1000WADv3 – 922

400050 to 400079

Day 5 / 100 of the 1000WADv3. I am writing this a day late. Last night a combination of factors made is tough for me to post it. All of those will sound like whines from an old man but I’d rather focus on “create” than “crib.” So here goes. Also, read this as a continuation post to the one I made when I moved from Nahar to Bandra.

So, about a fortnight back, I moved from Bandra to Vikhroli. And everyone I tell this to, they are ~~surprised~~ shocked. One of my colleagues says and I quote, “the dumbest idea I’ve ever had”

Of course it is a dumb idea. Of course they are shocked. Bandra is where all the hipsters are. Vikhroli is where all the lukhkhas are. Bandra is cool. Vikhroli doesn’t even qualify to be included on the continuum of cool to drab.

Unless, you are BUYing yourself a home in one of the new high-rises that are dotting this side of the town. In fact lot of friends from MDI have made homes on this belt. And since these folks and others buying a house here are the rich ones, the area is “upgrading” with new fancier restaurants, salons, cinema halls et al coming up. Of course its getting expensive. Ok, I am digressing and trying to sort of defend Vikhroli. Cut. Back to the move.

So, why did I move? One simple reason. Money. I have a limited budget in terms of rental that I want to pay. And I have unlimited expectation from the house I want to live in. Marrying the two is impossible in a city like Mumbai, especially when there are greater fools around. So I had to look for a place where I compromise a tad on both (pay a tad extra and get a tad less amenities).

My list of expectations include (and is not limited to), a gated compound, a place with enough space that the two people living there dont bump into each other while walking, an ample view of sky, a newish building free of pests, access to public transport, proximity to a Starbucks (and a Starbucks only), home delivery of groceries, minimal interference from neighbours. There is more but these are like SUPER essential. To give context, Nahar offers you all these things. Think of Bandra – it offers transport, Starbucks and groceries at best. Rest, well…

My budget, lesser said about it, better. I am doing great financially but I am still far from a car and I cant even think of a house. Chasing your dreams and treading your own path is the worst thing that you could ever do, if you want to make it big. Digressing again. Back to move.

So, I had to move away from Bandra because I found it too claustrophobic – there was the sea and the old world charm and cute women and fancy restaurants and clubs and restaurants and performance venues and celebrity spotting and Shameem’s studio and Jai Jawan and all that – and I had to move away. Its an amazing place but not for me. May be once I have made enough money to afford the kind of house I want to live in, I will reconsider Bandra.

After a ton of permutations and combinations, I realised that it had to be either Kandivali (Thakur Village etc.) or Vikhroli. Both are far from the places where I chill at – office (which is close to Andheri Station). And no, I dont want to travel in train (or metro) on an average day. And since Vikhroli is close to two or three friends I have in Mumbai and to Powai (the best part of Mumbai after the queen’s necklace), it made sense to choose Vikhroli.

So I moved here a couple of weeks back. And like each time I have moved around in Mumbai, the experience with brokers was far less from pleasant (there is SUCH a BIG need for a professional brokerage services that it’s not funny – more on this sometime later). In fact I am still sleeping on the floor and the AC’s dont work and… No, I shall not crib. Back to the move, Mr. Garg.

Now that I am here, let me look to the future. Life has been kind in the last few months. Work has more or less fell into a rhythm (I still am a part of two growing organizations), I have saved some money and I can now take time off to think on a wider canvas.

So, here’s the offer. Wait. Lemme copy-paste from the old post.

… if you live in / around ~~Bandra~~ Powai / Ghatkopar / Vikhroli and would want to catch up for coffee / drinks / something, please do let me know. While I have varied interests, I can hold interesting conversations on startups, marketing, branding, poker, travel, writing and self-improvement. Up for it? I am @saurabh on twitter.

The focus is on media and entertainment business, especially live events. And of course starting up. I dont have an expertise to offer, but I am pretty handy with seeing the larger picture, working on communication / marketing / brand-building et al. After all that’s what I’ve done for the last 10 or so years! I am on saurabhgarg.com/contact.

That’s it. Do let me know next time you are at 400079. Till then, over and out.

P.S.: Apologies for the delay on post and I know that this is not 1000 words but I dont have anything else to add. And I stand by my words. The kitty is 1000 bucks. And there will be a post for 21st

Untitled – 17 Oct 2016

Day 2 / 100 of the 1000WADv3.

