Book Summary: LEARN, DON'T STUDY by Pramath Raj Sinha

 

LEARN, DON'T STUDY by Pramath Raj Sinha

This is an insightful book written by Mr. pramath Raj Sinha. He is also known as an institution builder because of his track record of setting up ISB, Ashoka University and currently Harappa Online Learning.

In this book he picks up questions like What it takes to be successful in today's working world (4IR), the possibilities of changing careers multiple times, the gap between academic institutions and the industry and new guides and framework for embarking on professional journey.

To address these broad questions, he shares his life experiences from the world of industry (business) and education. He also shares insights collected from interviewing successful professionals from different walks of life (journalism, education, research, corporate, media, entrepreneurship etc) in the process of writing this book.

USP of this book - all the interviews conducted for this book where with professionals who have a direct connection to India, whether through birth, family, or education. 

“So much of what has been written about career development comes from the West, I wanted to present an approach that was uniquely Indian.” – the author.

I have written this blog it in first person's voice, and taing the exact verbatim (in most places) to retain the narrative style of the book, i.e., the author is speaking directly to his audience (readers).

Chapter 1 - You Can Do Anything

Most of us don’t know and that’s okay

Most of us during our lives transition from adolescence to adulthood are unsure of what we want to do in our life? We might have an inkling about what we like and dislike or about the things we are good at and not so good at, but we lack life experiences to translate these feelings into a clear vocational path.

Often many of us draw conclusion that there must be something wrong within us if we don't know exactly what we want to do with our lives. There is also a sense of fear of being left behind to our peers who seem to have it all figured out.

Sadly this fear psychosis is reinforced by the ecosystem around us parents, educators, peers etc.

Through the interviews the author presents scenarios where there were people who discovered what they want to do at a young age but there were also many who discovered it tinkering along their way and many also ended up pursuing multiple careers in their lifetime.

Don’t be overly concerned with money

The author mentions one of the primary obstacle to building a passion based career is obsessing about how much money you will make. If money is your topmost criterion for determining what you want to do with your life, it can often stand in the way of a deeper, more fulfilling and more successful career.

In India in particular the culturally conditioned fear of lack of adequate income, can lead young people to become overly anxious about their financial stability often at the expense off their long-term happiness.

In the early stages of career, the most important thing is to gain experience to discover one's passion and strength to learn and develop new skill sets and to build a strong foundation for success in the long run. Money should be a symptom of a well-rounded and successful career.

Anything is possible, with a twist

The three core principles:

It's possible to make a career out of doing something you love.

Your passion is usually something you develop.

You can have multiple loves and multiple careers.

These core principles helps you to think about yourself and your career in a more broader dynamic context, liberates you from the fixed mindset and makes you an explorer seeking to discover your passions and aptitudes as you move forward on your life’s journey.

You can do something you love

For many of us who are fortunate enough to get good education, the world is filled with more possibilities than ever before The definition of passion based career has significantly expanded and evolved to include a wide variety of options.

The author points out everyone he interviewed for this book has built at least one Career out of doing something they love. It is truly possible to do what you love if you are committed and dedicated to make it happen.

Your passion is usually something you develop

In a 2018 article for the Psychological Science Journal, authors Paul O’Keefe, Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton suggest that there are two general approaches to building a passion-based career:

Finding your passion, or

Developing your passion

The first approach represents 'fixed mindset' i.e. each one of us have a unique passion that we are meant to represent.

The second approach represents ‘growth mindset’ i.e.  viewing your passion or passions, as something you develop and cultivate.

There research points out the growth mindset approach of developing passion is more rewarding. Reason being, it opens up more possibilities and opportunities in one’s life.

So it is crucial to realize that you may not necessarily be able to know your passion without some experimentation. Passion is something you cultivate overtime.

You can have multiple loves and multiple careers 

The author drawing from his personal experience mentions that none of us are limited to just one passion or one career in our lives. As human beings we are much more complex than we often realize. You can have different passions and build different careers out of them in your lifetime.

Chapter 2 - It All Starts with Self-Discovery

 An ongoing process of self discovery

Self discovery, is a crucial element in building one's career. All the interviewees cited this ability to understand who they were, what they were good at and what they wanted to do with their lives as foundational to their meaningful success.

Self discovery is something you never stop undergoing. It's an ever evolving process.

You Can't force it

Usually Self discovery is an organic process that moves according to its own pace.

The author sites example of the popular Myers Briggs test which is used to generate personalized psychological profile and the list of careers best suited for the individual. He points out several criticisms of such psychometric assessments as they depend heavily on reductionist approach.

Human beings are not so simple or binary. None of us are only defined by one thing. After all we are not robots, our personalities are not scripts or algorithms. hence the process of self-discovery can't be robotic. It requires patience, trial and error most of the times. One has to go through real life experiences, experimentation and internship in various vocations to truly discover themselves. Such organic elaborate process does need time and patience.

Resisting the pressure

The Indian education system which is one of the most competitive in the world puts extreme amount of pressure on the children to make their choice of specialization at an young age and then to stick on that trajectory. Unfortunately, this leads to premature conformity.

One of the compelling reason for the author to write this book is to make young people and their parents understand that it's OK if you don't know what you want to do right up front. He wants to alleviate this pressure from within and outside, so that people can discover their passions and their strengths more organically.

Discovering what you’re good (and not so good) at

All the interviewees in this book mentioned that they needed real world experiences to really test themselves and discover their passions, strength, and weaknesses. Unfortunately, our traditional educational journey are usually focused on grade, marks and ranks.

The key to self-discovery is real world experience. You just can't do it in a vacuum. You must test yourself to discover yourself. You need to get your hands dirty in the real working world to figure out what aspects of who you are might be valuable to the development of your career.

Self-Discovery is a lifelong journey

The author mentions one of his key takeaways from all the interviews was there is no one common path for self-discovery. Self-discovery is unique for each person. For some the clarity of what one wants to do in life emerges at the very early age and for many this becomes a lifelong journey of introspection, trial and error, coupled with perpetual growth. This is the beauty of self-discovery it's a never ending process. You will keep discovering things about yourself as long as you continue to be engaged in the process of inquiry.

Chapter 3 Balancing Breadth and Depth

The author refers to David Epstein 's book Range: Why Generalist Triumph In a Specialized World, has been one of the most thought provoking book he has read in the recent few years.

David Epstein challenges the notion of specializing as early as possible to thrive in one's vocation. He put forth research that that argues the case that those who succeed in the long run are those who developed a wide range of skills and experiences early in their lives which they can apply to the rest of their career.

