Remembering Nikesh

Goechala trek - 2013

I have known Nikesh from 2009. He had joined Kosmix after finishing his PhD. I had joined about 4 months ago. He took the cubicle next to me. I do not remember who was sitting there before him. We used to work on sister teams, reported to the same manager. 

If I had to name one quality of Nikesh that defined him, it would be affable. Put Nikesh in a room of strangers and after few mins, he would have friends. He would be chatting and laughing. He had an infectious laugh - loud, bold - the kind where once you hear, you would know that it is coming from a place of genuine happiness. 

His extroverted personality with my introvert one bonded over our mutual passion - events. Work was work - engaging, challenging, lot of fun. But work friends only go so far. There has to be something outside work element for folks to be called friends.  At Kosmix, we had a knitting club where one of the work-colleagues use to teach knitting, and every week we would go there to learn to knit, over delicious Dana Street roasting company coffee, and chat about life in general. It was a small group. I joined and Nikesh followed soon. But beyond knitting, Nikesh and I would go to Indian events in Bay area. We will scan Sulekha and the likes and share events with each other. 

Two events I distinctly remember - One of them is this play called Blue Mug, featuring Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranveer Shorey et al (one, two) . It is based on the Oliver Sacks' book - The Man who mistook his wife to a hat. It is one of the best events in bay area that we attended. It was well acted, performed, a subject matter which spoke about memory. Living in US, it stuck some chord with us that it is difficult but after 16 years, I still remember this play and if it is ever performed again, I will attend it. The second one a band, I have forgotten the name of the band, but they performed at a small auditorium in Bay area, but they performed songs of Bulle Shah, Kabir, and other Sufi saints. We would find translations on phone while they sang and share screen. Some images do not go away.

If I look at my 2011, 2010 posts on this blog, Nikesh features so many times. He took me to Stanford to watch Serena Williams play live - I think the only live tennis match that I have seen. We did many small hikes in bay area - Black Mountain, Mission Peak, Stanford dish etc. We also did a 24 hr hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt and we hacked to make Evister - an event discovery platform that would later become  EventsHigh

He invited me to his daughter's birthday. I knew his wife Sujata, his other friends. We used to go to long walks after office, discuss what the company is doing well, not doing well, politics and everything under the sun.  We also would often discuss going back to India - a topic that is common amongst all desis in US.  But, often everyone would talk, few move back. Nikesh and I would sometimes talk about our hypocrisy but we knew that we have to be the exceptional cases.  

In 2012, both Nikesh and I moved back to India.  Just like Kosmix, I came few months before him. The WalmartLabs India era was very interesting for both of us. Looking back, I now know that both of us were trying to re-adapt back to India, in our own ways. Nikesh also had a family, so it was more challenging for him. Office pressure was low comparitively to what it was in US. Office became a gaming era in the afternoon - conference rooms had Catan board games, and others. What became the darling game for everyone was what Nikesh started - Bughouse - a four player chess game in which you play as partners over two boards. The game was viral. Everyone would play this game. When 4 people would play, everyone else would watch and give commentary. It was lively, noisy and a lot of fun!

Nikesh and I also signed up to go to the Goechala trek (the above photo is from the trek). We were part of the running club - RunnersHigh. Did half marathon training together. Went to Auroville to run the half marathon there. 

We were unhappy at work, not getting the right purpose/meaning. The idea to start a company came in one of those conversations. Our love of events, the broken ecosystem, was something that we would talk about a lot. That led to EventsHigh.

Both of left WalmartLabs and started working on EventsHigh a month later. I remember that we spent one evening 4 hrs to choose the name. I would say something that he would veto and vice versa. Ultimately. since both of us were part of Runners High and we loved it, we called it EventsHigh. 

EventsHigh was there from June 2014 to May 2018.  They say that you should do a startup with someone you know deeply. Otherwise, companies do not survive. How true they are. EventsHigh journey is perhaps one of the best years of my life. It may also be one of the most difficult years - but isn't it good that the best and difficult co-exist :) . In the movie Arrival (spoiler ahead), Amay Adams knows that he kid would die yet she has it. The reason is that there is so much joy in the life that is lived. To me EventsHigh is that. - there is so much joy in the experience that the challenges make up for it. The challenges are also simpler because there was Nikesh, and a whole lot of really good people - Parag, Simran, Sonal, his wife Sujata,  to name a few. 

Nikesh took the role of CEO and focussed on investor relations, product and sales. I took the role of CTO and focussed on tech, support and growth (content/SEO). We complemented . Yet, we fought. We had sometimes significant different opinions of what the company should be, what the product should do. Both of us were learning and growing.  Both of us were equally head strong :) 

Everyone who joined EventsHigh came because of their passion of events. Our socials were also events - we would go for Onam lunch events, concerts together. 31st Dec, New years eve was the biggest day/night of the year, we would be in office till 9 or 10 pm and then go home.We would take angry customer calls next day, understand which events had fights, which were poorly organized etc. We would chase sales targets in dec, see site traffic grow. A small team of folks having so so much fun. We would celebrate hard work by travel - once we went to Yercaud, a road trip. 

EventsHigh offices moved. We started at my ND Sunspurge apartment in HSR. Then, we took the apartment next to Nikesh's home in Akme. Here, at one time, his mother would comment by looking at us two that how much we fight. I won a coffee machine in some random contest and we installed it here. We then moved to Domlur, a small 2 room place. We got our own logo, sign-board. Then, we too a bigger space in HSR.  We would get threats from people that the events impact their sensibilities. Nikesh engaged with legal on this. 

One of the days in EventsHigh, we were having a serious argument, massive disagreement. We were locked in a conf room but it had glass door. Folks could see us. Voices were raised. By the time it was 430 pm. we were exhausted, likely by repeating the same thing. This was in HSR. We then said, lets go and have chaat. We went to Shubh, had gol gappe and packed chaats for everyone else in the office. A gesture to just calm both of us, take a break. Chaat was another shared joy between the two of us. There used to be this Pani puri wala outside Akme and we would often go to him in evenings. A lot of our food explorations were around chaats. On this day, after chaat, we went to home, calmed down, slept over each other ideas, and then figured out a way to work with each other. 