Day 2. The toughest of them all. You’ve just announced a new habit that is anyway tough to keep up to (1000 words is no mean feat – easily a 2-hour job) and it hasn’t met with the mass hysteria that you hoped it would create. You dont have any motivation to do it. But you have to. If you dont, you risk public ridicule. If you do, you’d have to kill the procrastination dragon. You dont know which is the lesser evil. Irrespective. You have to do what you have to.

So, today, its been a busy day. Lot of errands to run at home. Lot of small meetings at work. Both require a lot of attention and are unproductive in the long run. The kind of chores that you ought to outsource. Not that you’d do great things with your time but its your time nonetheless. You can damn well sleep at that time. Its your time.

I did get some time to read a few things. The one that topped the list was this article that dissed Chetan Bhagat. But then apart from talking about Chetan Bhagat, the article also talked about this set of Hindi authors (Ashish Chaudhary, Nikhil Sachan and Divya Prakash Dubey) that are apparently as big as Chetan is. These guys write in Hindi, for an audience that is Hindi and like Chetan Bhagat, are a bridge between the classical, literary authors and mass, colloquial readers. I hadnt heard their names but a tiny investigation revealed that they actually exist! And exist they do. They are kings and princes of the Hindi heartland. May be I need to look at that as a market! Or may be not. I am not sure I have time to create things. Or talent for that matter. I remain mediocre at best. A persistent one at that. And I’ve learned that a persistent and mediocre dude is always better than a lazy exceptional man.

The other highlight of the day is the renewed focus on being efficient and effective. For a change, I could focus on things while I worked. Not that I got more things done but I am hoping I would retain lot more than previous times. The theory by definition will take some time to test but I shall keep at this focus bit.

Other disjointed piece of information that I have started to settle down at the new house. And my luck continue to remain fucked up with the house. Guess its a sign, that I am going to get a place of my own pretty soon. And going by the going rates of realty prices in the city, my first million is just around the corner!

I got into a bet with a colleague that I would be 30″ same time next year. So #in2017, I will be 30″. Super tall task and considering the fact that I’ve struggled with weight all my life, I will need to put in super-human effort to do so. And you know what? I will. I am already off Coke (and all sugarless variants, Red Bull and coffee). I need to cut on processed food and add some sort of work out. And once I get into the groove, it should be easy. Look at this guy. If he could, I can. Of course he ran a half-marathon. I am sure I can do it as well.

And the ~~last~~ yet another thing for this update. I continue to have the regret that I dont get time to read as much I want to. I recently got an Agatha Christie – that has made me restart reading. I am seriously thinking to reactivate the Kindle that I dont use. But may be, I dont need a Kindle. All I probably need is an intent to read! I’d may be take a 100 books a year challenge once I am done with these 100 posts. Or may be I will find a better way to work and make out more time for reading?

Brings me the last thing for this post. Thing is, I am just vomiting out all the unconnected thoughts and threads that I have in my head. Anyhow. SO today I sat and thought about how I want to work. And I realised that I suck at how I work. I spend a lot of time in actually doing things. Which is not cool if you ask me. At this stage in life, I have to manage things. I have to find people to help me do shit. In fact I just posted about the kind of person I want to work with. You know of someone I could work with? Please help me with some direction. I will really appreciate it.

Thats about it from this post.

Oh, one more thing. Do let me know if you want to be updated as I post the daily 1000 words. You have my email address and twitter handle (@saurabh). 🙂

P.S.: Not checking for copy and grammar. May be will edit it tomorrow or day after. Or a weekend. Or may be never. That’s the point. No?

P.P.S.: Not very happy with how this post has come out. But, for the time being, the struggle is to churn out those 1000 words a day and not worry about the quality.

Introducing #1000WADv3

Today on, I am starting #1000WADv3. 1000 words a day, version 3.

In simple words, I will write 1000 words EVERY day for the next 100 days (at least) without fail. In case you want me to email you when I publish the post, let me know and I will add you to the list. There are 4 people on the list already. The day I dont write, I’d donate 1000 bucks to my poker kitty. Sidenote: I did something similar about #book2 and I never got around to keeping my word. Let me take this up in a bit.

So, lately I have been super busy with work and travel and shifting the house. And as a result, I havent been reading, havent been writing, havent been exploring ideas, talking, meeting new people, growing or anything that has made me who I am. So, there is this void in life. I am not happy – I mean I am happy most days, most times. If I look back at this phase of life ten years from now, I will consider myself happy. But that thing, that magic that we seek from life is missing. I cant put a finger to it but hope you guys get the drift.

Anyhow, so, I need to reclaim life and what better way to do so than getting back to writing? For as long as I can remember, writing has given me pleasure and I’ve never had any issues with churning words — I am very fast writer — but I have had issues with sitting down to write.