However, our current education system runs contrary to delaying specialization, hence it becomes a herculean task for students to go in another direction.

The author categorically mentions he nor any the interviewees are against specialization. However, specialization should not come at the expense of learning a broad range of skills. The key is to find that balance of breadth and depth of variety and focus.

Choosing your educational path

The author provides a general guideline and perspectives from his and the interviewees life experiences:

You don't have to know (yet) - If a student is unclear of the choice of subjects, it's okay. They need not stress too much on it.

The institution matters more than your major - If a student is unclear on the branch/major, then it may be a good idea to pick up the school (reputation) over the branch. A reputed school can open many doors in future.

Liberal Arts style education generally serves you best in the long run - Liberal Arts curriculum covers four general sectors: the arts, humanities, social and physical sciences. The objective of liberal arts is to cultivate an ability to think critically across disciplines and to see the interconnects between them.

A study published by Stanford University in collaboration with HSE university Moscow in Nature Human Behavior tracked 30,000 engineering students across India Russia China and USA through their four years of undergraduate degree to monitor the development of their critical thinking skills. The study found that Indian engineering students (along with the Russians and Chinese) significantly lagged their American counterparts when it came to critical thinking.

In an article for the Higher Education Review, Mimi Roy, an associate professor at Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, explains why she believes Indian students are falling behind. “The pedagogy at most techno institutions is not thought provoking and relies mostly on route learning and exam-based lock step methods.”

Diversifying your education and experience

The author mentions attending a liberal arts college isn't the right choice for everyone, nor it is always an option. Some people from an early age are aware of their specialized field of education while others might not be able to afford and liberal arts education as most institutions tend to be more elite. It is possible to gain many of the benefits of a liberal arts education even if you don't attend a liberal arts college. Student can expose themselves by attending diverse classes beyond their core subjects, by actively choosing diverse opportunities on campus which will help them develop new and diverse skill-sets which will help them to build a wider network of peers and mentors. Such wider exposure makes students well-rounded and they set themselves for success in the long run.

Learning how to specialize

One of the interviewee Nikhil mentions, the point is that while you shouldn't be too narrow in your approach, we should also avoid being too broad. We need to strike a balance between the breadth and depth. David Epstein 's book range also articulates this key principle: generalize early but specialize late.

Striking your balance

The author concludes the chapter by stating, give yourself the time and space to experiment, pursue diverse opportunities, pursue different topics and interest. Aim for balance not expedience. Don't be afraid to take a longer and more winding path. It will benefit you in the long run.

Chapter 4 Focusing on the Right Skills

Transferable skills for a non-linear world

Outside of technical skills, the author identifies five general categories of THRIVE SKILLS (Harappa Education):

Communication

Collaboration

Critical Thinking

Problem Solving

Leadership

Technological innovation and automation has put pressure on the workforce to evolve and adapt. Tasks that used to be performed by humans are now being taken over by computers applications and machines. But there is one domain that remains relatively immune to automations rapid advances: Soft skills or Social skills. 

National Bureau of Economic Research shows since 1980s, most of the job growth has been within careers that require extensive social interaction. Jobs that include a high degree of analytical and mathematical processing but relatively low levels of social interaction have declined. Similarly, the higher paying jobs tend to be those that require the most social skills. So, it’s crucial to develop these soft/social skills as we venture forward into the brave new world dominated by technology and machines.

Chapter 5 Picking Up (and connecting) the Dots

The author quotes Steve Jobs famous 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, “You can't Connect the Dots looking forward you can Only Connect them looking backwards. so, you must trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

The author builds on this further by stating, “If you want to be able to connect the dots in your own life, you have to be willing to pick them up first.” He mentions, the willingness to pick up new experiences was a universal quality among everyone he interviewed in the process of writing this book. None of their career paths were linear, they all galvanized diverse experiences and skills to create their own unique story and career path.

Your life is an experiment

Through interviewee’s Paroma Roy Chowdhury story, the author showcases the importance of willingness to take risks, try new things, to experiment, to follow one’s instincts. Every opportunity is a working hypothesis, which helps to move on to your next hypothesis and continue to learn and grow forever.

Overcoming the fear of failure

Through Uday Shankar's story the author tells us the importance of overcoming your fear of failure which in turn helps to seize opportunities and act. He emphasizes once you have made your decision, you need to do everything in your power not to fail.

So, what’s the best way to overcome fear of failure? Uday’s advice is not to take yourself too seriously.

Another way is to reframe what ‘failure’ means. Failure can be looked as an experiment, there’s no right or wrong results, there’s only more data one can use to create the next experiment. So, failure is not literally a failure, it’s an opportunity to learn, grow and refine.

Finally, the best way to overcome your fear of failure is to actually fail. You will find that you recover from failure faster than you would have expected. You will go on living and growing.

Intelligent failure

Duke university’s Sim Sitkin in his 1996 article Learning through failure: The strategy of small losses for the Journal of Organizational Learning, coined the term intelligent failure. He articulates Don't throw caution to the wind and recklessly attempt to do big things. Rather, take up initiatives and challenges that you have considered and prepared for, but that you understand might not work perfectly.

How to fail intelligently?

Be in an environment where experimentation is encouraged, and failure is accepted.

Challenge yourself by taking on difficult tasks where you will likely experience some degree of failure.

Adjust your mindset to see failure as a natural part of a creative life.

Make sure that you are not trying to fail. Rather you're doing your best to succeed, but ready to learn from any failure that might occur. 

You don't have to feel like an Imposter

In the year 1978, a team of Psychologists Suzanne Imes, Pauline Rose Clance, first identified Imposter Syndrome as a pervasive phenomenon and attributed it primarily to women. In a 2011 article in the Journal of Behavioural Science, 70% of the people surveyed reported to have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in their lives. 

Imposter syndrome is a feeling of inadequacy, one feels they don't belong in this group of high achievers and they attribute their success to luck rather than their hard work and talent.

Since imposter syndrome is subjective distortion of reality, one of the best way to gain objectivity is to talk to someone i.e. approach a friend, colleague or mentor and share what's going on in your mind. Maybe experiencing imposter syndrome from time to time is a natural phenomenon and hence expect it, be ready for them and find a way to overcome it.

Get as much experience as you can

The author emphasizes the importance of experience by stating you can have all the education in the world, but it can't replace the value of real-world experience. Experience helps us in our exploration and self-discovery. So students are encouraged to participate in experiential learning programs, volunteering work, taking up opportunities your school and college such as hosting events etc.

