Category: #in2017

In 2017. I…

Inspired by Sanjukta Basu’s year in review, here is mine. PS.: I don’t have the balls to be as open and as strong as her. So I will talk about things that I comfortable talking about. This means that this will be a superficial post. The real SG is still behind a veil. And anyway I did not do a lot this year and there are hardly any achievements that I can think. So dunno what I’ll talk about! 

Also, to be able to do this, I will have to review posts on this blog, go through my twitter stream, see my FB updates and refer to my emails. Yeah I am that forgetful. 

Jan.

  • Started with euphoria about the new year and how I’ll achieve the impossible in 2017. Of course I did nothing of sort. I merely cribbed about how miserable I was. I talked about how I was #foreverAlone and how I ought to do something about it.

P.S.: Cribbing is something I need to stop this year. I think I did work on it last year. I will never know. I will have to find out from others. And I need to stop the self-deprecating humor that I enjoy so much. Like I said, I need to remove all negativity from life. 

Feb.

  • I tried to start Modern Love. Failed miserably at it. Trying to start again. In case you can help me, do read this.

Mar.

  • Took at few sessions at IMS for the interview / GD training modules. Loved it! I think most of my happiness comes when I am giving gyaan. Now, I know giving gyaan will not take me places but I love it when I talk, when I know I AM making a difference. Is there a lesson there?

Apr.

  • I read this post by KK and I realised that life is short and need to jack up the efforts. Thought on things and made a life change. Read my post here. It has made me start keeping track of time and life. As of today, I have 2919 days to go. P.S.: Nothing has happened on the effort front it to be honest but I am little more organized and I am more productive for sure. Need to do more of this #in2018. 
  • Actioned xTyres. Till date its not live. Sigh.
  • Got a new logo for onWriting.in. I love it! You?

May.

  • Started the #100HappyDays after I got inspired by this talk by a colleague. I lasted 40 days. I will take it up soon. May be from Feb 1? Who’s in?  



Jun.

  • Won our first award at C4E. Not that I care (may I do if I am talking about it here) but it does help get some mileage. Need to reach a point with work that we dont need awards to get mileage. 
  • Took a holiday to Goa. My first where I stayed at a 5-star. Went with friends that I made at MDI – people that I can die for! 



Jul.

  • Started the Saturday Breakfast Thing. Again, did not take it to a point where it could matter. Did one session and no-one else wanted to be a part of it. Do I want to do this again? May be. Will think during the year. 
  • Bought myself a TV (twitter, blogpost). Next tangible thing I’d get will be a car. Or a house. Lets see. 

Aug.

  • Asked a designer friend to work with me. She rejected me outright by saying that I am an average Joe and she does not work with average Joes. Took it to heart and been trying to be not an average since. And not really doing a great job. Will need to pull socks. 

Sep.

  • Recorded the first ever video podcast. Was in front of the camera for the first time EVER. Got out of my comfort zone. Dint like it but it was cool. Need to do more things this year that take me out of the comfort zone. 
  • Quit Diet Coke. This time on insistence of a client. A first for me. As I write this, I havent had one since Sep. Will start this year. No that I enjoy the taste. Just that I dont like to refrain from it without a reason. I know that it fucks health and its a reason in itself but come on! 
  • Got my first ever evasive surgery done. My fears about hospitals, they came true. Hospitals ARE the worst places in the world. Especially the Indian ones. I promised myself that I will never ever see the inside of an emergency room again. Will work on health this year. 
  • Also, took at loan to work on a project. Yet to pay it back. Hope to pay it this year. 

Oct.

  • Made attempts to get active as a startup advisor. Starting working with 2 companies. Nothing came out of it. Need to ramp up efforts on the front. 
  • Hired my first full-time employee for AWSL.
  • Took sessions at EMDI. Loved em. Like I loved sessions at IMS. Need to teach more often. 
  • Relationship shite. Lesser said the better. 

Nov.

