This was initially written on February 6, 2022. Links added and post expanded with more details on February 8, 2022.
I tested positive for COVID-19 on January 26, 2022. I was fully vaccinated with COVAXIN.
I had high fever (102 degF) on January 25, 2022. Having Dolo 650 did not help in controlling the fever beyond reducing it marginally to 100 degF. I consulted with a doctor on the Government of India’s app eSanjeevani. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and suggested that I do an RT-PCR.
My wife did not sleep that night. She says she could feel me burning with fever. She then went on to apply wet cloth on my forehead to try and cool my head. Her efforts to check oxygen levels and temperature gave differing levels which increased her worry at night. I slept through this asking her not to worry. This did not help her.
The next day the fever subsided. It was followed by cold and episodic cough. But, I think the worst was the week after. I was exhausted and could not focus on anything.
Although the symptoms (including the episodic cough) subsided after a week, the exhaustion lasted till February 6, 2022. Only a lot of sleep and a lot of fluids help me overcome the exhaustion.
I spent the time watching YouTube videos of Matt Ragland. But, I slept through many of the videos. The exhaustion was a constant right through the last two weeks.
I had a lot of plans for 2022. Like everyone else. One thing that 2021 illustrated was not to say yes to too many things. You end up disappointing others and yourself.
This informed me when I was filling up the YearCompass and I chose to select two things to focus on for 2022. Writing and reading.
I write for a living. I write field documentation and manuals for a living. I want to practice writing more type of documents to expand my horizons. I also want to write fiction. I want to contribute by writing documentation for open source software.
But, as I shared above, I want to focus on two things at a time. I want to first improve my skills in writing field documentation and fiction.
The other thing I want to focus on, is reading. Through 2021, I had stopped reading. I could not read anything long. I wanted to get back to reading. I started by listening to the audiobook version of Dune. I followed that up by listening to the audiobook version of the Neuromancer.
Towards the end of 2021, I started reading Indian Philosophy, inspired in part by the work that Ryan Holiday does with Stoicism. So, one branch of my reading will be spent reading/listening to fiction and another reading Indian Philosophy.
My friend Saurabh introduced me to the wonders of a year-planning tool called YearCompass. I spent today filling it out with the new Kanwrite fountain pen that I got from Amazon today.
It has helped me clear many things that I want from me in the new year ahead.
I know I have not been hanging around here a lot but thanks for sticking around. I hope to see more of myself here in 2022. Wishing you all a Happy New Year.
Pune skyline is red and purple. The city roads in the foreground. Image Credit: Pradeep Mohandas
For the past few days we have been taking pics of the horizon at sunset. We have been sharing these on my Instagram account. This one had me thinking.
The horizon is beautiful in a palette of red, blue and purple. There are several mixtures of these colours in striated layers at the horizon. There are stray clouds throughout the sky. Some are black and menacing but most are white and look almost lazy. The winds carry them.
At the level of the road, I am not sure how many notice the colours mixing on the celestial canvas. I am sure a few boys and girls look up. I am also sure a few men and women also look up. Some prodded by the aforementioned boys and girls and some of their own curiosity. Some may have looked by mistake looking for metaphors to compare their loved ones.
But the streets are busy mostly. It is full of people rushing here and there. Some scooters and bikes shuttling between traffic. A few car drivers also forget they are driving four-wheelers and not two-wheelers.
But amongst this mass of people who move like an organism, you can spot a figure or two stop. This irritates the aforementioned organism. But those that stop, look up. Some of them are looking at awe at the cosmic canvas, not able to do anything but stare. Some point their smartphones and try to capture the infinite scenes in the rectangular boundary.
Not all are satisfied. No camera seems to capture the beauty quite like their eyes.
This is a post after a long time of no writing and no reading. This post is just to bookend things.
We drove back from Kerala in the first week of October. We moved rental houses within Pune in the last week of October. The strain of moving houses has been more mental than physical. For quite some time, I have not been able to read or write anything much. I have been much more active posting on Instagram.