Nikesh and I attended various demo-days etc and presented EventsHigh. He was a better speaker than me - much more confident. Nikesh met many many investors before he got Axilor as an investor. He managed the investor relations well. We were learning the business side of our venture slowly. Eventually, after four years of EventsHigh, we were acquired by Treebo. 

The Treebo era was short. We were in non-EventsHigh roles. I went to platform and he went to data sciences. Treebo ran into its own set of challenges. After 8 months there, both of us left Treebo, on the same day. 

Post Treebo, our paths differed. I went and joined Rubrik and he joined Flipkart. Interestingly, he had offer from Rubrik but he did not accept. I had offer from FK and I said No. It is also interesting that Nikesh went back to the IC route post EH and then I went to the managerial path - both of us were playing different roles here than what were playing at EH. 

Nikesh was in HSR for few months and then shifted to Whitefield. Covid came in between and our distances started to grow more. He was busy at FK and I was busy at Rubrik. Different companies, localities widened our distance. One of the other reason for a little bit distance post EH time was that the end result was a disagree-and-commit from both of us. That came after about 6 months of massive disagreements. Some space was needed but I think Covid made it wider. 

I remember meeting at his place for dinner once. He was just promoted at Flipkart and I was asking how he was feeling. He told me that post EH, he felt that he had to prove once again the talent he had. With his rapid growth at FK, he said that he doesn't need to do that anymore. There is an acknowledgement of his talent now. When I heard him, I was stunned - this has been exactly the same feeling within me. Somehow, the EH experience, even though it had so much learning and rewarding, it was not well understood. Both of us had to start once again and both of us proved in our respective organizations. 

In his last year at Flipkart, before he resigned, I met him couple of times for coffee. I saw some changes. He was questioning his busy-ness, he told that he felt less meaning at work. He wanted to go deeper into spirituality. I attributed this to some mid-life existential thing. But I agreed that both of us work way more than what is required. We were creatures of habit.  

Nikesh passed away on Feb 19, 2026. 

When we used to meet investors for EH, or many strangers, would ask us - are you brothers? We would laugh and say no. But I can see that why folks would think like that. We were alike in so many ways. 

The last I met Nikesh was at Kabir workhop at Udaipur. Kabir, his teaching, was one of the other things that united us. He called me a day before the event, told me that he had an extra reservation, someone had cancelled. Told me to join him the next day. We looked at flight tickets and a plan was possible. He convinced me. I met him there and we had an amazing event. It is so fitting that our last meeting will happen at event. 

It is difficult to explain the void that gets created when such a thing happens. If I just stop and think the void is visible. I can sense an emptiness in me.  I know over time, life would take over and we all will move on. But I do not think that this emptiness will ever go away. I miss you Nikesh, so much. You were a good friend to me. I am lucky to have met you, known you, founded a company with you and attended so many good events and travels together. May you keep smiling and bring joy to wherever you are ! 

 

Japan 2025 - Perfect 9 day trip

 

Japan

A bucket list country for a long long time. Stars were not aligning for us to visit. The plan was to visit in April this year during Cherry blossom season but it didn't happen. So, in April we decided to book the trip anyways, in June, on our 40th birthdays. 

Interesting tidbits about Japan/what I liked - 

• Japan's tourism industry is mostly domestic. Japanese folks love to travel and only 10% or so of Japanese have passports. So, majority travel domestically. What does it mean? It means that many destinations/restaurants are not geared to cater for outsiders. Many restaurants have menus in Japanese only, museums have exhibits mostly in Japanese. Fortunately, google-translate helps a lot. Touristy cities like Kyoto-Tokyo is where people know English but in 2nd/3rd tier towns, it is rather difficult. 
• Gardens - I had never appreciated the Japanese gardens before this trip. There was one Japanese garden in SF, I visited there once but did not realize what was special about it. Now, I am wiser. Japanese gardens are an art in itself - there is a man-made waterfall, a lake, bridges, flower gardens, tea-houses inside gardens. Gardens are designed that if you are standing at one place, you can only see a part of the garden, there would be trees or paths obstructing the other parts so that each area stands out. Gardens are also inspired by local places/hills/routes and their design is just fascinating. We based our trip to see one of the three perfect gardens - Kenroku-en. 
• Cleanliness - without trash cans. There are no public trash cans in Japan. Yet, the city is beautifully clean. It is just a way of life for folks - do not litter. Outside = inside. It is an unwritten rule that folks do not eat in public places, including gardens. You buy from the shop and then you go home or office and eat there. No walking and eating, not even coffee. No eating in trains unless the trains have trays. 
• Public transport - Kyoto to Tokyo is ~450kms and the train covers this in 2.5 hrs, a train runs every 5 min in the peak hrs. Locally everywhere in Tokyo or even in interior towns, there is public transport. The coverage and punctuality is awesome. We took public transport everywhere and if we missed one train, there was another  5 mins away. I had not seen this good public transport even in Europe. 
• Walking/footpaths - We were walking everywhere in Japan. Their footpaths or walking trails were just amazing. From stations, we would drag our suitcase for 1 km and it was easy - footpaths had ramp built in everywhere. 
• Shogun - I saw the TV series Shogun before my visit. to culturally immerse myself and it was a good thing. It helped me relate to many things that I would later hear in tours, like seppuku. 
• Plastic food - This is so obvious and it is a wonder why it is not everywhere. In India, every darshini will have a photo of Idli or dosa outside to give a feel of how the dish would look like. In Japan, it is the same, except that instead of a photo, it is real-looking replica of the food made out of plastic. The dish looks exactly like the plastic replica. It is amazing! Since it is made out of plastic, it is forever. It provides a visual representation of the dish. I had not seen this in US or anywhere. But, now that I think about it, it so makes sense. There is a whole market which sells this plastic food items. 
• Public baths - When one army is traveling from one place to another, usually to attack, the soldiers travel in a group and they would like to take bath together. This is the concept of public baths - a giant hot-tub where folks can take bath together - saves water, social activity and is scalable. Separate ones for men vs women. Why is this not common everywhere. 
• Automate everything - If there is a usecase, then there should be a machine to handle it. At the end of the trip, we wanted to return our local subway cards (known as IC cards). We get money back on returning the IC card. We checked and were redirected to a kiosk where this can be returned. It is just amazing how much of this country is ahead of everyone else. 

