December 2016
It is always a joy to see Ragu and Nisha . And especially so at their farm in Coimbatore. For the one day that I was there, they held a "Farmers Retreat" -- which I'd say was the first-ever ServiceSpace retreat with farmers! It was so awesome to see their…
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Today, on Ishwar-Kaka 's death anniversary, I found myself reflecting on death. This photo, from a few months ago, has an inspiring feel. It's the photo of Arun Dada at his beloved wife's funeral. Jignasha had sent it to me, mentioning that there was no sense of…
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I came in late last night to Kumbakonam, to address the elected leaders of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India . About a million CA students pass through their institution every year. Our rich interaction set off a field for a ripples, and the Q&A went on for so long that…
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I've had a bunch of deja-vu moments recently. On the face of it, I've had loads of activity. But underneath, there's an increasing suspicion that I'm just on a joy-ride in the passenger seat. :) Take a recent example. Lalit hosted me for a talk two…
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Under the care of Deven and Shaalini, I arrived in Auroville today. Had a nice talk for couple hours with a conscious community of change-makers, on the merits of ServiceSpace's three design principles : labor of love, work with what you have, and focus on small. By the end, we…
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Landed up at Mark and Yoo-mi's place today in Pondicherry. The two of them have been supporting ServiceSpace practically since it's beginning, and as Yoo-mi likes to joke , "It's ruined my life. I can't do anything for money anymore." :) Mark and Yoo-mi…
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One highlight in Chennai was meeting Vinya's husband, Sunand, for the very first time! True to her big-hearted spirit, Vinya wrote this super-sweet note to my parents and Guri: Dearest Aunty, Uncle and Guri, I am writing this email a few hours after Sunand and I drove Nipun from…
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Couple years back, after my talk on humility , I met Hitesh. A seeker, a vegan, father of an adopted daughter, a successful entrepreneur -- he's a very unique combination. :) Our friendship rippled into another talk at Emory last October. And he was keen that if I'm…
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Bhuvana held an Awakin Circle in Chennai today. She used to host in Bombay, and recently moved to Chennai -- and decided that she would host it every week, even if no one else is able to join. It shouldn't surprise me by now, but there's something about these circles. :) …
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About 40 folks from elite universities decided to head into a 15-day village immersion , leaving behind all the comforts of their home, to understand the lives and mindsets of many millions of their rural brothers and sisters. In my talk, I spoke to them about tuning into "village…
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