing can save you. :D

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post

Whole foods for the mind? - Article of the day 18 Sept

So I came across this article on Whole Foods today. I loved the authors take on things including the headline

Whole Foods is like Vegas. You go there to feel good but you leave broke, disoriented, and with the newfound knowledge that you have a vaginal disease.



For those of you who have been lucky enough to not visit a Whole Foods outlet, it is Upscale Grocery store that sells organic and whole foods (Minimal processing and refining). Thus they charge more for their products. You can enjoy the article over at

www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-maclean/surviving-whole-foods_b_3895583.html

P.S. Well in Freakonomics or Super Freakonomics the cost of a average basket of goods from Whole Foods is more likely to be similar to any other grocery store. However, given the amount of Organic varieties and their target clientele there is an aura of it being a more expensive 

Wanderlust - Article for the day 17th Sept

If you woke up one morning, had all the money in the world and no responsibilities what would you do?

Most of the people respond saying that they would like to travel. Travel expands our horizons. New ideas, new places and new cultures force us to review our existing model of how the world works. It is a break from the monotony of our lives. We all seem to know it deep down.

But how many of us have the courage to actually follow our dreams? We keep postponing it to when we have more money, more time, etc etc. There never is the right time and there never will be enough money.

To drive home the point, I came across different people who have traveled in their own style. There is

this post of Quora about traveling across Bhutan for 1 week and Rs 3000. (or $50). There is also these guys who took 6 months off and did 13 countries in 3 continents for $20,000.

Whichever way you choose to travel, make the time and effort to travel. It is always worth it in the end.

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post

What are your priorities in life? - Article for the day 3 September

So I came across two brilliant articles on Bill Watterson, the genius behind Calvin and Hobbes today. The first one here is a short summary of Bill Watterson's life story and ideals. It is a quick five minute strip that will make you question your decisions. A longer post at brain pickings really makes you think. Deal with 5 years of rejection? Refuse to sell rights to a merchandising firm? That takes guts and a steely resolve to know what you are doing. Do you know what you are doing?

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post

Bonus - If you don't know where to start read this post from HBR

Wake Up India? - Article for the day 29 August

So right now the news is filled with Rahul Gandhi, Modi, the stock market, rupee falling, gold skyrocketing and the current account deficit. So this statement rung very very true

We moved on unconcerned to do what we love doing: crib about the sorry state of the country and play blame games, damning every political outfit in power, only to re-elect them as able political alternatives at another point of time.

http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/wake-up-india-neither-modi-nor-rahul-will-solve-your-problems-1042625.html

What is the solution? Well for one, get out of your armchair and vote the next time there is a election. There is a holiday for a reason. For everyone of you that says what will my vote make a difference; there is a politician saying that I don't care what the educated elite think since they don't vote anyway.

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post

 

Investing for the "Long Term" - Article for the day 22nd August

Given the general pessimistic mood in the country right now and how everyone seems to be talking about the rupee dollar rate as well as the plummeting stock market, this article just made a lot of sense.

To quote 

"You'll be better off invested in equity rather than in fixed income of some kind. At a basic level, one can expect that over time businesses will generate more return than their cost of borrowing, otherwise it doesn't make sense to be in business. Individual businesses will do worse, but as a whole, Indian businesses will deliver a return higher than fixed income returns over time." 

http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/h2_storyView.asp?str=23198

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post

 

Your lifestyle has been designed - Article for the day 12th August

When most of us are told that someone else is in control of our lives our immediate reaction is denial. We have our freedom and cherish it the most. However, this article points out that this might not be true and we might be living a Matrix like world where choice is an illusion. The comments at the end of the article are also interesting if you have the time.

http://www.raptitude.com/2010/07/your-lifestyle-has-already-been-designed/

Similar to the comments being as insightful as the post, please do comment here to let me know what you think. 

P.S. The logic behind these posts can be found in this post