What we didn't like - 

• Food, specifically vegetarian food - Japan is not for vegetarians. We tried vegan restaurants, we tried vegetarian Izakaya restaurants, we tried ordering vegetarian dishes at normal restaurants - we never got the taste. Not a big fan of matcha flavor, did not like moshi desserts, and sobu noodles were too bland for us. Vegetable tempura and sobu noodles with soya sauce filled stomach but we did not relish the food. It was not a foodie trip. 
• The train/subway IC cards are confusing - Cards bought in one city does not work in the other. There are different rail systems, each having their own cards, and some are inter-operable and some are not. We lost some money in this confusion. 
• Tourist spots have many tourists :) - Yeah, an Indian complaining about population is ironic. We were mindful to avoid many tourist spots/activities. But, when there were people, even in this non-touristy season, there were many. Kind of hard to avoid. 

Diwali ritual - 2024

 How do you celebrate Diwali ?

In my 2008 Diwali post (https://arvindbatra.blogspot.com/2008/10/diwali-post.html), I had asked this question - how does one celebrate Diwali ? For someone who does not like bursting crackers (pollution, money, ROI, you name it, there are many reasons to not do it), not too much in Pooja either, how does one celebrate the festival? 

(Side note - It is amazing that I had asked this question back in 2008 :), sometimes I look back at this blog and it is just amazing to reconnect with a past of myself)

Anyways, responding to this in 2024, I can proudly say that this question has been answered. Kanishka and I have created our own Diwali ritual and have followed this tradition over the last 10 years. 

Our ritual is that we will prepare one sweet from scratch on the day of Diwali. It has to be a sweet that we have never prepared before, we like it and hopefully prepare-able within a day. We have done with almost consistently. 

Diwali 2014 - Malpua

Diwali 2015 - Imarthi

Diwali 2016 - Kala Jamun

Diwali 2017 - Badam Katli

2018 - No sweet. Spent Diwali in New Zealand :) 

Diwali 2019 - Chennapoda

Diwali 2020 - Sandesh

Diwali 2021 - No sweet. Spent Diwali in Goa :)

Diwali 2022 - Mawa Jalebi

Diwali 2023 - No sweet. Were lazy this year :) 

Diwali 2024 - Madeleine

2024 dessert of the year was Madeleines - a French tea cake. We had Madeleines made by deepali Sawant and also in US. It was yum. We gave it a try. There are hundreds (or may be thousands) recipes for this. But, the one that really worked for us was by PastryLiving - https://pastryliving.com/vanilla-madeleines/ . Her Youtube video was very helpful and in the comments, we learnt a lot of what can go wrong. 

(Bonus Tip - In youtube videos, the way to judge a good recipe is to read the comments and learn from folks who have tried it. There are always some quirks, and dos and donts that are not covered, which are discussed in the comments. Comments determine the video/recipe value. In this case, the fact that the batter and the tray had to be refrigerated for the madeleines to get the right shape. was a very good tip)

Like every year, we do not make one recipe but we make variations and do our experimentation. This year, we tried Vanilla madeleines, Chocolate covered madeleines and chocolate madeleines. We tried two or three different variations but the pastryliving was incredibly useful. 

Madeleines were a definite hit this year and almost everyone liked it. It is not so common, so I am guessing that folks didn't had a good reference point either to compare :) . Anyways, they are always nice to us. so gave glowing reviews. 

Overall, we made close to 200 madeleines and it took us almost the entire day :) 

2024 - 

2022 - 

2021 - 

2019 - 

2017 - 

2016 - 

2015 - 

2014 - 

I love the fact that we have innovated our own Diwali Ritual. This way of celebration resonates much more closely - both of us have a sweet tooth. Also, making something on your own has a lot of fun. It is a great way to spend the Diwali day and it makes the day memorable too. What else is Diwali if not to create memories and spend it with the loved ones. 

My Vipassana experience - 2024

 My Vipassana experience - 2024

Vipassana is a 10 day meditation course where you are not supposed to talk to each other, no phones or books allowed. The idea is for you to focus on yourself and learn this meditation technique. I had no idea beyond this before I registered. A good number of my friends had done it and recommended it. Being a curious person, I wanted to explore this. 

Vipassana meditation is organized by Dhamma.org group with courses running at various centres. Some research online showed that there is something called Executive course where you get a private room instead of sharing beds in a dorm. Only a selected few centres offer this executive course, one of them was the Kathmandu one, so I signed up for it. 

Before Day Zero

My course was from Aug 15 to 24. I flew to Kathmandu 4 days before, over the weekend to do some sight seeing and work from Kathmandu for a couple of days. There is no direct flight from BLR and it takes a whole day to travel. I later realized that Kathmandu has legalized casinos and there are a few. So, before my Vipassana meditation, I spent days in either working (two days) or sightseeing Kathmandu (one day) and nights at casino (limited loss, Day 2 night, I recovered most of my money). So, I reached the centre in a very sleep deprived state. 

Day Zero 

Having slept only 4 hrs in the night, I got ready and called the cab guy. (The cab company owner was also taking this retreat, same batch as mine. So, he understood my requirements to come and pick me up and why I will not be calling him to remind of pickup) . I spent the morning in some more sight seeing and reached the centre by noon. After the formalities, I had to surrender my phone, laptop, books and everything that could distract me. I was taken to my room, given some snacks at around 4 pm and then I slept. There was an introduction session at 7 pm and then it started. 

On day zero, you also take five committments that for the period of this course, you will not kill, no lies, no sexual activity, no speaking (or communicating) etc. No kill was interesting because it applies to animals too and the centre was at the verge of a forest with lot of insects/spiders roaming in your room. This Guardian article nicely explains some of my feelings there but it is good that I am not archanophbic 

Day 1 to Day 3

The first part of meditation course was to focus on your breath. Train your mind to concentrate on your breath. It is not easy as it sounds since the mind wanders off. Within seconds. Less than 5 seconds. On day 1, that is what happened to me. I had never done any kind of meditation before beyond the Zendo retreats. So, I was aware of this phenomenon. The goal of first three days is to increase the time so that atleast you can concentrate on your breath for a full minute without the mind wandering away. 