Leo Babauta writes on Zen Habits on being trustable. I found the advice important enough in my relationship to reproduce th advice here in full.
I’m going to give some of the key learnings here:
Do your best to practice keeping your word. That means when you say you’re going to do something, really commit to making that happen. Sometimes that means sacrificing some comfort to make it happen. But make it a top priority, and take it seriously.
When you can’t keep your word, own up to it. Let them know ahead of time if you’re not able to do it. If you messed up, take responsibility and apologize, and let them know what you’ll do going forward to avoid the same mistake repeating. Do what you need to do to fix things.
Breathe deeply and slow down. When we’re jumpy and anxious, they will feel it. When we stand solidly, breathe deeply, and go slower … they feel this as solidity and trustability. As with all of this, it’s a learning process — you’ll have moments of anxiety, but you can learn to breathe deeply even here. You’ll have moments of fidgetyness and jumpiness … but you can learn to slow down even here, with practice.
Create structure for yourself and them. When you are committed to making certain things happen (taking care of the car, getting the groceries, paying the bills) … it will help greatly to have structure, like a schedule with reminders. When will this get taken care of? You might alter the structure, but having a structure for you and those around you helps them to know that things are in order and will be taken care of. Practice creating structure for others when it would serve them (without forcing it on them) — offer a plan, a schedule, a clear decision, an agreement.
When they complain about something you haven’t done … listen. Hold space for their complaint, and instead of taking it personally, see if there’s some way you can help them. But listen first, and get them. Then see what you can do to make it right, to create structure so they can trust it will get done, to clean up any mess you’ve accidentally made. You don’t need to feel blame or shame, but just get them.
Take things seriously. But not too seriously! OK, it’s good to have a sense of humor … but if you dismiss their concerns, or say, “Yeah yeah don’t worry” … they will worry. They can’t trust that you’re going to do your best. Give it your all. Hear their concerns. Make it clear that you’re going to take care of it.
Take full responsibility. Especially when you want to blame them. Instead of pointing the finger … look at what you might have done to contribute to this, or to allow this situation to happen. Have you not been clear? Have you not created an agreement around this? Have you not been acknowledging them for how great they are? Have you not been taking care of things? When you think you shouldn’t have to take on responsibility — that’s when you can take on more.
Take care of yourself. If you can’t take care of yourself, how can you be trusted to take care of them? This means clean up your messes, put things in order, do some basic personal hygiene, take care of your emotions, give yourself rest when you’re feeling stressed or burned out. Being trustable doesn’t mean you have to take on so much that you’re overworked.
Always look for ways to be more trustable. Where have you dropped the ball? Is there something you could do to feel more solid to them? Where have you avoided taking on responsibility? Where have you let things lapse into a mess? This is a continual area of growth. You don’t have to be perfect, but you can continue to grow. For life.
Unlike the onward journey, this time we reached Hubli (near the Karnataka-Maharashtra border) on day 1. The next day was spent riding the poor roads of Maharashtra. Hubali to Pune took a whole day.
Despite assurance from cryptocurrency exchange owners in various episodes of Paisa Vaisa, it seems that the news about the ban on trading of cryptocurrency refuses to die down. Following this Bloomberg story, however, I have decided to hit pause on any cryptocurrency investment.
I am thinking of investing a small amount of money in cryptocurrency. For the last three weeks, I have been listening to and reading articles about the situation in India. What follows is my summary.
I had forgotten about cryptocurrencies for the longest time since my initial fascination for it in 2017. The fascination hit me again when I listened to an episode of Paisa Vaisa.
Coldfusion on YouTube has a video about the ways in which the financial system today is using blockchain technology. Cryptocurrency is also built on top of blockchain technology. Some banks are buying cryptocurrency as a hedge against fiat currency while others are using it to save heavily on international transfers.