Chapter 6 The Power of Mentorship

The author through his life story and from the life stories of all the interviewees, highlights mentorship as one of the most important ingredients in a successful career. Mentors play an important role, not only in early professional and educational decisions but also in many of the critical junctures of one's professional journey. Mentors help to identify one's trends, refine their passions and push them towards higher degree of excellence.

A trusted voice outside of your family

The author presents Indra Noogi’s story, which highlights how her mentor’s advice (voice) was accepted with trust by her family.

A good mentor’s primary interest is your future and betterment, without having any conflict of interest. Mentor can often be more objective about you than your family can. A mentor looks at you as a possibility i.e. who you will be in the future than who you have been in the past.

Helping You to Find and Connect the Dots

A mentor being an objective observer of our career can help us to see the dots and connect the dots. They play a huge role in our organic process of self-discovery, by helping us discover our strengths and make sense of our experiences and situations. A mentor also holds you to a higher standard, thereby raising your level of thinking and performance. A mentor also helps in modelling new pathways i.e., can open your mind to new opportunities you weren’t aware of or didn’t think possible. Mentors can also be role models and they can be a guide, friend, philosopher who gives you the confidence to make a career move, a career transition and to overcome career challenges.

Chapter 7 Advice for Parents: Tapping into the Secret Sauce

The author highlights the rapid change in our society in just one generation. Parents today are facing a unique generational conundrum, i.e., there is a disconnect between our experience of growing up as a child and that of our children who are growing up now.

Therefore, parents should be cautious not to project their own life experiences onto their children, because what worked for us won't necessarily work for our children.

The room to experiment

The best gift a parent can give to their child is room (time) to experiment. Help your child in cultivating a dynamic growth mindset from a young age, which will be critical to their long-term success.

They are different from you

As digital natives today's children have been shaped by a completely different world than you had. As parents, we need to acknowledge and learn about these differences in order for our guidance to be relevant and effective.

The Deloitte 2021 millennial and Gen Z survey found that among young people in India, personal beliefs (ethics based work) are more influential over the kinds of careers they choose [72% millennials and 66% Gen Z) than the global average break 44% millennials and 49% Gen Z). Mental Health is also an emerging value among younger generation.

Help them figure out what they love

The best role you can play as a parent is to help them discover themselves, gradually and without any pressure to figure it out quickly. Parents should avoid becoming overly concerned with grades. Grades, are important, especially if you want to get into a good school. It's just that you shouldn't think that just getting good grades will ensure you a successful future. Rather, having a well-rounded base of experiences and skills to draw from will serve you better in the long run. Encourage them to take up hobbies, help them to take up internships for gaining real world experience and parents should do their best to learn about how the world is changing.

Prepare them, don't instruct them

Srikanth Shastri, one of the interviewee, calls this approach to parenting as ‘guidance with the light touch’. He believes the best advice focuses on the process of making decisions rather than the decisions themselves. He advocates of teaching young people how to approach the decision in their life that is how to break it down into its component parts, how to weigh the pros and cons, how to think through all the potential outcomes and how to ask all the right questions. In short, teach children how to think, and not what to think.

Ofcourse parenting has to be sometimes heavy-handed and prescriptive but these should be reserved only for instances when the mistakes are of a catastrophic nature.

Building Agility and Resilience

In a rapidly changing world, where change is the only constant, young people need to be made comfortable to embrace this brave new world. Agility and Resilience are two qualities today’s children need to inculcate, to thrive in this new world.

Expose your children to diversity (new skills, new experiences, new environments, new scenarios) so that it develops adaptability and agility in them in due course of time. In-short as parents help to diversify your child's toolkit so that they have many more skills and experiences to draw upon in their future.

As parents, give your child the opportunity to fail, especially early in their lives. As parents we first  need to overcome our own fear of failure. Parents who exhibit this in their own life will be a learning model for their own children (learning by observing/role model). Secondly, encourage your child to take up challenging assignments so that they can taste disappointment that comes with failure and learn why they failed and learn how to bounce back e.g. try learning a musical instrument, try learning a foreign language, apply for a challenging school, take up sports etc.

As parents, we can provide our children a safe space, a safety net, so that they can experiment with their life, learn to fail in a safe environment and eventually build agility and resilience for the long run.

The Secret Sauce

“Parents can instill in their children the values that help them to succeed, but do it in a manner that doesn't project their own worldview, which was shaped in a different era.” – Monica Hariharan

According to Monica, the secret sauce for everyone looking to succeed in today's world is to take all of those deeper values and find new ways to express them.

The author sums it up by stating, this secret sauce is infact the age old ethical template defined by hard work, excellence, rigorous thinking, dependability, resilience and adaptability. The key for parents today is to give their children this template without being too prescriptive in how to apply it.

Conclusion unlocking a Growth Mindset

The author connects Growth Mindset (by Psychology Professor Carol Dweck) with Marc Randolph (co-founder of Netflix) 2022 commencement speech at Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts.

Marc says, “follow your dreams” might be the worst thing to tell young people. He continues, the advice perse is not bad, but no one tells you ‘HOW’.

He advocates that young people should ‘Stop Thinking and Start Doing’. He believes it's more crucial to learn how to execute your goals so that when you do discover your dreams, whatever that may be, you will be in a position to practically make them come true.

The author states instead of telling people to follow your dreams we should say discover your dreams. Which means your dreams are in some fixed entities rather they are dynamic and changing. They are something to be discovered through the process of your own career journey. Discovering your dreams requires experimentation. It requires throwing yourself into new situations and over time, figuring out what you are best at and what gives you the most sense of fulfillment. In other words, it’s about inculcating a growth mindset.

A growth mindset propels us and makes us break away from stagnation of fixed mindset. It makes us a person who is ‘work in progress’, who can learn new skills, gain new knowledge, continue self-discovery, explore new opportunities and continue to pivot through their lifelong journey.

Pramath Raj Sinha (image courtesy - Harappa Education)

The author Pramath Raj Sinha, concludes in his own unique style – “I want to leave you with a nugget of wisdom. As you peer into your career, whether it be from the vantage point of a high school student, a college graduate, or a mid-career professional, it's imperative to do so with patience and curiosity. Don't fall victim to the pressure from your own peers or teachers or family or society to prematurely figure it all out. If you're not certain about what you want to do with your life, that's OK. The world isn't certain. So how could you be? As you take the next step in your career journey, try to see it as a learning opportunity. And one day, you’ll look back, connect the dots of your squiggly career and will be amazed at how much you’ve achieved.” 

Credit: 

I highly recommend checking out the book 'credit' by Pramath Raj Sinha and published by Penguin Publication. This book summary is intended for educational purposes to spread the ideas and knowledge presented in the book. However, I strongly suggest getting an in-depth reading and gaining deeper insights by purchasing the book. It's definitely worth it! 