On day 1 with no phones, no distractions, I definitely found peace. But more than that, my body complained of exhaustion. It needed sleep, it needed rest. So, a lot of my meditation hrs were spent in sleeping. 

At 1pm, you can have a 1:1 setting with your teacher and ask questions or your doubts. On day 1, I told him that I feel very sleepy and he said that you may be fatigued. Give it some time. 

The course schedule was also daunting. It had 10 hrs of meditation per day and a ~2 hr long discourse from SN Goenka (founder of the dhamma group). This discourse shared the theory behind the practice and also clarified some common questions that many folks had in their minds. The day started with a 4am gong to wake up. First meditation is from 430 am to 630 am (2 hrs). Then breakfast is served at 6:30 with a break till 8 am. There is a group sitting from 8am to 9am, followed by a 5 min break and then a medidation session from 9am to 11am. Group sittings happen in a common hall. Lunch is served at 11 and then there is a break till 1pm. From 1pm to 5 pm, there is back to back meditation sessions - 1 to 2:30 pm, followed by 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm group sitting and then another one from 330 to 5pm. There is a break from 5 to 6pm for tea and fruits. 6pm to 7pm is the third group sitting of the day and then there is the discourse to close the day. A total of 10 hrs of meditation and 2 hrs of discourse. 12 hrs of sitting without a backrest

On day 3, I went to my teacher sharing that my back is killing me and can I get backrest support. He politely declined and shared that by the time you get to day 6 or 7, it will go away. On day 3, day 6 was an eternity away. 

Day 4 to day 6

On day 4, we were introduced to the technique of Vipassana. It is a new form of meditation, I had never heard about it before (thanks to my no research policy). The evening discourse covered the theory and common FAQs around this new technique. On day 5 and day 6, we were asked to focus on this technique and practice it. The evening discourses covered various aspects around this technique and how it is different from other practices.

The core aspect of Vipassana is that you can work on yourself, both body and mind, to train them so that you are equanimous. When our Indriyan (ear, nose, skin, mind and tongue) consume some signal (food, smell, touch etc), they send this signal to the brain and then interprets this signal. As part of this interpretation, it generates sensation on the body. For example, if you read something and you become angry, some part of you body will become hot, that is there will be heat sensation on your body. The brain has both conscious and subconscious aspects, these sensations on your body as part of the reaction to signal happen instinctively, done by the subconscious mind. Interestingly, the reaction from your mind broadly can be classified into two parts - either it is a craving of something (in hindi - raag) or an aversion to something (dwesh). Both these cravings or aversions then lead to misery or suffering. 

What Gautam Buddha discovered, as part of his search of enlightenment is that you can train your mind to do two things - First, to identify the sensations being generated on your body - some sensations would be gross (like a pain or an itch) and some would be subtle (like skin reacting to air or cloth). You need to meditate here, that is focus on each body part at a time to identify what kind of sensation you are feeling. Second is that once you have identified the sensation, you train your mind to ignore it, that is be equanimous towards it - be it a good sensation or a bad one. The underlying principle here is the principle of impermanence - everything dies. These sensations are also temporary and they will go away in sometime. By training your mind to be equanimous, while you acknowledge the sensation, you are not reacting to it.  

It is the reaction to these sensations that causes cravings or aversions. When you feel angry, lets say you are stuck in traffic or you read something and feel angry, the angry reaction (which is a form of aversion) is not coming because you are stuck in traffic or you read something. What you read is a signal, that the brain intercepts and instinctively generate these sensations. You react to these sensations and this reaction created anger in you. So, your emotions or suffering is largely coming because your mind is reacting to these subtle or gross sensations. Gautam Buddha figured out that if you train your mind to ignore these reactions, you can be equanimous. 

The impermanence principle is key - just like a candle flame, even though it is a continuous flame, underneath, there is the wax that is used to create this flame. Every second, some wax is getting burnt that leads to the flame. Same applies to a light bulb which is consuming some electricity everytime to create that illusion of continuous light. Similarly, in body, even a sensation if pain is basically, some atoms or wavelengths generating a sensation of pain, then dying only to be replaced by a new wavelength carrying the same sensation of pain. So, every sensation dies in the end. If you train your mind that this sensation will die soon, and train it to not react to it, that is be equanimous towards it, you will find peace. That is how you end your suffering. 

The teaching come from Gautam Buddha who discovered this 2500 years ago and it has been passed won via Guru-shishya tradition. It got lost in India some 2000 years ago but some small group in Burma kept this going. SN Goenka was in Burma and he stumbled on it, found its value and got it back to India. 

I was able to feel the gross sensations and sometimes the subtle ones too. I was able to ignore them and I did observe that they went away. My back pain also got resolved in this period. Day 4 to day 6 was the period to try this new thing and see what it is.

One of things that they ask you from day 5 onwards is 'athishtaan', that is when you sit for group sitting, you make the strong determination that whatever happens, you will not move your legs, arms or open your eyes. For the three group sitting that happen in a day, one is supposed to meditate without moving any part. I found it incredibly difficult and max that I lasted was about 48 mins. 

Day 7 to day 9. 

I was doing quite well till day 6. But from day 7, I started feeling homesick. The technique was also becoming difficult and while my backpain resolved, my pain in legs was still there. It was not the feeling of talking or the need of phones that was there but just the idea to leave this place and go back to the comfort of home and family. Day 7 to day 9 were very difficult. 

On Day 7, we were introduced to this concept of Shunya-ghar - Zero-house. It is a small 3 ft by 6 ft room, where you can sit and meditate. The idea is that for your non-group sittings, you go to this place and then meditate there - by yourself in silence. I liked this since here I could stretch my legs atleast and I had back-rest too :) 

However, this longing for home, which is a craving and hence the exact thing that we were asked to not generate, was strong. From a technique point of view, we were taught of some optimizations to the core technique. While I had made some progress on the core technique, I was still far away from where they expected me to be and these optimizations were next level. 