Blockchain is now mainstream
In 2018, RBI had banned banks from allowing their accounts to be used for purchase or sale of cryptocurrency. Combined with a paper by a Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance suggesting that cryptocurrency be banned, the public interpreted this to mean that cryptocurrency was illegal.
In the filings of Berkshire Hathaway, it was disclosed that they had sold banking stocks and had bought shares of a gold mining company. Robert Kiyosaki saw that as Warren Buffet losing confidence in fiat currency (the US dollar) and buying a stake in gold. In a podcast episode, Kiyosaki saw this as a validation of his position and a significant change in the market. He also makes a case for buying bitcoins on his blog, later in the day.
The Indian Rupee is not fully convertible with the US dollar. But, most international currencies are pegged to the dollar. Countries like Iran, China and Russia are trying to introduce their own cryptocurrencies in order to reduce their dependence on the US dollar. It is speculated that various central banks are purchasing cryptocurrency as a way to hedge their own position in the cryptocurrency market. In a globalized world, we could feel the impact at some point in the future. Maybe later than when it occurs elsewhere as our central bank protects the rupee.
People who fought the case in the Supreme Court against RBI’s ban say that the Government has stepped down it’s stance against cryptocurrency from wanting to ban it to wanting to regulate it.
Coindesk, a news organisation that reports on cryptocurrencies does talk about the limitations that India has in terms of cryptocurrencies. Mining or creating cryptocurrency is indirectly banned in India. The computers required to mine cryptocurrency are specific ones called ASIC machines. The import of these machines into India is banned. A few enthusiasts mine cryptocurrency using GPU. The Government further threatened miners by arresting a few of them. It seems that the remaining miners are planing to migrate to countries like Armenia.
The 2020 verdict however meant that cryptocurrency exchanges could now operate in India. This means that you can now buy using cryptocurrency by transferring money from an Indian bank account or a financial service provider. However, there is no regulation of cryptocurrency. Things now are working on good faith between exchanges and consumers who want to purchase cryptocurrency.
The exchanges want SEBI to be their regulator. They are already performing due diligence and complying to KYC requirements as mandated by SEBI. However, payments in cryptocurrency might require RBI regulation.
I do not see myself wanting to use cryptocurrency to make a payment. I wanted to hold the currency as a diversified asset that I can hold or one that I can accumulate over time just like one would hold gold or stocks.
If you are considering purchase of a cryptocurrency, please do not see this as professional advice. I am learning about this field as well. The Coindesk story that I mentioned above, does suggest that there is at least one cryptocurrency advisor whom you may want to consult if you plan to purchase in large amounts.
I moved to Palakkad, my home town from Pune in the second last week of July. We drove our car from Pune to Palakkad. I will write separately about that experience. In this post, I would like to document for posterity the reasons for my decisions.
When we entered lock down in March 2020, my initial expectation was that India was much better off than other countries at that point in time. Hence, my expectation then was that if we stayed put at home, we would be safe. Things would run their course and we might return to normalcy by June, at the latest.
As things unraveled, I realized that this was a much longer journey than I had anticipated. Things could remain unchanged for much longer. Colleagues at office were going to their native place in the months of May and June 2020. So, in June 2020, I decided to go to our native place.
Kerala had instituted a system of granting passes to the people entering the state. My application for travel to Kerala in June 2020 was declined. Many of my colleagues from work who were from Kerala traveled to the state at this time. We resigned ourselves to the fact that we might be stuck in Pune.
My main concern in staying on in Pune was the lack of a support system. If my wife was infected and had to be hospitalized, I was not sure if I would be able to take care of our daughter by myself. I could have got my relatives over but I did not want to complicate things for others for my incompetency.
So, when Unlock 1.0 started, we decided to apply again. Kerala then moved from a pass system to a registration system. Hence, we applied and received a pass on July 21. We started in the morning of July 23 and reached Palakkad in the evening of July 24.
Parallel Spirals 