  • Went to the Mumbai edition of the MDI alumni meet. Realised my insignificance. Realised that I am unable to make deep relationships. Realised that I am laughing stock for a lot of people. But does that affect me? At times, yes. Most times, no. 
  • Lost a super important pitch. To the point that I lost my sleep. And its important to record here because if I can lose that pitch, I can not win any other! Need to work on pitching bit this year. 
  • 3 years since #tnks first came out. Where the F is #book2, Mr. Garg?  
  • Got a life coach. Did a session but could not continue. Maybe will do in this year. Dont really see any benefit but will try it again for sure. 

Dec.

  • Passed in a blur (was busy with a major project). Enjoyed every bit of it. But had to lose a lot of things to ensure that the project went well. Sad part? Cant talk to anyone about it. 
  • Started #aPicADay on Insta. Checkout my feed here. Been 37 days on the trot. Lets see how long I last. I plan to do it till the day I die. I know. High hopes 😉
  • Took 50th flight in the year. My first one ever was in 2005 I think (from MDI. Or was it 2004?) Since then I’ve religiously kept every boarding pass. To date, flying is a big deal. 

Phew! What a year. Lol. WTF a year is more like it.

That’s about it. Sam said it right when he said that “days are long but decades are short.” And anyhow, I am a believer in the hedonic treadmill. So I think I am overall ok. I mean I did work a lot, made some money, got some clients, made some contacts and all that. But it was pretty insignificant. Lets see what 2018 has in store.

Over and out.

P.S.: in2018, I will…

Modern Love – Call for partnerships

Sent this email to a select set of people. Reply if you are in.

Hello, 

Writing in to explore your opinion (and help) on a new project that I am hoping to create. 

I call it Modern Love and its going to be a collection of personal stories, anecdotes, experiences, incidents and other such things that emerge out of a middle-aged, modern Indian’s pursuit of love. Of course, love could mean different things to different people. For some, it could be the love for their pet, for some it could be the chase of someone that they can retire with, for others it could be finding meaning in their otherwise drab married lives, or could be as cool as the love for a certain activity, thing, say driving?

Plus when I say modern, it HAS to be set in modern India, in the contemporary times. And it has to be a real life story. Your story. Your friends’. Your neighbours. Or of the guy next door. A real person with real emotions. Real story. So imagine you are writing about your experiences with your spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, pets, colleagues, tinder dates, okCupid contacts, twitter crushes, train-friends, building buddies, instagram celebrities and so on and so forth. The common “thread” for this collection has to be modernity. And the impact of modernity on how we Indians love (or express it, or talk about it, or experience it, or indulge in it etc).

That’s it!

What do you think? Will you want to contribute a story? Will you want to read these stories? Will you have the time to edit this? Will you want to tweet about this?

If yes, here are the specifics.

Who can contribute?: Each of you is a writer (some of you are published, some believe you are amateurs, some do blogs and some want to be; Plus, I’ve interacted with you at some point in time) and thus this email. How about I invite you to write a piece on modern love and share with me? And then allow me to publish on a blog.

Output:I am thinking of a blog right now. Once we have a blog out, if we get traction, I can pester Grapevine, my publisher or Crossword (the bookstore) to publish an anthology. Honestly, not a big fan of anthologies but I never say never 🙂 Or we can gather all stories and do an ebook or something – free distribution over a blog / twitter etc. Nothing fancy.

And if all goes well, I would REALLY like to do a movie. Like Love Actually, Paris, Jetaime, NY, I Love You or even Metro from closer home. Yes, a super long shot but when they landed on moon, it was a long shot come true.

The thing is, the way Christmas binds the stories in Love Actually; Paris, NY and Mumbai bound the stories together in other three movies, I would want Love and Modern Love to bind our stories together. And no. It doesnt have to be hyperlink cinema. 

Target Audience: I do NOT believe in writing for a specific audience. I write for writing. However if this helps you write, think that you are writing for a 30-something adult in India. Above average income, independent, “educated” and has been in and out of love for some time. Someone who is aware of the world around him. Someone who has an opinion. Someone who believes that his / her love story is unique. Someone like me.

