Recommendations To The Rescue.
A compromise post owing to lethargy.
If you read my previous post, I am happy to report that I am feeling better than before and the feeling of loneliness has waned off, at least for the time being. Though I must say that it is only the symptoms of the problem that got cured by time itself and I did not do anything actively to cure the main germ. I hope to take care of it as soon as winter break ends and college resumes.
So why is there nothing concrete that I have to offer in this post ? I am ashamed to admit that it is owing to my lethargy that I hid from myself in the name of the four upcoming assignments. Had I completed even 30% of my assignments, me not writing anything here would have been justified. I am archiving it here for my future self that if I end up as a sore loser at 35, it is probably because of this attitude that I failed. I am 48 hours away from my submissions and I have not written a word out of the total 10,000 words that I am supposed to write. The next two days, I have been telling myself, is when a lightning of inspiration will strike and words will flow out of me as music did out of Mozart.
While I was contemplating writing a small apology note to my imagined audience for not having anything to offer this week, I looked back at the last two weeks and realised that apart from doing nothing fruitful for the most part, I consumed a lot of informative/educational content across various fields. Whether this was genuinely informative or a royal waste of time is again a judgement I will be able to make 10 years from now. Till then, I thought, I’ll do what most people in the creator economy do when they have nothing to say. Recommendations.
I believe that out of everything that I consumed, there is something in it for each one of you (I am just imagining that more than one person is going to read this). So here’s my list of recommendations for the week. Even if you watch one thing and find it enriching, it will be worth my time.
Video Content :
Life lessons from cricket :
I have no clue why I binged roughly all episodes of Breakfast With Champions again, for the nth time. While the journey of each cricketer had something to offer, I watched the show and thought more about the visual language, economics, length and logistics of the show. I recommend every single episode ever put out by Oaktree sports but my favourite still continues to be the one with Bishan Singh Bedi. Having never seen a single ball he bowled, having no reference of who this man was, I still cannot stop fanboying over every single sentence he has uttered in this 20 min long episode. Wisdom through and through.
A professor we all deserved, but never had. :
I have already raved about this man and this episode of Guest In The Newsroom with some of you on Whatsapp, but for others who I haven’t mentioned this to, let me back my raving with two points. One, the passion and the breadth of this man’s experiences helped me get out my low phase on a particular night. I realised that there are innumerable things in this world that I am yet to read, watch, taste, learn and experience and it just doesn’t make sense to be feeling lonely. Second, here are a few things that this man is an exponent of and spoke about in the show. He spoke about India’s international relations, classical music, the art of enjoying a good paan, dominance of the left on JNU, the types of daals in India and their history and politics, the dying breed of tailors who can stitch a good salwar-kameez, how to crack this UPSC, and more.
A theatre artist who got assassinated for his art :
It was the death anniversary of veteran thespian Safdar Hashmi, who lived and died for the issues of the working class. This explainer by Newslaundry explores who he was, what he did, what got him killed and how he still lives on.
If you love and miss Irrfan, watch this :
Time is testament to what a phenomenon Irrfan was. Having mourned his death on regular intervals over the past three years, I have often wondered what he was like as a lover, father, friend and human being. Babil, his son, gives us a glimpse into the man’s mystical mind.
Podcasts :
If you know me, you know how much I love listening to podcasts. But even if you know me, I have probably never told you how much I have realised about this medium in the last two weeks. And more importantly, how many questions I have about it going ahead. Instead of chepoing gyaan about what I think, I believe it is better if I just list down what I consumed in the last fifteen days for you to realise the range of topics, quality and lengths across which podcasts are being put out by random young dudes, content creators, start up founders and all sorts of other people who you wouldn’t expect to be podcasting. Take a look and pick one for yourself :
The Real Talk podcast - Four random Delhi boys having a typical launda conversation with internet personalities. This one is with Shubham Gaur. If you are a fan of his parody of Shoaib Akhtar, you might enjoy knowing about his journey so far and his plans going ahead.
Masters Unions podcast with Karan Johar - Masters Union is a startup in the education space that is doing some really interesting work, do checkout this episode with the founder if you want to know more about what they do. The founder now has a podcast about business education, and in this particular episode he spoke to Karan Johar specifically about the business of making films. A fresh, and business only perspective on films.
The Money & Me podcast Ft. Tanmay Bhat - The guest of this podcast is enough for you to click on the link and watch it. But more importantly, this podcast made me go down a rabbit hole of even more interesting guests than Tanmay who have been featured on the show.
The Money & Me podcast Ft. Nikhil Kamat - If you trust me, watch this podcast and you will come out a more enriched human by the end of this conversation. I guarantee it. Nikhil Kamat, the founder of Zerodha talks about his relationship with money, his journey growing up and most importantly about why he decided to donate approximately 800 Cr to causes that matter to him. Do not miss this episode.
The Yamm-Raj podcast with Ashneer Grover - Imagine putting out your first ever piece of content on the internet and it hitting 1 million. These two random dudes from nowhere got access to Ashneer and this conversation has reached more than 10 lakh people. I don’t think too highly of Ashneer based on this conversation, but he is an interesting character either way.
The Figuring Out podcast Ft. Bhuvan Bam - Never have been a big fan of his work, but it seems like this man is upto something big and bright in the future. Fantastic insights into the future of the creator economy.
Call Her Daddy podcast Ft. John Mayer - If you are a Mayer fan, all I can say is that you’re in for a very Mayer experience. Bonus three acoustic song performance at the end. The man opens up about dating, music, creativity and fame in his classic self aware, yet cocky style. JM never disappoints.
The PhysicsWallah interview - If you are interested in knowing how a break up led to a boy from Bihar founding India’s first profitable ed-tech unicorn, this is a conversation for you. Alakh Pandey opens about his journey, plans and some tips for love lorn youngsters.
The Seen And The Unseen Fr. Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas - You always keep the special ones for the end. The thing about this podcast is that it is a bit difficult to sell. This episode especially, considering its length (7.5 hours). If you are crazy enough to dive into this, then let me encapsulate what this conversation is about. Amit, Roshan and Vikram, all three geniuses in their own right and also friends for a long time spurt out invaluable life lessons drawn from three magnificent and varied careers spanning more than 25 years.
I have an idea for the next edition that I am personally quite excited about. If my submissions go smoothly, inshallah the next post will be about that subject. Till then, take care and drop me a text if you watch any of these. Signing out.
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