One ludicrous observation i have come across while mentoring younger professionals is the fashionable urge to invest without having the ability to earn that sum needed to cover the basics first, and then think of investing. It is not a fad; money is serious stuff.

I have been thinking of the role of domestic spaces such as the quotidian dining table which doubles as my workspace as a startup guy in these new worlds of work. In the era of remote WFH era, personal spaces are nodes of transnational circulation as real estate in Mumbai comes at a premium. The everyday infrastructures of the platform economy are considered as connected devices such as the Wi-Fi broadband or the laptop but not the inanimate table which is the site of the edible and of conversation. More attention needs to be paid to the global geographically sticky workforce which does operate out of ‘place’.

How has the rhythms of everyday change with remote work? As a consultant, remote is a boon, however the place does have implications.

#Startup

This Azaadi Weekend, there are many more freedoms to achieve such as economic and that freedom is a starting point for a journey rather than an ossified ritual. Let Bharat or Hindustan have many articulations, as diversity is not a weakness. We have survived as we are decentralized, fragmented federal state as each state is on a different trajectory of evolution, some are dependent upon international diasporas such as Kerala and Punjab, others have internal circulations such as Bihar.

We are excellent at survival, the pandemic being a brilliant case study as we think on the scale of the family for sustenance. It is not a miracle that we have not been balkanized, as we are designed to fight. Some outliers are global standards, but we need to build benchmarks. Let’s make it happen in the next 75 years!

#IndiaAt75

Writing is enriching when there are no ROIs to extract or CVs to manufacture. The key impulse is to excavate the erased histories that do not fit within neat frames of the politics of knowledge production. Do not write when one has nothing much to say. Writing is about the self.

The sense of being mortal outside the OPD in a hospital is a reminder of the myriad challenges which human lives navigate. The basics remain the same, the optics on Insta are a jarring contrast if not an escape mechanism from the pathos of the moment.

The variegated geographies of #decarbonisation will map the power hierarchies of the day, some regions will be hubs and leaders making the pivot from hydrocarbons as the infrastructure of production is available, such as Singapore and Norway with the talent to transition.

Happy 57th Singapore! There is a lot to be grateful for.

I am eternally indebted to the learnings, multiple work opportunities and generous scholarships at NUS and NTU over the past 13 years. I have made mentors, lifelong friends and have family in Singapore too. Even though i am way this year for NDP in Mumbai, i hope to be back for Laksa and Chicken Rice soon at the Block 107A Kopitiam on 112 Street on Clementi Road, which has been my urban kampung.

I shall follow the NDP programs on YouTube as a proud Singapore-Phile while i hum Majulah Singapura under my breath.

#ndp2022

The issues with implementing #ESG are one of incomprehensibility of ‘scale’. ESG for a platform economy player will be one of ‘partner’ welfare, vis-à-vis a hydrocarbon major with deep pockets. Recognizing scale and appreciating contextual specificity is key to delivery.

For sustainability/ESG/Climate/BHR professionals of any age, especially the recent graduates, the terrain and the texture of the industry is evolving at a rapid pace of change. The era of climate/BHR litigation is here and ESG will be a statutory compliance issue. Learn some law.

I have three primary interests in intellectual and practical terms: ESG, Building Ventures and Writing Erased Histories of Migrant Workers in the Indian Ocean Region. All of them are embodied interests with a deep core.