Link:  https://www.amazon.in/Learn-Don%C3%A2%E2%82%ACTMt-Study-ever-changing-landscape/dp/0670097489/ref=sr_1_1?crid=23I7GPLAUMBOD&keywords=learn+don%27t+study+pramath&qid=1693196467&s=books&sprefix=learn+don%27t+study+pramat%2Cstripbooks%2C224&sr=1-1

 

A School, I Wish I had gone to

Remember the iconic scenes from Rancho School in Ladakh, from 3 Idiots movie's climax? 

The school Rancho (scientist and educator) had established in Ladakh, on the principles of innovation, free thinking, creativity and pursuit for knowledge rather than pursuing marks/grades/numbers and ranks.

3 Idiots movie is one of my favourite for many reasons. I am a fan of Aamir Khan, Raju Hirani and I have always been passionate about education. So a movie made by them and on the topic of Indian education system, makes it a movie to feature in my list of all time favourites.

The 3 Idiots Wall, in the school campus

So when we are in Leh Ladakh on a family trip, we made sure to fit the Rancho School in our itinerary. Thanks to our taxi/tour guide Tashi bhai for mentioning about this school's location.

This blog is my travel memoir, to make your visit to the school easier. Also to introduce you to this real school outside of the filmy image. The school is doing lots of good work and this awareness may motivate some of you to volunteer and contribute to their community causes.  

At the school entrance

Real name of Rancho School?

Druk Padma Karpo

How to reach?

The school is located in Shey, the old capital city of Ladakh. It is 15 kilometers to the south of Leh city, a 25 minutes drive by cab or local bus. 

SHEY (image from Thrillophilia)

Founded in the year?

2001

Founded by?

His holiness Drukpa Thuksey Rinpoche, a Buddhist Spiritual Leader of Ladakh. The design was created in association with Arup, Architectural firm. 

Curriculum?

The students study Bothi (the local language), English and Hindi languages, Science, Social Studies, Creative Arts and Sports. The school provides education in the age group of 6 to 16 years. 

The school is a not for profit institution, which provides education to children from this remote Leh valley region. Many students in this school are first generation learners. Through education the school aims to empower the local community, with new knowledge and skills for betterment of their life. 

Awards? 

The school has won several prestigious awards. To name a few:

• It won the BBC Award for World's most Beautiful School in 2016. 
• WB Honours for Innovation in Public Washroom Design in India in 2015. 
• World Architecture Award for Best Green Building in 2002. 

Ongoing project?

• In 2010, the school campus was severely damaged by a mudslide, because of the fragile ecosystem in the Himalayan region. A project called Dragon Garden was conceptualised in collaboration with Architecture students from University of Greenwich. The Dragon Garden is aimed to transform the barren desert school campus into a lush green sustainable garden which will be used for learning, playing and growing vegetables and fruits for self-consumption. 
• Sesmic upgrade and mudslide repair of the student's residences.
• Construction of the senior secondary school complex.

Getting involved?

Image credits: TOI, Solaripedia, Business Khabar

The school welcomes volunteers who would like to teach, raise funds or contribute fund for supporting any of the above mentioned ongoing projects.

There is also a visitor zone, shop and cafe in the school premise. The purchases made there is also a way of making contributions for the school fund.

Do find the link for volunteering and for making contributing funds for a good cause: 

https://www.dwls.org/static-pages/fundraising-needs.html

For so many of us, Leh Ladakh is in our bucket list :) So when you plan your visit, do take out time to drop in at Druk Padma Karpo - The Rancho School at Shey, to see their positive, impactful work of imparting education, knowledge and skills, to the children of local communities, who have very little access to the things which you and I from big cities take for granted. 

Empowering Palates and Communities: Nilza Wangmo The Woman Entrepreneur Behind a Local Cuisine Sensation

Sonia and me, with Nilza Wangmo Mam (centre) at Alchi Kitchen, Alchi Ladakh

Self discovery

Those who have read the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, would remember the profound realisation which draws upon Siddhartha after decades of life experiences that he didn't necessarily had to leave his home in search of spiritual enlightenment. Through his life experiences, Siddhartha understands that true enlightenment and spiritual fulfilment can be found in everyday life and in the present moment, rather than through external pursuits or ascetic practices. 

Drawing parallel from this quest for seeking enlightenment, we do see the quest for seeking success, also sets sail for so many Siddharthas (metaphor) pushing them far away from their roots into a lifetime spent in a distant world. 

Only a handful Siddharthas transform into Buddha, so does very few Siddharthas attain meaningful success at their roots, by breaking the norms of work related displacements in today's globalized world economy. 

I came across one such Siddhartha during a family holiday in Ladakh - her name is Nilza Wangmo a resident of Alchi.   

Life's journey

Alchi is a remote village on the banks of river Indus, surrounded by the mighty Himalayan mountains, about 70 kms to the west of Leh district. It's the home to one of the oldest monastery in Ladakh, build during the 11th century. 

Nilza had lost her father to a critical illness when her Mom was carrying her in her pregnancy days. She was raised by her mother in Aamei Khampa, her maternal grandparents residence. Financial struggle was a constant factor in her life, as her mother did her best to raise her with a meagre earning she made at a NGO. Nilza studied in a missionary school and then moved to Jammu city for pursuing a college degree. She was forced to quit her degree mid-way and to return home, due to financial crisis. Battling depression and overcoming it, Nilza went to Alchi (her father's village) asking for her equal rights on her father's home for sustaining herself. She and her mom, was turned away by her uncles without any help. 

Stranded in Alchi, no where to go, no money in pocket, her grandfather (maternal) stepped in to help and they managed to secure a small accommodation to live. 

Women Entrepreneur 

The twists and turns of life, forced Nilza to become an accidental entrepreneur. She took a loan of Rs 8 lakh, to start a home-stay business for tourists. This is when she stubbled upon an idea "Why not introduce tourists to the world of Ladakhi cuisine?" With her conviction in this idea, she changed her business plan of constructing a home-stay to building a kitchen (restaurant).

Through the year 2015, Nilza's mother and her aunt got into a relentless brainstorming session for curating the Ladhaki menu for her restaurant. They decided to curate a special tea - Apricot Tea (apricot fruits grows in abundance in Ladakh) and 'Tashi Tagye' tea. They experimented trying out different flavours and options for the beverage segment. Among food, they introduced the world to Khambir (local Ladhaki breads), Mok Mok (Dumplings), Chhutagi and Skyu (pasta stew) just to name a few. It was a project of culinary conservation of sitting together with the women of the local community and archiving their recipes in an era of fast food. Her restaurant Alchi Kitchen opened in the year 2016.

