Author Archives: achthegreat

Book Review – Part 2- The Silk Roads – A new history of the world

Hope the first part of my review for this book got you excited about the brief history of the center of the world and the learnings we could take from the past. If you haven’t read the Part-1 of this blog yet, I recommend you read it first to set the right context. In thisContinueContinue reading “Book Review – Part 2- The Silk Roads – A new history of the world”

Book Review – The Silk Roads – A new history of the world – Part 1

I have always been a huge fan of history, and I truly believe in the quote that “History belongs to the victors”. The history told to us over the years, in the form of textbooks or documentaries or even common folklores, are typically from a point of view, mostly from the victors and is mostlyContinueContinue reading “Book Review – The Silk Roads – A new history of the world – Part 1”

Jaipur – An incredible heritage site entrenched in Chaos and Apathy

In the December of 2022, we had embarked on a 9-day long trip to western Rajasthan. A trip in December 2023 to Jaipur in the Eastern side would then complete the missing jigsaw puzzle of the Rajasthan touristic circuit. The western Rajasthan trip was booked via Nivalink agency, this Jaipur one we decided to doContinueContinue reading “Jaipur – An incredible heritage site entrenched in Chaos and Apathy”

Varanasi – A thorough amalgam of chaos, serenity and culinary delights

This trip was a long time pending. Also known as Kashi and Benaras, Varanasi is one of the most famous ancient cities in the world, having a reputation of being chaotically beautiful. On a visit to Tibet, we had met a German lady who mentioned she had visited Varanasi. When I asked how her experienceContinueContinue reading “Varanasi – A thorough amalgam of chaos, serenity and culinary delights”

Amazing Langkawi

There are places where you yearn for time to just halt, to soak in more and more of the ambience, truly wonderful that these moments are. Langkawi was one such brilliant place. July 2023 Our flight landed at Langkawi landed just past noon; the spectacular aerial views that the island offered from the comfort ofContinueContinue reading “Amazing Langkawi”

The unsung heroes of Jakkur Lake

When we see a beautiful and well-maintained lake, the first thing that comes to mind is that the local government and civic agencies are doing a great work. No doubt they are, but what we don’t realize is that there are also a lot of volunteering organizations that get their hands dirty to set andContinueContinue reading “The unsung heroes of Jakkur Lake”

The invention of Index Funds

Back in the winter of 2021, based on a LinkedIn recommendation from Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, I picked up this wonderful book “Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel. Until this time, no matter of self-reading or gyaan (words of wisdom) from others would inspire me to seriously look into financial investments and the joysContinueContinue reading “The invention of Index Funds”

Life of legacy and living the childhood dreams

On a recent visit to the Crosswords bookstore, my eyes fixated on this very interesting book called “The last lecture” by one Mr. Randy Pausch. The excerpt looked very appealing, with the statements “If you were to give your last lecture, what would it be?” and “We cannot change the cards that we are dealt,ContinueContinue reading “Life of legacy and living the childhood dreams”

A long drive to investments

This festival of lights (Deepavali) we decided to drive from Bangalore to Mangalore. It was a long drive, especially considering the hilly terrain and the frequent sections of bad roads. Overall, I must say it was quite smooth, but certain aspects of this long drive struck a strong resemblance to the world of investments. AsContinueContinue reading “A long drive to investments”