I also met with my teacher everyday during this period to ask if I am doing things correctly or not. His responses were helpful but many answers lie within myself. It was becoming clear that I needed a lot of work on myself to see the gains here. My homesickness was not helping but it has been 10 days away from home and I wanted to go back.

Somehow, I survived day 7 to day 9. The weather here was extremely rainy. On day 7, it rained for 36 hrs straight. My room was next to a waterfall/stream running down a hill and it had the nice sound of water flowing. The view from my room was this giant mountain covered with dark green dense trees. When rains came, it became very beautiful. I spent a lot of time just watching this scenery. It gave me a lot of peace. 

From day 2 onwards, I also dropped the 5 pm fruit thing and instead used the 5-6pm hr for working out. Being on a hill, the space had about 6 storeys  worth of stairs and walking path. I used to go up and down for about 40 mins each day and that also helped me. It also made my intermittent fasting for 19 hrs - having sone Kannur, this was easy. 

Day 10 and Day 11

Day 10 is when you break the noble silence and can interact with your peers. You are expected to meditate only for three hrs. It is a day to get you accustomed to real life before you leave the centre. Otherwise, it would be a big shock of transition. While you can talk, phone or laptops are still not given.

While talking to peers, we realized that there was only one more person from India there. Everyone else was from Nepal. There was also a book exhibition, a documentary on Vipassana courses in Tihar and some other things to keep us busy. It was also raining the whole time. 

By day 10, all I could think was to get back. I was counting hrs. At the start, I had made the determination that I will not quit this course no matter what happens. I was happy on day 10 to have survived it and now only it was a matter of time that I would be back.

On day 11, there is discourse at 430 am for a couple of hrs before it ends. In this, they share to practice what you have learnt everyday - an hr in the morning and an hr in the evening. It is a very tall ask and if I can do 30 mins each day, I would be very happy.

With all the challenges of the program, I found the experience to be very rewarding and grateful that I have done it. I definitely feel that I am not ready to incorporate this in my daily life but when I get ready, I know that it will be this technique and this way. It is the only way that I have learnt that does not mix with any religion or any other influences.  It asks you to work on yourself, just shows the way on how to do so. I liked this aspect. 

On day 11, after the morning discourse, I collected my phone, laptop etc and rushed to the airport for my way back. 

Life In 24 Mar to 31 Aug'24

 

No time to waste, so lets get down to the deets. In no particular order. 

Thindi Walk in Rajajinagar with Aarti. 

Thindi Walk

1. We started at a Chiblu idli van that is yet to be found on Google maps. Mandya Halaguru Chiblu Idli, Rajajinagara. -pillowy, fresh chiblu idlis, love rice bath items (pudina, puliyogare and chitranna), masal vadE. All good!
2. THE Ajji hotel with the sakkath khara kanninda neeru baruthe chutney, fantastic chitranna, idli and bondas.
3. Sri Guru raghavendra dosa and veg corner. Shavige bath, Kesari Bhat and vade
4. Siri coffee Mane for some fresh coffee
5. Manjunatha fast foods - Puri with Sunday special tarkari sagu (brilliant!), garlic chutney smeared masal dosE, soft thatte idlis with a dash of ghee
6. Davangere benne dosE angadi, open dosE, benne Khali, benne masalE
7. Lastly, we went to O.G. Varier bakery - a very famous one 

Restaurants explored - 

• Kampot Bellandur - Went with office colleagues for Kajal's farewell. Good Asian food. Not much crowded and no music.
• Biergarten Bellandur - Went with Rick and team. Good beer and near to office. It is a huge place inside. 
• Street 1522, Sarjarpur road with Masi - Good variety of food. Nice combination of food court and restaurant. 
• Multiple visits to Deck of brews from office
• Hotel Annapurna Tiffin Center - Nearby office. Took a cab once and had breakfast before going to office. 
• The Filter Coffee - Tried both Indiranagar (with Manas) and the Brookfiled one (with Rick)

Movies / TV Series

• Kill  - John Wick equivalent from India. Loved it. 3.5/5
• Amar Singh Chamkila - Biopic done well. I liked it a lot. 3.5/5 
• Barbie - 3/5
• Watched Oppenheimer again. I think it is just brilliant. 4.5/5
• Broadchurch - Season 1 & 2. 4/5 . Both David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are awesome! 
• The Bear season 3 - 3.5/5 Still has a lot of heart but story does not move that much forward. 
• Masala series - Tracker (2.5/5), Poker Face (3/5) 
• Masala movies - The Union, Twisters (2024), Twister(1996), Anyone but you. 
• Rewatched Ted Lasso during my Dengue time. 

Travels

1. Trip to Mussourie
2. Surya Top Trek with IndiaHikes
3. US trip - LA, Vegas and Grand Canyon. Details to come
4. Kathmandu + Vipassana  - Details to come. 

Books

Started a book club in office to read management books. 

• On Leadership - HBR's 10 best reads 
• No Rule Rules - Netflix and the culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer
• The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
• Siddartha by Herman Hesse
• The Art of Living - Vipassana meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka
• The devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino 

What Else

• Got Dengue - Was out for 2 weeks. Kanishka and mummy fed me lot of juices which helped me recover soon. 
• Did a fruit only detox diet from Team Sharan for a week.

Life in 7 Jan - 23 Mar 2024

Udupi The new year resolutions are gone and dead now. Book reading, work life balance, instrument, gym are now fantasy land. Yet three quarters of the year remains. What will it be?

But this year has been to a beautiful start. Amazing things have happened. My movie viewings has been at an awesome level. My no-travel plan has resulted in two travel trips already :) Also, one of the amazing milestone is me being getting promoted at work. Good to see the recognition coming and in general I am at a happy place. 

Movies

Laapataa ladies By Kiran Rao - 4 out of 5 (may be 4.5 too)

An amazing down to earth, cute, niche Bollywood movie that says what it want to say, with simple humor. Just a good humanity movie and I loved it. It reminded me of Nagesh Kukunoor's Dor but it is even better. 