I have had phases where I’ve written for days non-stop and then there have been phases where I havent written a single word (this one for example – the last time I wrote, it was septemberthe23rd. Almost 15 days, if not more. If I were Suketu Mehta, it makes sense to not write for this long. But I am not. Thing is, it takes serious effort for me to write something that is half-decent. And unless I write copious amount of words, I wont be able to leave behind a body of work that keeps me alive after I am gone.

Wait! Do I want to leave something behind? Something to be around when I am gone? I dont know. As I grow older, I feel that the impending end of time is closer than ever and the reality has started to hit home. No, I am not scared. No, I am not suicidal. No, I am not depressed. Its just that with every passing day the frivolity of life is getting more evident (may be its all the reading around death that I am onto lately – When Breath Becomes Air, Chasing Daylight, what else can I read?). Its disappointing that you live through all these years, hoping to make a dent in the universe and in the end it amounts to nothing. There is no grand plan. There are no white lights at the end of the tunnel. All is useless.

Except…

Except things that keep you going, before you die.

For example, something that you are attached to. People in most cases. Family, friends etc. I live away from my folks and I hardly have any friends per se. Or for example routines, things, disciplines, beliefs that you get attached to. You get so attached that you want to live forever on one end of extreme. And you want to kill (or even get killed) on the other. Religion is a case in point. Or may be the blinding chase of a passion project that wakes people up in the morning and like Warren says, makes people tap dance to work. There is no passion project for me except writing. There are few other things that I want to take up but I am not consumed by those yet. For example, there is this thing in my head where I want to impact a large subset of humanity but I have no clue how to go about it.

Even with writing, because of all the useless action around me, I have been postponing writing. Actually come to think of it, since I can remember I have postponed things, procrastinated to the next minute. Next hour. Next day. Next month. Next year. All the time keeping things pending for the tomorrow that would be brighter and better and see me more richer, more famous, more comfortable and God knows what all. Funny thing is that, none of it is true. Tomorrow is as useless as yesterday is. The worst thing you could do, ever, is to put things off to tomorrow. Of course, there is a “right time” and there are things that require deliberate practise before you master them – say, learning guitar, or running a marathon. Its ok to invest time to learn things. But the lessons can NOT wait. You have to do them while you are awake. There is jack shit on the other side of the sleep.

The point is, the “better” world is not coming anytime soon. Ever. All you have is today. The now. You cant fuck the tomorrow for whatever may be trying to fuck it for you. You’ve got to be that unstoppable force that is willing to collide with an immovable object. I’ve learnt that friends often arent around when you need them most, families tend to engage in petty politics more than they care for you, bosses and colleagues tend to be assholes. The day you are getting late, you will get red light on each intersection. Shit goes wrong. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Of course there are exceptions but you cant let anything affect the steady rock in your head. Funny that the person with mood swings larger than the Foucault’s is talking about being stable. Being sane. Being immovable. Gyaan is easy. No?

But, as I go along, I will make sure I become stable. I dont know what could help. But there has to be something.

I think it all starts with one small thing – the resolve to do things now. Keyword is Now. Its ok to make mistakes. Its ok to pay for action. Action trumps everything else. And things = writing, getting out of the bed, putting on those running shoes, saying no to that last piece of jalebi and so on and so forth. Action. Things. Now.

And to kickstart one of the things, I promise that I will write 1000 words a day. For the next 100 days atleast. Follow me as I do this. Help me do this. Reprimand me if I falter. And may be, just may be, take up the challenge? 1000 words a day for you too? Or may be 10000 steps a day? Or something else that you thought you wanted to do but havent had the time to?

Oh, one more thing. This one, on promises.
So, through my life I have made promises and more often than not, I tend to deliver on those promises. But lately, since I’ve got busy with things, I havent kept my word. I have promised things and I havent delivered. With clients, friends, colleagues, people etc. I even made a similar promise about #book2 and I did not keep it. And it sucks! I want to avoid this suckiness in my head as I go along. I want to sleep in peace at night.

I know I cant fix what is broken but going forth, I will not make promises that I cant deliver on. My word has to become Gold standard. People have to put enough faith in me. All that will happen if I start delivering. Most times I do. But then I need to aim for perfection and ensure that I deliver on EVERY promise. My zubaan has to be respected. After all zubaan is what makes the world go around. I am nothing if I cant keep my word.

As I start afresh, the first promise going ahead, is to write 1000 words a day. Starting today. Godspeed Mr. Garg.