Nilza proudly says, she didn't go to any formal training school but self-taught herself by observing and learning from her mother passionately cooking food. Alchi Kitchen has even opened up new branch in Leh. Nilza employees women and trains them to cook, serve and manage restaurant. She encourages girls to become self-reliant by taking up a profession and making a career. 

Success and Community Impact

Fast forward to today, Alchi Kitchen is featured on National Geographic and Nilza Wangmo is recipient of Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India 2020 (highest civilian honour for women in India), recipient of Vogue Women of the Year Award 2020, Nilza is featured in various magazines like India Today and Vogue. Alchi Kitchen has turned out to become a must visit place for tourists visiting Ladakh. It draws international tourists from South East Asia, Europe among travelling Indians and celebrities.

Nilza Wangmo and her Alchi Kitchen is a shining example of one such Siddhartha who discovered her entrepreneurship, success and community impact by going back to one's roots, reviving the lost tradition, instead of uprooting oneself in search for success. 

Personal Anecdote

I had the privilege of meeting Nilza Mam, when we visited Alchi's Kitchen for lunch during our trip to Ladakh in May 2023. What struck me was her simplicity and hands-on approach. In spite of all the success and recognition, she was personally involved in taking orders and helping out the cooks in kitchen. During intermittent free time, we even struck a conversation with her. When I enquired about her mother, she shared her Mother, her life-long companion is no more in this world. I could feel the grief inside her as she choked while talking about her mom. Nilza - "These are all my mother's recipes, she taught us everything and she was a friend and constant support to me in this journey. I miss her a lot." As more customers poured in, she jumped into her duty of hospitality and introducing them to Ladhaki cuisines. After our heartfelt lunch, she obliged to our request for a photograph with her. We left Alchi Kitchen with special memories of local cuisine and of meeting a special person.         

Written by drawing upon my personal interaction with Nilza Wangmo and articles in India Today and Vogue.

Links: 

Receiving Nari Shakti award from President of India: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI32WpbLkc8

Nilza Wangmo Vogue Women of the year 2020 Message to Women Entrepreneur: https://www.facebook.com/VogueIndia/videos/nilza-wangmo-vogue-women-of-the-year-awards-2020/878422316258268/

 

Movies That Will Motivate You - Pursuit of Happyness

 

Image credit: Sony Entertainment

Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis the brilliant mathematician born in France in 1792 (the time of French revolution) is credited for introducing the term 'WORK' into the lexicon of modern day science and society. 

Apart from his famous contribution in meteorology which is known as 'Coriolis Effect', he was keenly interested in Table Billiards, dedicating hours in research while playing it. His research published in the book Theorie mathematique des effets du jeu de billiard, is still invoked with biblical solemnity by aficionados of billiards descendants, snooker and pool. 

In 1828, when describing the process by which energy is transferred from an arm and through a cue to send billiard balls scuttling around the table, Coriolis first introduced the term 'Work' to describe the force that needed to be applied to move an object over a particular distance.'  

This term 'work' caught the imagination of all scientists and it was used to describe the key concepts of Europe's Industrial Revolution (workings of steam engines, water wheels, automotives etc).

'Work' is now used to describe all transfers of energy, from those that occur on a celestial scale to at a subatomic level. 

Science now recognises that the creation of our universe involved colossal amount of work. 

Also work, differentiates living things from dead things. Living things actively harvest and use energy (Work) which sustains them. When they stop doing (work) with no energy left they die. Put in another way, to Live Is To Work.  

At the intersection of Anthropology, Science and Technology, human beings relationship with Work has constantly evolved from it's hunter gatherer days, through industrial revolutions to today's fourth industrial revolution. 

The closest thing to a universal definition of 'work' - is that it involves purposefully expending energy or effort on a task to achieve a goal or end. 

We work to live and live to work. We are capable of finding meaning, satisfaction and pride in our jobs. Our work also defines who we are, determines our future prospects, dictates where and with whom we spend most of our time, mediates our sense of self-worth and moulds many of our values.  

The French word for work, 'Travail', has a poetic quality in it absent in many other languages. It connotes not just effort but also Suffering. This does resonates with our modern day culture - TGIF (Thank God It's Friday), Monday Blues, Burn-out....the other aspects of humans-work relationships. 

To counter these negative emotions through this Blog series, we are putting forth Motivation through movies, whose stories are based on work and work-place. The Hope is that you find the inspiration, motivation and lessons in them, to change your work engagement from TGIF to TGIM (Thank God It's Monday), Monday Blues to Monday Rainbows and Burn-out to Positive Energy.  

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) makes a remarkable commentary on how happiness can be attained only when someone pursues it while going through the ups and downs in life. While the film dramatises the professional life of Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happyness lays a huge emphasis on the need to trust your own self when you are to make a difficult decision. You always begin a new journey with experiences from your past, and it is these experiences and skills that will help you succeed in life. All you need is a dream, a dash of grit, and a bit of courage to take that leap of faith.

"The Pursuit of Happyness," directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Will Smith, is a biographical drama film based on the true story of Chris Gardner. The movie highlights several valuable lessons that can be learned from Chris Gardner's inspiring journey. Here are some of the key lessons:

1. Perseverance and Determination: One of the most prominent lessons from the film is the power of perseverance and determination. Chris Gardner faces numerous challenges and setbacks, including financial difficulties, homelessness, and the responsibility of caring for his young son. Despite all the obstacles, he remains steadfast in his pursuit of a better life and never gives up on his goals.

2. Belief in oneself: Chris Gardner possesses a strong belief in himself and his abilities. He consistently demonstrates confidence in his skills and refuses to let others' opinions or negative circumstances define him. We learn, Believing in oneself and maintaining a positive self-image is crucial when facing challenges and striving for success.

3. Sacrifice and Hard Work: The film emphasizes the importance of hard work and sacrifice. Chris Gardner takes on unpaid internships, endures long hours, and makes sacrifices in his personal life to create opportunities for himself and his son. The story reminds us that achieving our goals often requires dedication, perseverance, and a willingness to put in the necessary effort.

4. Pursuing Passion and Goals: Chris Gardner's ultimate goal is to secure a stable job in the competitive field of stockbroking. His pursuit of this goal represents the importance of following one's passion and striving for personal fulfillment. The film encourages viewers to identify their own aspirations and pursue them with determination and enthusiasm.

5. Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Throughout the movie, Chris Gardner faces numerous hardships, including financial struggles, homelessness, and personal setbacks. However, he maintains his resilience and refuses to be defined by his circumstances. The film reminds us that setbacks are a part of life, and it's essential to develop resilience and bounce back from challenging situations.

6. Never Settle for Mediocrity: The film challenges the notion of settling for mediocrity and encourages viewers to aim for greatness. Chris Gardner refuses to settle for a life of poverty and unhappiness and strives for a better future. It serves as a reminder to continuously push ourselves beyond our comfort zones and strive for personal growth and fulfillment.

7. Importance of Parenthood: "The Pursuit of Happyness" also explores the significance of parenthood. Despite his struggles, Chris Gardner prioritizes his role as a father and works tirelessly to provide a better life for his son. The film underscores the importance of being present for our loved ones and the impact that positive parental influence can have on a child's life.

If it's been a while you watched this movie, may be it's time, for another weekend watch, to seek inspiration for your pursuit of happyness!

References: 

Work (a history of how we spend our time) - James Suzman (Bloomsbury)

Movie: Pursuit of Happyness https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/

Do we kNOw to say NO?

 

Mitchell Strac - The Hindu newspaper

Recently a newspaper clipping of Mitchell Starc called my attention. For the not so cricket fans (if there is such a thing in India) Mitchell Strac is part of the Australian cricket team, which few days back won the WTC (World Test Championship 2023) defeating India by 209 runs. This Australian team became the 1st team to have won all major ICC tournaments.

His last appearance in IPL was way back in 2015. He played in IPL for only 2 seasons for RCB bagging 34 wickets and is one of the most successful overseas bowler. By estimate, between 2015 to now (2022) Strac's potential earning at IPL which he has let go, would be 10 million AUD.

In several interviews, Starc mentions his priority is international cricket, his dream of representing his country Australia in 100 Test matches. Hence to keep himself fresh physically and mentally for national commitments, he opted out of 2023 IPL tournament, instead choosing to spend time at home with family.

Why this newspaper clipping struck me? 

Well it made me think, What it takes to say NO to a Trend, to Popular Culture, to Big Quick Money and to Peer pressure when his fellow 47 Australian cricketers participated in the IPL auction the world's richest cricket tournament. 

Well for sure, couple of things:  

1. Vision (a strong personal vision, of manifestation of one's life). 

2. Clarity between Needs and Wants.  

3. Knowing one's Priority - what's most important for him/her. 

4. Conviction to carry on, on the roadless travelled without succumbing to the external pressures and internal self-doubts. 

The key question to reflect upon from Mitchell Strac's story is Do We kNOw to say NO? 

- May be Life is not meant to be so complicated and cluttered. 

- May be Life can be Simpler and free-flowing.

- May be Life can be Designed by rules what matters to us most.

So maybe the answer is not to do more, rather to do what matters! 

It's about kNOwing to say NO to things which do not align with one's Vision. 

To say NO to things which are not one's needs.

To say NO to things which are not one's priority and to say NO to the feelings of self-doubts and external pressures when one set's foot on the roadless travelled. 

Do we kNOw to say NO? 

The possible answers are No, Yes, Maybe or shades of all of them. 

Irrespective of where we lie on the spectrum of answers, the more important thing in Life is to Ask the Right Question.

With a Thanks Mate! gesture to Mitchell Strac's :) leaving you all (including myself) with this Big Question - Do we kNOw to say NO? 

Woolah Conversations in OLA :)

Mr Manu Raj

We had decided to spend our summer holidays this year in Jammu and Leh-Ladakh. And, being a pet lover comes with an additional set of responsibilities that must be taken care of before you can step out of the door and lock it for weeks. My aquarium was all set to be self-sustained for a fortnight with adequate food provisions. And, by the end of the previous night, the tank, the water filter and air pump were all cleaned up. 

We had scheduled an Ola cab to pick us up from home at 7 am to reach the Bengaluru Kempegowda Airport. However, in the morning, I found to my dismay that the air pump was not working :( I have big fishes in my aquarium and they won't survive without the air pump functioning properly. So, once again I had to take the pump out, clean it and reset it before we could start from home, with peace in mind. 

It was obvious that all this would eventually delay our departure, and we had no choice but to keep the Ola cab driver waiting. In the meantime, I did speak to him, apologizing for the delay on my part.

By restoring the air pump back to normalcy, we finally dealt with this ordeal and embarked on our way to the airport. *phew!*

Sitting next to the driver, like I always do, I started my conversation with Mr. Manu Raj (the Ola cab driver assigned to us). I told him why we got late. And, quite surprisingly, the aquarium turned out to be a topic of common interest between us. He too has an aquarium at home. We spoke about the fishes we have, about the plants in the aquarium, the difficulty of maintaining a salt-water aquarium....and the passionate discussion went on :) 

Like all conversations, between two pet lovers, ours also jumped from one pet to another. Manu Sir [I referred to him as Sir, respecting his seniority (age) during my conversation. However in the Blog I was instructed by him, to refer him just by his name and not as Sir :). So going forward, I will be referring him with his first name - Manu]. A native of Kerala (hailing from Kollam), Manu's youth was spent in caring for the dogs, cats and birds that lived in his farm. As he moved to Bangalore and started living in an apartment with restricted space, he had to settled with only fishes (aquarium) to accompany him as his pet(s). Even I went ahead and shared with him stories of my pets from childhood to my present day. 

I got so invested in this enriching free-flowing conversation with Manu, that I was curious to know more about him. When did he come to Bangalore? What did he do before becoming an Ola driver? And, what about his family?

Turns out, there was a lot to learn from his life. After completing his Bachelor's in Commerce during the mid '80s, Manu started and ran multiple business ventures in Kerala; ranging from real estate, restaurants and bakeries (from baking to selling). Like in any business, there are ups and downs. There came a downturn in his businesses at one point in his career. He converted this challenge into an opportunity by coming down to Bangalore in the early 2000s and restarted this life all over again. He tried out multiple ventures, including running a paying guests' (PG) facility. With several years of work experience and know-how of the restaurant (food) business, he started a Kerala food restaurant in Tippasandra area and ran it for over two decades, till the COVID-19 pandemic hit us. He expanded his business by getting into catering services. He built B2B clients, organizing luncheons and dinner parties for various companies in IT parks. At his peak, he was supplying 1,200 meals per day to IT companies.

Manu said, and I quote, "My wife Renu was my backbone, my pillar of support throughout this journey." 