Dune 2 (4/5) (may be 4.5 too)

The finale of first Dune book asks a lot from its reader to imagine. There is a siege in the middle of a dessert storm and many things happen in parallel. I had always wondered how will this even come to screen. Dennie Villevue has done it. It is perfect. I would have liked another 1-2 mins of the siege action but it is just an ask to satisfy. Overall, Dune 2 and Dune 1 should be seen together only. They are amazing. 

Anatomy of a Fall By Justin Triet 4 out of 5 (may be 4.5 too)

Husband and wife are having difficulties in their marriage. The husband dies by falling from the roof while working on some home-repairs. Was he pushed or did he slip ? The answer is for the reader to decide - an excellent court room drama that poses questions to think long after the movie is done. 

American Fiction By Cord Jefferson (4 out of 5)

It is awesome when an actor gets a movie to showcase themselves. This is Jeffrey Right's movie and he just nails it. A satire, masterfully written. This kind of drama movies need to be celebrated more and more. 

Toni Erdmann By Maren Ade (3.5 out of 5)

I discovered Sandra Huller in Toni Erdmann and then saw her in Anatomy of a Fall. She is brilliant. Toni Erdmann is a silly movie that makes sure that you also do not take it seriously. Yet, it is a poignant portrait of a father-daughter relationship in this work obsessed, self obsessed world where we do not have time for our loved ones. 

To compensate for these amazing ones, I also saw brain-dead ones like Upgraded (1.5/5), Anyone but you (2/5)True Detective Night Country (3/5) (BTW, Alaska Daily did it much better) 

I started Wheel of Time but could not go past episode 2 of season 2. Didn't like it at all. 

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Travel

Weekend travel to Delhi to attend Wedding reception of Aabhas. Met with family and had good fun. Went and watched a play Ghalib in New Delhi in Little theatre. Play was ok. Also, had golgappas in Bengali market and that was amazing. Got golgappas packed too for BLR. 

Weekend travel to Mayiladuthurai for Mamaji's sixty'th birthday puja. Attended half of it. Went to Nagore Dargah, Thircudaiyur temple and Velankanni Church in a day. No one is more secular than me :)

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Attended Lucky Ali's live concert at Mall of Asia, Bengaluru. Also, Swarathama came and performed there. Concert was ok, more nostalgia than concert :) Lucky Ali is getting old and this may be my last concert of him. 

Attended Ruhaniyat at the Jayamahal palace this year. Saw performances from 

• The Blissful world of Tamil Mystics - By Sivasri Skandaprasad and group. 
• Through the Eyes of Kabir by Prahalad Singh Tipaniya and group
• Secret Path of Javanese masters to peace by Ida Lala
• Invoking the feminine force - Bharud of Maharashtra
• Ubuntu - The spirit of togetherness Dumza Maswana
• Qawwali by Warsi brothers

This year's anniversary celebration was a discover-city walking tour of Indiranagar. We covered the following places

1. Bao Bangalore Indiranagar - Veg bao was amazing 
2. Lavonne Cafe Indiranagar - Tried the Dule Tres Leches for the first time. On the sweeter side but good. 
3. Calcutta Victoria Chat House (Jeevan Bhima Nagar)
4. Taco Street Indiranagar - Bad service and bad tacos. 
5. Nirula's Indiranagar - Butterscotch icecream at Nirulas. 

Did the Walking tour of Pete - Pete Walk by Unhurried - 4.5/5 

Covered Chickpete, CottonPete, three temples, one church and food at the oldest Darshini of Bangalore - Udupi Sri Krishna Bhawan hotel. Went with the office crowd as part of team outing. 

----

Puchka Taco continue to delight us

In other news - 

- Sold the ND Sunspurge apartment. 

- Sobha daffodil apartment has massive governance issues. Attended a 3 hr long internal RWA meeting to discuss these issues. 

- Water problems are plaguing bangalore. 

Life in 5 Nov'23 to 6 Jan'24

 Happy new year 2024! Welcome to our lives. And goodbye 2023! Fare well.

I am writing this from Mahatama Nature Cure centre, Kannur, with my luggage packed and another 40 mins or so before I leave here. Today is the last day of my 14 day treatment out of which I spent 9 day in fasting. A feat that I never thought would achieve but today I am happy to report that it is done and not that difficult. 

In my young age, when my weight would go up, I had a feeling that I will feel sick one day, high-fever/bad stomach, and as part of the healing, my weight would loose. That may have happened but loss was not proportional. Indeed, my weight went up. But at Mahatama, I got the feeling back - a truly magical place where you come in for two weeks and go back with reduced weight. 7.5 kgs to be precise in my case. I have documented my whole Mahatma journey here . I am impressed, believer and I would highly recommend this. 

I have finished three Wheel of Time books - book 8, 9 an 11. Now, I am onto book 12. 

Travel

Family trip to Bali 

Half-Day outing in Kannur city with Aarti before she boards her train.  Visited For Saint Angelo.

Interesting things

- Office holiday party where I donned a suit and tie after ages 

- Attended my first ever comic-con in Bangalore. It was an okay experience. Lot of stalls, basically pay money to enjoy. Main stage events were okay-ish. 

- Attended a kid's birthday part - Arjun, son of Abhishek and Sonal :) It was at McDonalds and they had cool kid games that I also played. Lot of fun!

- Did a small food-walk in HSR with Abhishek and Sonal. Places tried

Dhanraj Ji Chole Bhature - Decent place. Not very rich chole, but good to try once. 

Shiv Shakti Samosa Center - Had their Poha and Samosa. I liked it a lot ! Very tasty Poha. And this is a crowded place. 

Finally Idli and coffee at MDP Coffee house. Decent thindi it is.

- Went to Alif Concert at Gilly's fandom. Alif is a kashmiri band with a meaningful lyrics and a soulful voice. His music videos are unique in their own way. Loved the concert and the songs. Lot of Kashmiri folks in the audience and they were having an amazing time- something to connect them to their native places. Songs are in Kashmiri language that adds on to the connection. Loved the experience. I will attend them again if I get a chance. 