Word Limits: None. I am ok with a couplet. I am ok with an entire book. You are free to a Proust if you want to. You decide. How many words do you need to tell your story? 

Selection Criteria: I don’t know. I am not a great judge. I thinking that each submission will be made live on a blog. And then let the wisdom of crowds take over. Or I will ask some of you to volunteer and help us.

Money: I am not even thinking on this. But, in case you are, whatever money we make, I will keep the numbers in public domain and all of it will be donated to Mensa India (or any other apt beneficiary we can think of). Please do NOT do this for money. Rather, do this for love!

End Notes: And like all my projects, this remains open – in terms of details. And unlike other projects, I am very sure that I want to do this.

It would be such a heartwarming thing to read stories of other people like ourselves. No?

Also, you may want to read www.nytimes.com/column/modern-love for some fascinating reading. And I think Love Actually is the closest thing to what I have in my head for this project.

Please do revert to me with your thoughts and ideas. In case you are ok with the details I’ve shared, please do send me a confirmation of your participation by end the week?

Will take it from there.

Thanks for your patience.

Regards,
@saurabh

#in2017, I will

#in2017, I will do the following. In no order,

[Work]

  • Make C4E amongst the best live entertainment businesses in the country. And subsequently, in the world. More about C4E is at https://medium.com/c4-entertainment.
  • Evolve AWSL into a brand consulting business. The website is not up yet but will be. 
  • Create a third revenue stream. When I say third, the first two are C4E and AWSL. In that order. 
[Health]
  • Be 32″ in girth. I am 36″ as we speak. 
  • Finish a half marathon. 

[Personal]

  • Get back to drinking Diet Coke. Last I had a coke was in 2015. I wrote about it here. Update. I had 3 today itself.
  • Compete in an amateur pool tournament. Right now, I don’t even know if we have Am tourneys in India. Know of some? Point me to them. 
  • Final table a poker tourney that has more than 50 entrants. 
  • Create a piece of public art. As of now, it looks like a coffee table book with Jayati. May or may not happen. 
  • Get a third passport booklet. There are 7 pages left in the second booklet. And there is one trip planned so far. Need to do 6 more. Got it in Sep. 
  • Buy a car. 

[Writing]

  • Complete #book2 and get it ready for publishing. 
  • Make onWriting.in a key player in the Indian publishing business. 

[Misc]
Dont know what categories to put this in. These are good to have, not MUST have. And this implies, others are MUST have. 

  • Attend a 10-day Vipassana session (I did one way back in 2009)
  • Teach
  • Fall in love

[Moon Shots]

  • Work towards The Everest. 
  • Find out ways to impact a billion lives.
  • Get to Rs. 1 crore in bank. Its still not a million but its almost 1/6th of that. A start. As of today, I have Rs. 11,942.73. Thats like 100x.
  • Read 50 books. The list of books I want to read is here. Tell me the ones I must read. Preferably non-fiction. 
  • Make tunnels ;P 
Thats all. Look a lot but it aint not too much if I remain focused. ‘If’ is the key operative here. 
You know a funny thing? The list looks ALMOST similar to the one I had made in 2015. So, in two years, I havent changed. Or grown up. Damn, Mr. Garg! Just that this time, with age, I seemed to have mellowed down. Most of these goals look realistic now. Except the moonshots. But thats what moonshots are for. No?

And for the record, here are similar posts from 2014, 2013 and 2012.

What are your goals? Do you have a list? Share it with me? Lets work together and make this the best years of our lives? 
Saurabh Garg
1 Jan 2017
Mumbai

P.S. Apart from this tangible goals, I sent this letter to a few friends, colleagues and mentors. May be you will find this useful. In the letter I talk about 7 things that could help life get better. They are making the most of time we have left, finding the muse, reading, paying it forward, living a mindful life, getting a goal and start saying thank you. Most of my goals echo these 7 themes and I will keep reiterating these as I go along!

P.P.S.: #note2self, I must do a hits and misses post. Like I did in 2016.