While Manu sir's professional life was in upswing, lots were happening in his personal front too. He and his wife Renu raised three children. When conversations pertaining to his children came up, there was a visibly doting, proud father talking about his children. His eldest son is the Cabin Crew Manager at an international airline, living in the Middle East. His son had done a Bachelor degree in Hotel Management and worked for a few years in the hotel industry, before taking up his job in the airline sector. He is married and his wife is a professional in Dental Sciences, and is pursuing further studies and working there. 

Mr. Manu also mentioned that he and his wife visited their elder son's family two-three times a year in the Middle East, and he makes use of the privilege of paying 10% of the ticket price, they are entitled to as parents. 

His second son is a BBM (Bachelor of Business Management) graduate and has worked for several years in the Netherlands. Recently, he quit the job to pursue farming, his actual calling. He has recently started farming in Devanahalli, situated in the outskirts of Bangalore. He too is married and his wife is an engineer, working at a multinational firm. She often shuttles between India and Europe for her work.  

His youngest son completed his Engineering degree recently. He is not too keen to pursue his career in this field and has found his calling in Editing and Copywriting instead. In fact, he is currently working in a firm that is involved in writing services.

Being a father myself now to a high schooler, I was very impressed by the way Manu had brought up his children. All of them are doing so well in their own lives, in their own unique ways. 

I asked him, why didn't he resume his restaurant business in the post-pandemic era?

To answer this question, Manu provided valuable insight regarding the intricacies of the restaurant and catering business. They used to start their day between 3 am to 4 am to ensure the food is delivered on time at their client offices. He said that the work at an industrial (cloud) kitchen is very much hands-on in nature, with high touch-points for ensuring hygiene, consistency, taste and safety standards. As a proprietor, he has to stay fully committed and engaged in the work. Now that he has advanced into the senior years in life and his children are all grown-up and self-sustained, he does not feel the need to immerse himself in a 24/7 work schedule once again. None of his sons were interested in taking over the restaurant business anyway; so, he decided to cut the losses during the pandemic and lockdown by shutting down his business and selling off his hard assets. 

Coming back to his current profession, the answer was equally an eye-opener. Choosing to drive an OLA was not Manu's compulsion, but a choice. He didn't want to sit at home, watching TV the whole day. So, he purchased a car, got a commercial license and registered himself with OLA. He controls his schedule and number of trips he wants to take. He usually takes up ride requests to the airport in the morning, and on the way back home, he takes a few trips dropping passengers to work etc. By noon, he logs out, comes back home for lunch and spends his time with wife, resting in the afternoon. In the evenings, he goes out again, taking a few passengers around the city, and returns home by 9pm to call it a day.

To Manu sir, he gains satisfaction from the fact that he is still working, that too on his own terms. He finds meeting different kinds of people (passengers) while driving OLA a learning experience: "I meet different kinds of people. There are passengers who don't talk at all, there are passengers like you who engage in a conversation, there are passengers who are polite, and there are those who are impolite. I learn from each one of them and this learning experience gives me motivation, rather than sitting the whole day idly at home, in front of a TV."

And, just like any other experience, our discussion came to an end as the cab came to a halt at the drop-off bay at the Bengaluru airport. We offloaded our luggage and carried on with our onward journey, not before we exchanged our numbers and I made a promise of staying connected with Manu. As I reflect upon this, I found an incredible amount of positivism and passion for learning, that I wanted to write about this incident and share it with many more. Here are my reflections:

1. Dignity of labor: As Swami Vivekananda said, "Work is Worship", but to put this into practice is an enormous task. Mr. Manu, who owned and ran a restaurant business for over two decades, doesn't see himself as inferior just because of his profession as a cab driver. For him, work is work, and he derives meaning and purpose from all the different kinds of work he does. 

2. Resilience, Adaptability and Perseverance: In today's VUCA world, these attributes have become common phrases in corporations - the world of white-collar jobs. There could be no better example than Mr. Manu, who has put these attributes into motion. When things didn't work well in Kerala, he shifted base to Bangalore and set up a successful business for two decades. With the pandemic hitting in 2020, he closed it to cut down his losses and moved on to become an Ola driver. Such real-life examples of resilience, being adaptable and persistence are immensely motivating stories full of positivity, isn't it?

3. Break free from biases, judgment and assumptions: If I had not struck a conversation with him, I would have never known of the story of triumph of the human spirit, that too beneath the image of a cab driver. Isn't this a lesson for us, to break free from our biases, from making judgements and assumptions, by looking at a person's appearance and profession? The moment we engage with others at a human level, a whole new dimension opens up that is free from such labels and conditioning. 

4. Transitions in life: Throughout our life-cycle we have to come across certain transitional phases to move successfully from one stage to another. However, truth be told, not all of us can make this transition. In fact, some of us get stuck, holding on to and not letting go of our past. I am sure, it must have been painful for him to wind up a two decade-old business during the pandemic and not resume it again. Mr. Manu's life story shows us, he had the wisdom to make the transition in his life, to let go of a venture that gave him ample financial and emotional stability and move on to something new, especially when things weren't working out.

5. Finding meaning and purpose: With his three children doing well for themselves, Manu sir could have retired from his professional life. However, he took up an engagement in his pursuit to make his life more meaningful through his actions and experiences. In my mind, his story teaches us a valuable lesson - at the core of every fulfilling work resides our pursuit to find meaning and purpose in life.

         

The Assamese word Woolah means happiness. And, there are innumerable ways to spread happiness in every single moment of every single day. So, I hope I was able to share the happiness I derived from my conversation with you, my reader. I hope that you too find your Woolah conversations with someone as unique as Manu. And, if you have had such experiences in the past, do share it in the comment section. In today's world where negativity sells more than positivity, we should share such motivational stories that promise hope and happiness to all of us.

Scrolling All the Way: How Technology affects our Attention

 

Image by Chen Pixabay

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of a smartphone must be checking the notifications first thing in the morning. In fact, every day we see ourselves briefly scrolling through the Explore section on Instagram, going through reels after reels, posts after posts, until we choose to get out of the bed.

However, a question remains - how “brief” is this ritual of “briefly” scrolling through social media platforms every day in the morning, or at any given time in the day? What is the nature of the content that we see? Moreover, how do our smartphones have our attention all the time?

But wait…

Before we head into the details, let’s take a deep breath. Inhale as much air as you can. And then exhale it all slowly.

Now, with a clear mind, think about the reasons that drive you to access your phone as soon as you wake up. It might be for:

• The unread messages from your friends

• Checking whether your latest post/reel got a lot of likes

• If your status update was viewed by someone you are interested in

• To go through the sale items at an online store

• To watch a new episode on an OTT platform

                                                                                    …and the list goes on.