- Lunch at Nammiga Basura - loved it! Went to an impromptu meals and this was really good place. 

- Followed India's world cup journey. Watched semi and final matches. Good fun though India lost :(

- Did a week long detox diet from Team Sharan. Much needed one after the Diwali sweet binge. 

- Signed up for Iconic fitness gym. Attendance would be around 60%. Liking the trainer this time. 

House parties - 

- Diwali celebration at Didi's place - 

- Diwali/Rangoli in 1023 - 

- Family Christmas dinner a week before Christmas at Deck of Brews, ORR

- Bhanu did breakfast at Monkey Cafe Sarjapur and celebration of their house registration at 1522 Sarjapur road. 

Movies

Dumb Money - 3/5 

Based on a true story on how a bunch of reddit folks did stock trades on Gamestop stock which a lot of analysts were betting to fail. Caused multi-billion dollar loss to financial firms. A true David vs Goliath story. 

The 36th temple of Shaolin - Truly a Cult 4.5/5

Oppenheimer - 4/5

The Killers of the flower moon - 3.5/5

We made a beautiful boutquet. Thoroughly enjoyed it and wrote a long review. 4/5

Equalizer 3 - Passable. 2.5/5

Mission Impossible 7 - 2.5/5 This could and should have been much better, especially with AI as villian

Ted Lasso - Big fan. 4.5/5 - Masterclass of Show Don't Tell

Slow horses - season 1. Binge-able. 3/5

Mahatama Nature Camp - Story of my two week Tapasya

Mahatma Naturopathy course

Dates - Dec 24, 2023 to Jan 7, 2024

I had been to visit a naturopathy retreat for a while. Last year, Kanishka and I tried Udupi but that was a bad experience. Through reference, got to know about Mahatama Nature Cure Centre and utilized my end of the year leaves to plan a 2 week course. I had little knowledge of what goes here. So, a lot of it was new. 

My main aim was detox of body and weight loss. Mahatama is known for its fasting therapy. 99% of patients who come here are given fasting therapy. I have never fasted a single day before in my life. It was a scary thought to begin with - to fast for so long. But I was committed to sign up. Their recommended stay is 21 days here with a 14 day fast with 5 day of juice diet. They curated the plan for me for a 14 day stay. Below is the schedule, plan and my day by day activities. 

Overall, I am a believer. I would rate this 5/5 - one of the best things that I have done in my life. I would highly recommend anyone to visit. 

14 day fasting plan 

• 9 days of fasting

• 3 days of juice

• 1 day of fruits

• 1 day of normal food. 

Schedule - 

• 1 hr walk in the morning. 

• 7 am JIRA water

• 8 am Yoga

• 9 am JIRA water

• 9:10 am - Daily doctor visit. 

• 9:30 am - Mud pack treatment - 30 mins

• 11 am - Coconut water

• 1 pm - Honey water lemon (honey is used generously, it is sweet in taste)

• 1:30 pm - Cold pack treatment (Towel is soaked in normal water and wrapped around the chest)

• 5 pm - coconut water

• 7pm - Honey water lemon

• 1 hr walk in the evening. 

Day 0 (Dec 23, 2023)
Reached Mahatma nature at around 4 pm. Had roti alu sabji (interesting take on alu sabji

with gravy but without tomatoes. Also had an energy bar and an egg puff :) 

Day 1

BP - 120/90

Had a doctor consultation in the morning. He shared the plan. Did 30 mins walk at 10 am

and an hr long walk in the evening. Slept for 2.5 hrs in afternoon and hence could not sleep

in the night. Watched Season 1 of Slow Horses, 5 episodes.

Forced myself to sleep at 6th episode. 

Day 2

BP - 120/70

Wt - 1.5 kgs loss from day before

Started Yoga at 8 am. Did a short 20 mins walk at 10 am. At this time, it is quite hot

and you feel VitaminD going inside your body :)  Night binge watch had an effect, so I slept at 1130 for 1.5 hrs. Afternoon was difficult - felt headaches and weakness. 

At 430, went to Vellikkeel eco park. This is an amazing park at about 4.4 kms from my

stay,. First, I thought to walk all the way but looked risky. Energy levels are not what they

are. So, I took my car and parked it at 2kms before the park. The park was amazing.

Good 90 mins walk. 

Came home tired, drank both coconut water and honey lemon water and slept within 30 mins. 

Day 3 

BP - 120/90

Wt loss- 800 gms

Woke up at 430 am. Finished book 8 of Wheel of Time. Spent most of the day reading the book. 

Afternoon was again slightly difficult. DIfficult to concentrate. Mild headaches come and go. 

Evening - went to Kavin Munampu Kadavu (jetty point) . Parked my car at about 3kms away and then did a 6km round trip walk.

Took about 90 mins. 

Evening long walks make me tired and sleep comes quite early. Slept by 830pm.

Finished watching Transformers Rise of the Beasts - such brainless movies are ok

to watch before going to sleep. 

Day 4 

BP - 120/80

Wt loss - 1.3 kgs

Started book 9 of Wheel of Thrones. Day 4 was normal. Woke up at 330 am and then

tried to put mys to sleep. Managed to get up again at 5 and then went for a morning walk.

Starting today, moved my moring walk schedule to 530-6am.

Went to Koovede Check Dam for evening walk.

Interestingly there is a trail at the other end of the dam that goes via dense coconut forests.

Walked about half a km on this stony trail. It was pretty and calm.

There were folks who were climbing trees to break coconuts. Hunger wise was manageable. 

Day 5 

BP - 110/90

Wt loss - 1.4 kgs

Day 5 was tough. In today's Yoga session, it had 30 back to back Surya Namaskara in Yoga.

Felt quite hungry through the day. Morning walk was 55 mins and in the evening

went to Kottakkunnu Hill View Saw sunset from this view point. 

Walked only for about 40 mins (~3kms) and then came back.

Did some shopping (toiletries) and petrol+air in car. Binge watched The Test CaseTV series in the night. 4 hrs.

