Author: Shankar Jaganathan

11. My Best Commercial Lesson My best commercial lesson learnt is from the Roman philosopher Cicero’s book On Duties written to educate his son on essentials for a happy life. Writing on ethics of commercial practices, Cicero narrates a debate between Greek philosophers, Diogenes the master and his pupil Antipater. Their debate centers on a sellers’ duty that I find valid even after 2,000 years. In the first instance, a grain merchant’s ship is sailing to the famine affected island …

I am a budget conscious buyer who looks at the price tag more than once before buying. However, there are situations in which price recedes in my buying decisions. On reflection, I feel that I am not alone in this as I have seen even the shrewdest buyers ignore price in these seven situations. Can this awareness benefit us? While this knowledge may not make us shrewd buyers, a sincere hope is for some noticeable change.    …

Long being envious of swimmers gliding through water, the last two years of my attempts to learn swimming has remained an attempt only. Given my early morning preoccupation with gym and TT, and my love for long walks in the evening, finding time to swim is a challenge. Or is this lack of time due to absence of talent? Analyzing my swimming pool experience, I see swimmers at different stages of learning: novice learners like me, the accomplished artist, the …

Starting a day without sipping coffee for me is unimaginable. Starting with coffee the list of what I consume daily almost looks endless.  While consumption is essential for life, I am not sure if my cup of coffee is essential or an indulgence. Further, my consumption is not just to meet physical needs, but more of it addresses my psychological needs like the You-tube subscription for ad-free music. Analyzing my consumption, I see it in four baskets of physical and …

Feeling good is a basic need for a happy life. Like the five fingers in our hand, I see human wellbeing too rooted in five essential elements: Irrespective of the cards we are dealt with in our life, I feel our well-being is in our own hands based on how we react. The five fingers on our hand are a constant reminder of the five elements to realize it. They say thumb is the most critical finger. Which of these …

6. Social Interactions On retirement, the common knowledge that man is a social animal became my personal realization. As the opportunity for daily interaction with people declined, I began to eagerly look forward to social occasions where I meet people. Returning from these events, in reflective mood I could see four distinct types of interaction that dominated different stages of human life. The child gradually moves from personal interactions based on love, to love supplemented by common interests, to impersonal …

Consumers to Creators   Browsing the mobile has replaced our earlier habit of scanning newspaper headlines. Often some types of headlines catch our attention more than others. On reflection, we see similar items that make news every day. With social media, there is a big change: we have morphed from being a consumer to creators of news. Here is my stock-take of what makes news to helps us engage better with our audience. Criteria for newsworthiness is the same, whether …

Mortality -A Few Thoughts Post-retirement in the last two years, every month has been marked by my visits to crematorium.  It made me realize the obvious fact that death is the only certainty for all born on this earth. I can add from my personal experience that growing older, we come across more deaths in our family and friends’ circles often triggering thoughts on mortality. While all deaths are painful and distressing as we lose the person we love, and …

3. My Heros -Altruists They say you admire what you are not, and I can vouch for it. For a person who has trouble giving away an old ill-fitting pant, people like Mother Theresa and Azim Premji amaze me. Their self-less behavior is inspirational and appeals to my heart as they are an exception where the norm for personal behavior is to be selfish if not self-centered. While all self-less acts appeal to me, I am intrigued and enamored by …

Our society consists of people with different belief systems. Artificial Intelligence (AI) dominating many conversations today reflect this difference. Some believe AI can usher in Utopia, while others see doom and gloom. Can our deep underlying belief about the direction of progress explain this divide? Does a conservative or a progressive belief explain this divide? The contrasting positions of the two views was historically seen in the changing role of women in society, and in more recent times it manifests …

My Constitution Countries have their own constitution, so I wonder why not have a constitution written for me. A constitution to define who I am and commit to state my core beliefs. It would spell out my values and etch out my self-imposed restraints. The “directive principles” laid out in the constitution would help me govern my conduct and identify violations as and when they arise. In addition to directive principles, a constitution would define the executive, the legislature, citizens …