Category: Personal

  • Week 43/2025

    I used to write my Weekly Notes in a structured way, tracking my reading and writing progress. This time, I want to write it in a more free-form style, similar to how I did for Week 42.

    My parents visited and took the kids to Mumbai during the Diwali holidays. It was our first time home alone. You might expect us to get a lot done without the kids, but we mostly just relaxed and did nothing special.

    We watched three movies – Coolie (Tamil), Ronth (Malayalam), and Greater Kalesh (Hindi) on OTT. I started reading Kurashi at Home by Marie Kondo (which I could not find in her publications list on Wikipedia) and Make Epic Money by Ankur Warikoo. I listened to The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel and I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. I did not finish any of the books I started and left them all unfinished. I am spending my time recovering from surgery watching Countdown and Lazarus.

    I am disappointed with my recent book choices. I didn’t read Between Worlds, which I wanted to. I read more on my mobile than anywhere else. Between Worlds is just sitting on my shelf after I read the first two chapters.

    I have been following several accounts on X that focus on manufacturing in India. While there are traditional manufacturing companies, these new-age creators showcase impressive manufacturing processes through engaging videos. We imagined these processes in our heads. I will share a few videos in another blog post.

    It was interesting to see how India’s manufacturing limits its space program and how ISRO built up its capabilities, helping the program grow. This serves as a useful model for other sectors in India. For instance, the Semi Conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh could apply this approach to build the capability of the Indian semiconductor industry, leveraging SCL’s experience being an ISRO Center.

  • I think IDFC First Bank has done well with AI related search engine optimization. All chat-based AI tools suggested IDFC First Bank and its banking products during my various interactions with AI.

  • I wanted to share this Instagram post from the_blueboat. This is about a 3 hour journey between the districts of Kottayam an Alapuzha through the Vembanad Lake.

    The first service is at 6:45 am, that the_blueboat recommends for a comfortable ride through hidden villages not usually covered by houseboats and shikaras. The service is run by the Kerala Government’s State Water Transport Department.

  • Helical stepwell of Walur, near Parbhani. Quite a wonder of geometry and constructional precision. Designed in the shape of a spiral galaxy (possibly by observing Andromeda?). Perhaps even a perennial source of water and weather study.

  • An Instagram post on the transformation of Muthoot group headquarters at MG Road, Kochi.

    I hope more companies consider the move from Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP) to Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC). I had to look up the acronym GFRC because they never explained that in the video.

  • Week 42/2025

    I underwent another surgery in the first week of October 2025. 2025 seems to be really bad for me health-wise. I hope something good comes of it. I am still recovering from it.

    I have had a lot of time to process as well during this period of illness, as is often the case.

    I started sharing my content on the blog again. I would earlier share this content on various cozy web groups (WhatsApp groups, mostly). I think I will start to post here to get better at tracking what I consume.

    I got on Arattai to know what all the buzz is about. Sai Rahul Poruri had written an interesting article arguing that moving from WhatsApp to Arattai was just about jumping from one walled garden to another. This helped me to get to use Prav again. I am looking for people I can speak to on the XMPP protocol.

    I expressed that I wanted to start writing about space again. That is my first love. Just reposting things on X and other social media platforms just doesn’t cut it anymore.

    Not too much to share this week. But 42 is an important number and should not be missed. Hence, this short senseless note.

  • YouTube – Life Explained in 15 minutes

    There are many such videos online which mainly remix online gyan using AI. This may also have been scripted using one. But, I found the order in which it was said and its tone useful to me. Hence, sharing.

    I think this video has collected the 20% I find necessary to live the 80% of my life.

  • We started off with the New Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV,). Then, there was Lunar Module Launch Vehicle. Then, NGLV was named Soorya. There is confusion about whether the NGLV and LMLV are different vehicles or the same vehicle. ISRO keeps changing nomenclature. This is the latest avatar of LMLV according to Anshuman.

    This is a version with 3 stages, 99.77 m height and 6.5 m diameter. This looks like a version they are developing of NGLV for lunar missions. Just like LVM3 and HLVM3 and hence interchangibly used.

  • Neil Borate shared a summary of the changes in EPFO. Video on X.

  • It is so much fun to read accounts of how blogs which started in the 2000s grew all through the next twenty years. Especially, when they opened doors in formal institutions a decade later for many of us. Read this.