We may have more than one reason to check our phone immediately in the morning, but it is the finer nuances that turn normal activities into priorities. What if you were told that these actions would not be affected in any way if you check them after you freshen up and have your breakfast?

Yes, perhaps a product on sale would go out of stock by then, but it is this sense of urgency that often motivates us to check our phone at every moment. And now, this habit (or ritual, rather) is benefiting innumerable businesses and organizations as we speak. Especially if that involves social media.

Social media platforms are quite a funny place. They turn videos into crass visuals, an incident into memes, and repetition a trend. Come on, as soon as a person does a somersault to a funny song and uploads it on Instagram or TikTok, you would drown in a sea of reels made by different people but doing the exact same thing - the same somersault act with the same song playing in the video.

The absence of originality, or even change for that matter, has affected our choices and perceptions in such a manner that the bombardment of the same type of content by hundreds of other creators would still make us laugh. Because we will still see those videos while we have a meal or when we are commuting. We watch because we pay our attention to them. Or rather, we pay with our attention.

But wait. What do we pay for?

Human Attention and Data Algorithms

What we see on social media influences our opinions, beliefs, and (thus) our tendency to stay hooked on the platform for hours while it would seem like a couple of minutes to us. So, in most cases, we pay for entertainment, amusement, or even knowledge on online platforms with our undue attention.

As a matter of fact, our attention span has lowered down significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020. As digital consumption reached an all-time high, there was a surge in content generation (not creation, exactly) on social media platforms as well as other websites, all of which had one goal in particular - to gain a lot of viewers for as long as possible.

How can you commodify attention?

In order to understand how Attention is becoming an important global commodity, let’s look at the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). The YPP invites creators to join the platform to boost their businesses to greater heights. In order to be eligible for their monetization policy, the YPP states that your YouTube Channel must have either of the two criteria fulfilled:

Your channel (with long-form videos) must have 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 authentic public watch hours in the last 12 months,

OR

Your channel (short-form videos) must have 1,000 subscribers with 10 million authentic public Shorts views in the last 90 days

For more details regarding the YPP, click here.

As you can see, the number of views that the videos in your channel get is a deciding factor. Although you may have 1k subscribers, what matters is how much the subscribers are looking forward to your content. In short, YouTube implies that the creator must have the audience’s attention at all times. This need for more views had already come into being since 2018, before the pandemic.

In a way, an Attention Economy has come into being, as a byproduct of a world that is neck-deep into information; information that is endless and unchecked. With the inception of the internet, there has always been an undeterred focus on increasing the amount of content that is available. After all, the human mind tends to look for more options to make better judgment.

However, Herbert A. Simon looks at this from a different angle. He says that there is no dearth in the amount of information on the web. Rather, there is a scarcity of attention for the information that is available online. In his work Designing Organizations for an Information-rich World, he writes;

“What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.” (Simon, pp. 37-52)

How does Data demand your attention?

It’s pretty simple. It just reduces the length, structure, and duration of the content. That way, the reader can read or watch the content without the concern of spending “too much time in it”. When, ironically, they are spending the same time, or more, to watch one 30-minute video or a 6-page text.

The Attention Economy, thus, has influenced Marketing and Sales strategies to a great extent. For instance, the SEO mechanism necessitates the use of short sentences. Also short paragraphs, with a certain group of keywords. But the article should make sense. Just like how this article has been written. Into chunks of paragraphs so that we can hold on to you until your attention runs out!

Thus, the new approach to digital consumption is to seek for more attention and find ways to allot it among the excess data available. In other words, as the Explore section on Instagram helps you discover new creators, memes or trends regularly, the algorithm bombards you with the same somersault video being made by other 638 creators. That way, the trend would keep on going until another “quirky” video (within a week or less) pops up and eventually becomes another new trend.

Rationing your Attention

Yes, you read it right. As our senses and minds are being overwhelmed by the overabundance of content on the web - textual or visual, premium or free -, it is high time that we took control over the quantity and quality of content that we should expose ourselves to. And certainly, you can bring in small changes in your daily routine and habits that would eventually culminate into a greater change in your online activities.

Some of the recommended ways to ration your attention for the sake of your mental and emotional well-being are:

• Set up app timers that would block your apps as soon as you spend the specified duration of time on a particular day. Apps like Digital Wellbeing allow you to regulate your screen time on certain apps - social media, shopping, gaming, etc.

• Using productivity apps like Forest is a healthy way to mitigate the amount of time you spend on your phone. You can set a timer of an hour or so on the Forest app, and choose to do a chore, read a book, or do something to amuse yourself. After all, you can’t use your phone until the timer on the Forest app comes to an end!

• Yoga and Meditation. Yes, the same suggestion over and over again when it comes to health and wellness. But it is true that meditation is beneficial for your mind and body. So, maybe spare some time in yoga instead of YouTube when you wake up in the morning?

• Develop your weekly routine so that it can accommodate a couple of hours at night for social detox. Well, it is best to stay away from gadgets a couple of hours before you go to bed. Also, social detox is one of the best ways to work on your digital consumption. So, good sleep and good health, guaranteed.

The longer the views, the better the returns. And by returns, it simply means recognition, popularity, and finances for certain. After all, special award ceremonies hosted by social media platforms would not have happened if Attention was never commodified by businesses.

With each passing day, as new trends and newer gadgets enter the market, we find our attention span decreasing at an alarming rate. Likewise, our interests too are changing at the same pace. As we jump from one trend to the other, our minds are barely given enough space to process and defuse the sheer stress of information overload that has not become the new normal.

Being spammed with 15-20 odd notifications at an hourly rate not only delivers priority notifications but also bombards us with information that is unnecessary. This excess of information that we receive to us via news alerts or WhatsApp forwards is actually cluttering our brains with data that is not really required in the long run. Thus, the need to ration your attention is quite crucial for the well-being of your intellect and emotional quotient. Be it productivity or leisure, one must prioritize the kinds of content that you want to expose yourself to, so that your mind can get a breather to process information that is necessary.

Hence, in a world that seeks to rise in views and likes over quality and originality, let’s take a moment to ponder over how the content affects you. Does it actually leave a good impression on you, or do you laugh at the meme because many people find it “relatable”? Do you actually want the shirt you see online, or is it for the good reviews it has received from past customers?

After all, manipulation is an age-old technique of entrapment. Thus, it is better to think about what you actually like, than go with what the herd wants.

Citations:

• Simon, Herbert A (1971). Designing Organizations for an Information-rich World. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 37–52. 

Blog collaborator: Apurba Ganguly (she/her) is an English literature student, pursuing B.Ed (English). She has been eager to understand the intricacies of Memory Studies and Visual Narratives.