Series is decent. Keeps you hooked though it had potential to be much better. 2.5/5

Day 6 

BP - 100/80

Wt loss - No change from yesterday

Woke up late due to the binge watch last night, at 630 am.
Went for an hr walk. Yoga was easy today.
Little disappointed that there is no weight change given that hunger pangs were more
yesterday. Day six was the easiest to handle. Not many hunger pangs, not much cravings. In the evening, did my walk around Vellikkeel eco park and then went to salon for a haircut and shave. 

Day 7

BP - 100/80

Wt loss - 200 gms

Slept nicely for 9 hrs. Woke up at 530 am and did a comfortable walk.
Yoga was peaceful today - breathing exercises and meditation.
Had a lot of craving for good Idli Sambhar through the day.
Disappointment for not loosing more weight was there too -
spoke to doctor and he said that it is all part of physiology,
sometimes it will be much, sometimes not so much.
I guess this part of the program is the trying part - to go through with it.
Did local walk in the evening. Finished book 9 of Wheel of Time -Winter’s heart. 

Day 8 - Dec 31

BP - 120/80

Wt loss - 550 gms

Kind of a difficult day. There was no Yoga given it was a Sunday.

In between the two walks, time went slow. Unable to focus and felt quite hungry today.

Watched a bunch of reels that had some food things and that made it worse.

Slept early at 845 after watching a couple of episodes of Modern Family. 

Day 9 - Jan 1

BP - 120/80

Wt loss - 400 gms

Last day of fasting. Good to see that weight loss momentum has picked up.

But at the same time, getting bored of this place.

Had a big feeling about quitting and going home most of the day. Survived somehow.

Most of the day was spent wishing new years to family and friends.

Watched The 36th chamber of Shaolin and that was good fun. Truly a cult movie.  

Day 10 - Jan 2

BP - 120/80

Wt loss - 500 gms

Went to Vellikkeel eco park for a morning walk this time. Walked close to 4 kms near a water

body, with no people, perfect calm and on a well tarred road.

Good experience to begin the day. Yoga teacher was on leave so bailed out.

Did early mud pack treatment instead. Evening walk was local only. 

Juice schedule

11 am - Grape juice

1 pm - Aamla juice

5 pm - Hot kashaya (coriander coffee per them)

7 pm - Pineapple juice

Day 11 - Jan 3

BP - 120/80

Wt loss - 100 gms

Spoke to doc today for a Saturday release. Agreed that I can leave after 11 am breakfast/lunch.

It rained mid-way when I went for my morning walk.

Got drenched and eventually sat on a bench with a roof, next to a small rivulet.

It was serene. Calming. Must have sat for about 30 odd minutes.

Came back when rain stopped and there was no Yoga. 

Day was mostly writing peer reviews with a break to attend a doctor session on naturopathy.

I really liked the session, I am now a believer in naturopathy. She explained how it works,

what happens after 18, 24, 48 hrs in the body. Why do we get cravings?

What to expect when you go back? All this was useful.

What I truly like about naturopathy is that it is from within.

Nature, in this case the body, has many self healing properties. So, fasting is body getting

time to heal and fix many things. Also, largely scientific process. 

Went for a local walk in the evening.

Today it was Grape juice at 11, Pineapple at 1 and Mosambi at 7.

Mosambi without salt was not that fun :) 

Day 12 - Jan 4

BP - 100/80

Wt loss - 450 gms

It was raining like anything this morning. So, sat on my balcony and read book for 2 hrs.

Good relaxation. Wot 11 is definitely getting better in 2nd half. Skipped walk and did Yoga

Also, had requested for a massage and today was massage day.

Full coconut oil, almost bathed with it. Good to try out.

Day 13 - Jan 5

BP - 100/80

Wt loss - no change

No change in weight. Did a nice long walk in the morning. Followed by some office work. After the massage, it was some TV. At breakfast, there were 5 small bananas - my stomach was stuffed after eating 5 bananas. There was another doctor session where they explained about some common symptoms that folks face while doing fasting like headaches, acidity, loose motion etc and why they happen. They have a tradition of giving a goodbye present and I got one - a mug. (Interestingly, why would they give a mug given they discourage tea coffee :) ) 

In the evening, I went to Talipramba market to get my shave and visit a bakery.

Did my evening walk in the market onlyI broke my food fast by having Kerala Idli.

After eating only 2 idlis, I felt that I have eaten a whole sadya.

Restaurant guys were sneering when they saw that I could not have my 3rd idli.

It was unbelievable. Idli was delicious - typical Kerala taste sambhar and chutney. 

Back at Mahathama, at 7, they had a large bowl of cucumber salad which I managed to eat

only 50% since my stomach was full.

Day 14 - Jan 6

BP - 100/80

Wt - 300 gms

Total wt. loss is 7.5 kgs

Last day today. Did my regular walk of an hour followed by Yoga. Skipping the mud pack today. 

The emotion associated with leaving a place is something that everyone should experience.

Whether when you checkout from a hotel after a 2 night stay or leave an apartment

after 2-3 years. There is a joy of new things to come, while a nostalgia of good times spent here.

A two week stay will be a memorable one. A very unique experience. A bragging experience.

Looking back, the challenges of a day to day are not what I recall.

It is a positive feeling and even after losing weight, I feel I have more to loose :) .

The environment nearby is green, with lots of birds. Vellikkeel eco park is my favorite.

But, I also see a lot of houses, lot of construction going on.

I wonder how this would evolve after 5/10 years. But at this point, it is serene. Good for walks

More importantly, I liked the process a lot.

Natural things are what I believe in and this naturopathy program aligned with me.

I was more impressed that so many things are scientific here,

it is largely a study of your body. 

—-

Good things I packed - 

• Running shoes, shirts, socks - Very helpful in long walks. I feel prepared. 

• Car - Having a car makes it very easy to get any missing items or go to interesting places for walks. 

• Water bottles - Makes it easier for me to take them for walks. 

• Odomos - there are mosquitos here.

• Small towels

Thankful that Airtel connection is decent enough to run internet here. 

Things that I should have packed

• Extra towel. One is being used for cold pack treatment

• Soap and toiletries

• All Out