Short read: East and West: Why we are what we are
“Why does Indian education focus on rote learning while foreign institutions prioritise critical thinking? How does the West, though stereotyped as an individualistic society, manage its public life with greater responsibility than the East? We talk of community first, but our classical music is focused on individual improvisation, while the ‘individualistic’ West has developed forms […]
Short read: Why India’s digital banking push is giving RBI nightmares. Hint: The Credit Suisse collapse
Something is going awry on the liability-side of Indian banks’ balance sheets. For a couple of years now, banks are struggling to raise deposits and all sorts of non-credible excuses have been cited for this eg. the stockmarket rally. In this piece TCA Sharad Raghavan cites the RBI’s growing alarm with the liability side of […]
Short read: When a Javelin Bridged Borders
At the recently concluded Olympics, Neeraj Chopra, the defending champion, won the silver medal in the men’s javelin competition. The gold went to Mr Chopra’s friend, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. This piece in The Wire captures the longstanding camaraderie between the Punjabis from either side of the world’s most hotly contested border: “The heartwarming moments […]
Long read: “The Common Denominator of Success”
In his brilliant book, ‘The Atomic Habits’, James Clear helps us appreciate the benefits of small improvements made consistently over a long period of time compounding to build habits that translate into behaviour can help fulfil our aspirations. In this piece, he pulls up this 84yr old speech by Albert Gray of Prudential Insurance delivered […]
Long read: Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers
Among matters of national pride, cultural heritage should rank right up there. But not many of us go out of our way, let along risk our lives to protect it. Here’s a long read about a bunch of Ukrainians who have done exactly that – ventured into war torn areas of Ukraine to rescue art […]
Long read: The sports where women outperform men
Evidence is emerging that in growing number of sports, women perform better than men. These remarkable feats by women are in turn throwing light on how evolution has made women stronger than men in several areas. That in turn is raising tricky questions about the role of gender in sports. Christine Ro of the BBC […]
Short read: Anshuman Gaekwad knew to put guts over glory, and that is no small thing
Last week, the former coach of India’s national cricket team and opening batsmen for India in the 1970s and 80s, Anshuman Gaekwad passed away. He was 71 and had been diagnosed with blood cancer in a hospital in London. Those of us who grew up watching Test cricket on Doordarshan in the 1980s would remember […]
Short read: Why getting a name right matters
Some North Indians do it to South Indians. Some Westerns do it to Indians. Some Indians do it to Africans. Mispronouncing the same person’s name repeatedly is not just an insult; it is also a subtle signal to the person whose name is being mispronounced that they should fall in-line with whatever is deemed mainstream […]
Short read: PR Sreejesh: Know Indian hockey legend who ended his career with a Olympic bronze medal
The Indian Olympic campaign has been nothing less than tragic with so many fourth position finishes and near misses. Amidst the disappointments, the Indian hockey team won a second consecutive bronze to match its Tokyo feat. In what is the country’s national sport and a sport that we dominated for several decades with eight Olympic […]
Long read: Humans Are Not Built For Investing
Yet another brilliant piece from the Ritholtz stable. Along with the blogs, Barry’s podcasts with its incredible line up of guests provide invaluable insights on personal finance among other things. This one is on behavioural aspects of investing with Dr. Daniel Crosby, who is Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions, where he helps financial advisors […]
Long read: No God in the machine: the Pitfalls of AI Worship
The chorus is building up about AI not living up to its hype – atleast the use cases not yet being commensurate to the hundreds of billions invested in GPU capacity by the hyperscalers – Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. The comparison with the internet boom of the late 90s (and the eventual bust) seem […]
Long read: Coaching Centres are a sign of broken-window economics. See how China crushed it all overnight
Three needless deaths in an illegally constructed basement in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi, of aspiring civil servants who were studying for their UPSC exams has roused the editor of The Print. In this piece Shekhar Gupta highlights the inherent hypocrisy underlying India’s decades long public policy that schools & colleges should be ‘not for profit’. […]
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